The Marx Brothers appear as characters in several plays. Some plays describe the life of the Brothers, others show them in the way the appear in the movies.
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Minnie's Boys (1970) and Groucho - A Life in Revue (1986) are plays by Arthur Marx and Robert Fisher that describe the life of Groucho and the Brothers.
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A Day in Hollywood - A Night in the Ukraine (1979) by Dick Vosburgh,
A Night in Elsinore by Richard Nathan and
A Night in Society by Robert Furr use characters of Marxian style.
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Ruhe am Set! (2000) by Alexander Kuchinka (writer, music) and Sam Madwar (writer)
is the story of a vaudeville Marx Brothers show being turned into a movie in the early days of sound movies.
- Waiting for Groucho (2007) adds a fictious plot around the biographical information.
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The Doppel Gang (2017) by Dominic Hodges
follows a group of hopeless entertainers during the Blitz. They devise a plan to save their theatre from closure, by masquerading as The Marx Brothers. (Photos by Tom Barker)
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For Piano and Harpo (2017) by Dan Castellaneta tells a story about how Oscar Levant finds himself in the Psych Ward of Mt. Sinai Hospital and moves in with his only friend, Harpo Marx.
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Dinner with Groucho (2022) by Frank McGuiness is a play about a meeting between Groucho and T.S.Eliot.
Michael Peros and Carl Fortunato in A Night In Elsinore
Check out the "The Play's the Thing Theatre Company" Presents A Night In Elsinore page.
Minnie's Boys
a musical about the Marx Family
Written by Arthur Marx and Robert Fisher
Music and lyrics by Larry Grossman and Hal Hackady
Marvin Hamlisch did the incidental music
Groucho is credited as 'Production Consultant'
Opening at the Imperial Theater in NY on March 26, 1970
Groucho was played by Lewis J. Stadlen, who was a regular on BENSON for a while, toured in a one-man Groucho show, and is still active in NY
Shelley Winters played
Minnie
Cast recording was made on Mothers Day (!) 1970
CD by Project 3 Records SPRD 6002 JJ
In one of the bio's, Groucho is reported to have said to the cast after the NY opening, "Well, kids, we're finally home -- and home is where I'm going. This is amateur night." Not exactly a rousing curtain speech, but that was Groucho.
In ´The Groucho Phile´ Groucho is reported to have said to Lewis J. Stadlen that "he (Stadlen) was better than I (Groucho) ever was ... and younger."
