OFF BROADWAY
AT THE CONNELLY
2016
The most complete staging of I’ll Say She Is since 1925 was seen in the show’s smash Off Broadway engagement at the Connelly Theater, directed by Amanda Sisk. Just as it had in 1924, the show drew raves from the New York critics, who joined audiences in welcoming the return of a long-lost musical comedy masterpiece.
“This is the first true run of I’ll Say She Is in about a hundred years, so we thank you for your patience.”
So began director Amanda Sisk’s curtain speech, during that inexplicable period when, somehow, I’ll Say
Outside the Connelly Theater on East 4th Street, July 2016
She Is was running in New York City. There it was, right there in the theatre listings, in the Times, The New Yorker, everywhere — alphabetically, right after Hamilton!
I’ll Say She Is at the Connelly in the summer of 2016 was a singular event, a watershed, like I’ll Say She Is at the Casino in the summer of 1924. Beyond the gates of the Connelly it was a magical time, or time warp. The production not only presented a more fully-realized staging of I’ll Say She Is as seen at the 2014 Fringe Festival; it restored additional material from the original show that couldn’t be contemplated for the more lightweight Fringe version. Walking into the antique environs of the Connelly Theatre that summer felt like a rendezvous with history, for artists and audiences alike.
Amanda Sisk and Allison Jane discuss the subtleties of the Napoleon scene.
In rehearsal: Seth Shelden and Matt Roper find their brotherhood. Photo by Amanda Sisk.
The Marxfest and Fringe experiences had demonstrated the show’s appeal to Marx fans and lovers of the Jazz Age. The Off Broadway run confirmed those findings, but also revealed that I’ll Say She Is worked as universal entertainment, even for those audience members who, for some reason, hadn’t spent their entire lives wishing they could see it. The Connelly shook with laughter like the Casino before it. The Marxian assault on musical comedy was still revolutionary.
The 2016 company of I’ll Say She Is, on stage at the Connelly Theater. Photo by Mark X. Hopkins.
The greatest thrill of all is the thrill of love.
That’s the valuable lesson Beauty has learned by the end of the action depicted in I’ll Say She Is, and it’s also an apt description of the ethos behind the revival.
Seth Shelden with I’ll Say She Is musical director, arranger, and bandleader Sabrina Chap.
Love was the guiding spirit for the whole project, suffusing the cast and crew’s devotion to the historic project, as well as the audience’s reception of a forgotten gem. It was at the Connelly that Kathy Biehl (recreating her performance as Ruby from the Marxfest and Fringe iterations) first delivered her simple, eternal analysis of the Marxian approach: Their motivation is joy. It was as good a description of I’ll Say She Is in 2016 as it was of the entire Marx Brothers canon. The show continued in the lobby every night, with the audience as well as the stars reluctant to see it end, even just until the next day’s performance.
On the 92nd anniversary of the original New York opening, members of the 2016 cast of I’ll Say She Is pose in the former location of the Casino Theatre, Broadway and 39th Street: Matt Walters, Noah Diamond, Allison Jane, Kathy Biehl, Seth Shelden, Matt Roper.
The approval of that audience would have been enough, but the company was further gratified by the show’s critical reception. The opinions of the New York critics matched those expressed about the original I’ll Say She Is. Nobody needed to be convinced that I’ll Say She Is had been important in 1924; the Connelly run showed that it was, however improbably, still important in the 21st century. In the saga of the Marx Brothers, the success of I’ll Say She Is is often characterized as an accident. To some extent, all successes are accidents. But they’re accidents with purpose.
ESSAYS
Published during the 2016 run of I’ll Say She Is
PHOTO GALLERY
Images from the 2016 production
Rest of the Crew Productions, Loobit Ventures, Trav S.D., Deroy Murdock, Stephen Diamond, and Gimme a Thrill Productions
present
I’LL SAY SHE IS
The Lost Marx Brothers Musical
Original book and lyrics by Will B. Johnstone
Adapted and expanded by Noah Diamond
Music by Tom Johnstone
Additional music by Alexander Johnstone
Starring
Allison Jane … Beauty
Noah Diamond … Groucho
Seth Shelden … Harpo
Matt Roper … Chico
Matt Walters … Zeppo
Kathy Biehl … Ruby
Mark Weatherup … Agent/Detective
C.L. Weatherstone … Simpson
Corrado Alicata … Hop Merchant
Dante Adela … Featured Dancer
And the I’ll Say She Is Chorus: Avital Asuleen, Amber Bloom, Caitlin Brunell, Beth Conley, Robyn Michele Frank, Olivia Gjurich, Jennifer Harder, Peyton Lustig, Sarah Miller, Ashley Rubin, Jess Webb
Keyboards / bandleader … Sabrina Chap
Percussion … Matt Talmage
Associate producer … Margaret Farrell
Associate producer … West Hyler
Consulting producer … Trav S.D.
Technical direction & lighting design by Tom Bibla
Assistant TD & sound Richard Konert
Costume design by Julz Kroboth
Scenic construction by Joe Diamond
Stage Manager Sarah Lahue
Musical direction & arrangements by Sabrina Chap
Choreography by Shea Sullivan
Directed by Amanda Sisk