Brothers Are Still Brothers

Here's one reason why I just love Queen Elizabeth II:

Queen quotes Groucho as she thanks nation for its support
By Alan Hamilton
The Sunday Times

IF GROUCHO MARX declined to join any club that would have him as a member, would he have wanted to live in a country whose otherwise dignified head of state quoted his jokes?

The Queen was in playful mood yesterday as she addressed a grand lunch given by the Lord Mayor of London to celebrate her 80th birthday, and the 85th of her husband, attended by the Prime Minister, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Sir Cliff Richard among 350 distinguished guests.

Appreciative laughter filled the gold and white Egyptian Hall in the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor’s official residence, when, in a reference to her own advancing years, she repeated one of the late screen comedian’s aphorisms: "Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough."

A wonderful and spirited quote from the Queen of England. You can always find a Marx Brothers quote for any occasion. My favorite Groucho quote currently is, "A man is only as old as the woman he feels." Naw ... you can just guess how old I am.

The Marx Brothers are still in the news, nearly thirty years since Groucho's death. I also read a recent article about Bob Martin, who co-wrote the book and is featured in the Broadway hit The Drowsy Chaperone. When asked about his favorite musicals, he gave this reply:

"Well, because I grew up in Canada, far away from Broadway, most of my knowledge came from the movies. I especially liked the Marx Brothers in Animal Crackers and Coconuts, which started out as Broadway musicals. Both of those were big inspirations for The Drowsy Chaperone, where not every performer is supposed to be the greatest. You look at some of the people in the Marx Brothers movies and you say, "Wow, for her to get a part, Chico just had to be sleeping with her."

Every so often people note the similarity between the Marx Brothers and the Talented Talent Brothers. Well, there are some similarities but they're not all done consciously. Not that I would put us anywhere in a league with the sheer comic brillance of the Marx Brothers, but both groups feature brothers. Mel keeps pointing out the what little plot there is in Weasel Erotica could have just as well been in A Day at the Races. My alter-ego Professor Wagstaff is a nod to Groucho (his character in Horsefeathers had the same name) and the character Ms. Rittenrotten is an obvious nod to Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Rittenhouse in Animal Crackers). Hey, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best.

So folks tend to ask, which one of you is Groucho? Which Harpo? Which Chico? Well, I'm not sure. I grew up a Groucho fanatic, so in performance I'm very much the Groucho. Tony, by default, functions as our Zeppo (poor, poor Tony) but gets alot more action that ol' Zep ever did. Mo frequently has played characters that are quite similar (minus the bad Italian accent) to what Chico played in the later movies. I guess those silly weasels are our Harpo. Hey, we even have a sexy seductress who puts Thelma Todd to shame.

Off-stage we all try to be Chico (Marx Brothers fans get it) but wind up all-to-often just playing W.C. Fields.