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Frank Ferrente
celebrates the one-
of-a-kind comedian
at Macomb Center.

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Suzanne Chessler

Special to the Jewish News

ust as the humor of the late
comedian Groucho Marx
cheered people during the
Great Depression, the re-creation of
that humor by actor Frank Ferrante is
aimed at cheering people during the
current economic difficulties.
An Evening With Groucho turns
into an afternoon performance 3 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 14, at the Macomb Center
for the Performing Arts.
"This show changes from perfor-
mance to performance because there's
a great deal of improvisation and ad-
Ebbing," says Ferrante, 47, a Groucho
fan since childhood.
"That is the thrill for me because I
get to invent every show as does my
accompanist, Jim Furmston. So the
audience gets a very vibrant experience.
"The piece is a celebration of
Groucho's spirit of comedy and his facil-
ity for wordplay. There are stories about
his brothers and comedy peers, like
Charlie Chaplin and W. C. Fields, and
there are songs, scenes from his movies,
one-liners and audience interaction!"
Ferrante started developing the
Groucho character some 25 years
ago as a drama student working on
his senior project at the University of
Southern California.
"I got material from (Detroit-bred)
actress Elaine Stritch, whose late hus-
band had done a show about Groucho,"
Ferrente explains. "Although that
became the basis of the show I do now,
it's completely changed.
"The early audience included
Groucho's son and daughter as well
as Morrie Ryskind, who co-wrote the
films Animal Crackers, A Night at the
Opera and The Cocoanuts for the Marx
Brothers.
"Groucho's son Arthur hired me a
year later to perform in his show about
his dad, and we did that in New York
and London. For the past 10 years,
I've been performing An Evening With
Groucho all over the country."
As Ferrente recalls the comedy of
the vaudeville, film and TV legend,

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who had the gag-filled quiz show You
Bet Your Life, he also recalls the broth-
ers who shared some of the limelight
— Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo.
Ferrente additionally tours another
piece, Groucho: A Life in Revue, a biog-
raphy that showcases the comedian's
personal experiences from ages 15-85.
In 2001, the entertainer starred in,
directed and produced the piece for TV.
"Groucho's whole persona is
wrapped in a Jewish immigrant, out-
sider sensibility," Ferrente says. "He
made his point through caustic wit,
and I think people find his irreverence
refreshing."
Although Groucho has been a main-
stay in Ferrente's career, the actor has
taken on other stage assignments.
Besides performing in regional theater,
he has been a director.
Roles have included Max Prince in
Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor,
George S. Kaufman in By George (a one-
man play written by Ferrente) and Oscar
in The Odd Couple. Directing responsi-
bilities have put him in charge of produc-
tions of George Washington Slept Here,
The Sunshine Boys and Old Wicked Songs.
For the past 10 years, Ferrente has
starred in the European cirque Teatro
Zinzanni.
"I'm very proud of the connection
I have made with Groucho's children
and grandchildren," Ferrente says. "We
have celebrated holidays together." ❑

An Evening With Groucho will
be performed 3 p.m. Sunday,
Noy.14, at the Macomb Center
for the Performing Arts, 44575
Garfield, in Clinton Township.
$37-$52. (586) 286-2141;
www.macombcenter.com .

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November 11 • 2010

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