How ‘The Music Of Marx Brothers’ Revolutionized American Comedy
“The Music of Marx Brothers” will show at the Breman Museum this Sunday evening.
courtesy of the Breman Museum
The upcoming concert at the Breman Museum is going vaudeville with the original brothers of comedy. This Sunday afternoon will feature “The Music of Marx Brothers.”
In addition to hearing Marx Brother’s songs, the program will also explore their comedic legacy. The musical will also show the way that the Marx Brother’s Jewish heritage impacted their artistry and perspective on comedy. The Breman Museum put this show as part of their “Molly Blank Concert” series.
The series highlights Jewish contributions to music, such as the Marx Brothers. City Lights’ host Lois Reitzes sat down with Adam Koplan, the director of Flying Carpet Theatre and with music director Greg Sudmeier to discuss the performance.
“I did not know that much about the Marx Brothers before creating this piece,” Koplan continues, “Essentially they were the first ‘talkie film’ comedy sensations, which blew my mind.”
The Marx Brothers were the first comedy act in major American film that was doing sound and they had a ten year run as the number one comedy act in the 1930s. The crucible that made the Marx Brother’s a household name was American vaudeville. Most vaudeville comedy was ethnic humor and the brothers often faced a lot of anti-Semitic comments while out on tour.
“Groucho Marx was at a country club in California and he was about to get into the pool. As he was getting in, a staff member pulled on his shirt sleeve and said ‘Sir, you can’t get in, the pool has a no Jews policy.’ And so Groucho without missing a beat said ‘Well, my daughter is only half-Jewish, can she get in up to her knees?’” Koplan said.
The Marx Brothers’ fought Antisemitism with humor throughout their career. In so doing, their classic movies broke the glass ceiling for future comedians.
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