Goodman takes on vintage shtick with Animal Crackers

Think late 1920's, when performed musical skits carried with them the vitality of variety. The Goodman Theatre is transforming their large stage into a slice of 1928 in order to bring to life the improvisational and slapstick musical, "Animal Crackers."

This colorful show, gorgeously and skillfully choreographed by John Carrafa, will take you through many silly belly-laughing moments. It was originally written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind during the height of the Marx Brother's era. Three talented actors/actresses respectively handle the Brother's Groucho, Chico and Harpo's naughty roles. Most interesting is Molly Brennen playing the mute rascal Harpo, i.e. the Professor. Though this gender switch for a role portrayal is bound to cause some controversy with some theatrical purists, the demands of her physically comedic and well-timed performance are met perfectly well. The thick-eyebrowed, bespectacled, cigar toting Groucho is personified through Joey Slotnick. Slotnick nails this vintage musicals' one liners with rapid-fire punch, feeding his modern audience some anachronistic wit as well. No doubt some of this vintage wit may not hit home, being that the musical is eighty years old. The spirited Emanuel Ravelli/Chico is played with gusto by Jonathan Brody. These three are mostly weaved through the scenes, adding lots of color and energy to the skits containing an oddball mix of interchangeable characters.

The other characters are meshed in a soup of trying to solve a comedic stolen painting "who-done-it," with the Marx Brothers creating, or at the very least adding to, all the chaos which ensues. Some stunning performances to note stem from the high energy choreography. Since this is a musical, there are many singing and dancing skits throughout. Take for example the dancing duo of Mara Davi (Mrs. Whitehead) and Tony Yazbeck. Backed by a small orchestra on set throughout the whole production, Davi and Yazbeck flawlessly light up the stage with a bygone era's elegant dancing. Another surprise in choreography concerns some "soft shoe" tap dancing; something you just don't see in musicals these days.

Besides the choreography, the whole cast is solid in their slapstick (and serious) acting performances. One moment to note is a prize winning slapstick roll down the whole mansion set's staircase by the talented Ora Jones (Mrs. Rittenhouse) Also,there is a wonderful fantasy-esque scene in the second act which includes dancing and transforming puffy clouds of cheesy romantic wonder.

If there are any gripes to be had at all, it may be over the pacing and stage size (well, the Goodman is just, big). Modern audiences may find the pacing to drag a bit at times, especially by the second act. And given that there is so much detail going on onstage, sometimes the actors and props get swallowed up by sheer size and magnitude of the set itself.

All in all, this is one "Animal Cracker" that will leave a laugh in your belly.

"Animal Crackers" continues through October 25th at the Goodman Theatre. Call the box office 312-443-3800 for more details.