Join The Dixie for FRANK FERRANTE IN AN EVENING WITH GROUCHO on [NEW DATE!] SAT, MAY 18, at 7:30p!
Tickets to this show are on sale now! Purchase tickets by clicking the BUY TICKETS button below or via The Dixie’s Box Office in person or by phone at 731.986.2100, M-F, 10-4p.
Ticket prices listed below do not include taxes and fees:
$21, $26, $31, $36
ABOUT FRANK FERRANTE
Frank Ferrante (Groucho/Writer) The Chicago Tribune named Frank Ferrante as one of the top ten performers of 2019 for his work in the cirque spectacular Teatro ZinZanni as Caesar. In July 2021, Frank was the first actor to welcome back Chicago audiences to the Theatre District during the pandemic. In 2023, he starred in the Chicago Theatre District in the heralded cirque show Cabaret ZaZou as Forte. Recently, Frank directed and performed at Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre's production of Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors. There he directed and played the lead role, Pseudolus, in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum acknowledged by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top performances in the country for 2017. Described by The New York Times as “the greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx’s material,” Animal Crackers and A Night at the Opera co-author Morrie Ryskind called him “the only actor aside from Groucho who delivered my lines as they were intended.” Discovered by Groucho’s son Arthur when Frank was a drama student at the University of Southern California, Frank originated the off-Broadway title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue (written by Arthur) portraying the comedian from age 15 to 85. For this role, 23-year-old Frank earned New York’s Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics Circle nomination. He reprised the role in London’s West End and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for “Comedy Performance of the Year.” Frank played the Groucho role in the off-Broadway revival of The Cocoanuts and has played Captain Spalding in several productions of Animal Crackers, winning a Connecticut Critics Circle Award for his portrayal at Goodspeed Opera House and a Helen Hayes nomination in Washington, DC at Arena Stage. In Boston, he played the Huntington Theatre in the record-breaking run of Animal Crackers that landed Frank on the cover of American Theatre Magazine. Frank has now performed the Groucho role over 3,000 times in more than 500 cities. Recently, Frank toured An Evening With Groucho for eight weeks in Australia playing 35 cities as well as extended runs at Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. His other regional roles include Max Prince in Neil Simon’s Laughter on the 23rd Floor at the Walnut Street Theatre (which Frank also directed); George S. Kaufman in By George (a one-man play written by Frank); Oscar in The Odd Couple and leads in The Sunshine Boys, Lady in the Dark and Anything Goes. Frank directed M*A*S*H star Jamie Farr in the Kaufman & Hart comedy George Washington Slept Here and at the Walnut revivals of Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound and Lost in Yonkers. In 1995, he directed and developed the world premiere of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Old Wicked Songs. In 2001, Frank directed, producedand starred in the national PBS television program Groucho: A Life in Revue. Frank has played over 1,500 performances as the comic Latin lover Caesar in the cirque show Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle and San Francisco and in Palazzo in Amsterdam. On television, Frank played a speaking mime on Rob Corddry’s Emmy Award-winning comedy Childrens Hospital and can be heard on the animated series Garfield and SpongeBob SquarePants as Patrick’s boss. He is a question on the TV program Jeopardy. “He took his portrayal of Groucho Marx to New York in 1986.” The answer: “Who is Frank Ferrante?” Last year, Frank received a 'star' on Palm Springs Walk of Stars. The filmed version of this show is now broadcasting nationally on PBS as Frank Ferrante's GROUCHO.
Gerald Sternbach (Accompanist) is one of the busiest musical directors in LA with 12 Ovation nominations (2006 win), seven Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle nominations (winning in 2006, 2007 and 2011). He has accompanied and worked with a variety of artists including Marilyn Horne, Jennifer Hudson, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Carol Burnett, Adam Lambert, Nancy Wilson, Lainie Kazan, John Lithgow and Judith Light (most recently for her Emmy nominated performance on Transparent). For Mel Brooks, he not only played for his Live at the Geffen show (filmed for HBO), but Jerry made his West End debut at the Prince of Wales Theater playing a one night only concert with him. Southern California credits: the world premiere of Wishful Drinking (written and starring the late, great Carrie Fisher); Stephen Sondheim’s 75th Birthday Concert at the Hollywood Bowl; Grey Gardens (associate conductor, Ahmanson Theater); I Only Have Eyes for You (arranger/musical director, MontalbanTheater); Sondheim on Sondheim and Closer than Ever (International City Theater); and Love, Noel and Enter Laughing (by Carl Reiner, both at the Wallis Annenberg Center). Broadway credits include associate conductor for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Merlin and The Tap Dance Kid. National tour credits include Les Misérables (LA premiere company) and the national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance (starring Melissa Manchester). He has been an adjunct professor at Cal State University, Los Angeles for over eight years and was musical director at the Jerry Herman High School Music Theater Awards held at the Pantages Theater for four years. As a songwriter/composer, Jerry has contributed songs to three Ringling Brothers' Circuses; Heartbeats (with Amanda McBroom); A-5-6-7-8! (with Faye Greenberg); Club Mom (with Elin Hampton); and Biting Broadway! The First Successful Vampire Musical (with Jordan Beck, Richard Hochberg). His song (written with Faye Greenberg) “Mary,” a tribute to Mary Tyler Moore, was sung by Eric McCormack on the 2004 TV Land awards in the presence of the original cast of the landmark sitcom, one of the thrills of his life. Jerry accompanied extended runs of An Evening With Groucho at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse and Bucks County Playhouse and a run of the Los Angeles premiere of the long running off-Broadway hit show, Cagney. Jerry appears on the PBS broadcast of 'Groucho.'This summer, Jerry wrote, arranged and orchestrated songs for the new musical, Witnesses, written by Tony Award winner Robert Freedman.
There will be one 15 minute intermission
For more information: www.eveningwithgroucho.com
Presenting Sponsor: West TN PBS
Media Sponsor: 92.3 The Hog