C l u b   Z i n Z a n n i   P r e s e n t s

FRANK FERRANTE’S GROUCHO

Wednesday, June 11

at 7:00pm

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

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“Artful…Mr. Ferrante’s timing is digital sharp.”

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Dubbed “nothing short of masterful” by the Chicago Tribune, award-winning actor and ZinZanni veteran, Frank Ferrante, returns to Chicago with his acclaimed stage portrayal of legendary comedian, Groucho Marx, in this fast paced 90 minutes of hilarity. The two-act comedy consists of the best Groucho one-liners, anecdotes, and songs including: “Hooray for Captain Spalding,” and “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.” The audience literally becomes part of the show as Ferrante ad-libs his way throughout the performance in grand Groucho style. Accompanied by his onstage pianist, Ferrante portrays the young Groucho of stage and film and reacquaints us with the likes of brothers Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo, Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields and Marx foil Margaret Dumont. A show perfect for all ages! 

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ABOUT

FRANK FERRANTE

Frank Ferrante is the recipient of New York’s Theatre World Award for ‘Outstanding Debut,’ a New York Outer Critics Circle nomination, London’s Laurence Olivier Award nomination for ‘Comedy Performance of the Year,’ Washington D.C.’s Helen Hayes nomination and two Connecticut Critics Circle Awards. He was picked a ‘top ten’ theater performance by the Wall Street Journal in 2017 and in 2019 the Chicago Tribune picked him as a ‘top ten’ stage performance for his role in Teatro ZinZanni. His New York, London and PBS performances in the title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue received not only acclaim from critics and audiences but from the Marx family.

Ferrante was discovered by Groucho Marx’s son playwright Arthur Marx as a 22 year-old drama student at USC performing An Evening With Groucho for a 1985 senior project. Arthur subsequently cast Frank to portray Groucho Marx for the heralded 1986-87 production of Arthur’s Groucho: A Life in Revue that played Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre for 254 performances. Ferrante, who was 23 at the time, portrayed legendary Groucho from age 15 to 85. Morrie Ryskind who co-wrote the Marx Brothers classic films Animal Crackers and A Night at the Opera and attended Ferrante’s USC show said, “Frank is the only actor aside from Groucho who delivered my lines as they were intended.” 

Ferrante is one of the busiest touring performers in theater today with over 3,000 performances as ‘Groucho’ internationally in over 500 cities for over 35 years. He is considered a ‘new vaudevillian’ having performed in the variety world as the comic host ‘Caesar’ in Teatro ZinZanni since 2001 for over 1,500 performances from San Francisco to Seattle to Amsterdam. He has performed lead roles in many of the country’s most prominent regional theaters including Washington D.C.’s Arena Stage, Goodspeed Opera House, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Boston’s Huntington Theatre, New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse and Atlanta’s Alliance. Onstage, he has co-starred with Tony Award winners Faith Prince (Guys & Dolls), Liliane Montevecchi (Nine) and Kristin Chenoweth who received her Actor’s Equity card in a production of Animal Crackers in which Ferrante headlined.

At the Walnut Street Theatre, Ferrante is the in-house director of many of their stage comedies including critically acclaimed revivals of Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound, Laughter on the 23rd Floor (1997 & 2017 in which Ferrante also starred), The Sunshine Boys and Lost in Yonkers which was a co-production with Miami’s Coconut Grove Playhouse and a ‘critic’s choice.’ In 2017, Ferrante directed and performed the lead role Pseudolus in the Stephen Sondheim musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and his performance was picked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top ten in the country receiving kudos from Sondheim himself. In 2019, Ferrante starred in and directed Ken Ludwig’s A Comedy of Tenors in the lauded Walnut Street Theatre production collaborating with playwright Ludwig on the production.

Frank Ferrante is the owner of Groucho Marx Productions, Inc. which represents the name and likeness of the iconic performer. The film version of his stage show re-titled Frank Ferrante’s GROUCHO premiered on public television in spring, 2022. In October, 2021, Frank received a ‘star’ in Palm Springs, California on the Walk of Stars.