Editing Marx Brothers (section)

===1924-1929: Success on Broadway===
====''I'll Say She Is''====
Having been banned from the largest vaudeville circuit, and having failed on the second largest, the Marx Brothers were at a low point. In his memoir ''Harpo Speaks'', Harpo remembered a plan to break up the team: “It had been decided that Groucho should audition as a single, Zeppo return to Chicago with Minnie, and Chico hire out as a piano player.  To all of these decisions I said: ‘Nuts’”.{{sfn|Marx|Barber|1961|p=160}}

[[Ned Wayburn]], who had produced Groucho and Gummo in The Three Nightingales,  introduced the Marxes to writers Tom and [[Will B. Johnstone|Will Johnstone]], who had an idea for a new show.  They were aware of Joe Gaites, another Shubert veteran whose show 'Gimme a Thrill' had failed. Gaites still owned the scenery and costumes from that production.  The Johnstones felt that they could put together a successful show with the Marxes using the costuming, scenery, and the more successful songs and plot from that show.{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=271}}  They found a backer: a man named James P. Beury, who had recently purchased the [[Walnut Street Theater]] in [[Philadelphia]] (and was reputedly looking for a starring vehicle for a chorus girl he was dating).{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=272}}{{sfn|Marx|1959|p=161}}

The show, rewritten by the Johnstones, and now titled ''[[I'll Say She Is]]'', premiered in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]] in May of 1923.{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=275}}  After successful initial showings, the production moved to Beury's theater in Pennsylvania for the summer. The show then played in [[Boston]] during September, followed by [[Chicago]] for the remainder of the year, before embarking on a nationwide tour.{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=280}} In May of 1924, 'I'll Say She Is' premiered on Broadway.{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=436-437}} For this momentous occasion, their mother Minnie had been getting a custom dress made when she fell and broke her ankle. Determined not to miss the premiere, she attended the show on a stretcher.{{sfn|Marx|1959|p=169}}

[[File:Casino Theatre, Broadway and 39th Street, Manhattan.jpg|thumb|Casino Theatre, Broadway and 39th Street, Manhattan, where ''I'll Say She Is'' ran]]

The Broadway premiere of ''I'll Say She Is'' launched a new phase of the Marx Brothers' careers. Positive reviews appeared in most of the New York dailies, including the [[The Sun (New York City)|New York Sun]], the [[New York Evening Post]], the [[New York Daily News]], The [[New York Daily Mirror]], and [[Life Magazine]].{{sfn|Diamond|2016|p=146-147}} The production became a commercial success, running for 313 performances and consistently playing to near-capacity audiences.{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=437}}  The reviewer for the ''Sun'' was [[Alexander Woollcott]], who was to become a lifelong friend of Harpo’s.  Woollcott introduced Harpo to the [[Algonquin Round Table]], a collection of intellectuals who met regularly at the [[Algonquin Hotel]] in [[Manhattan]].  He also convinced the brothers - who had been billed to that point as Julius, Leonard, Arthur, and Herbert - to go by their stage names in public.<ref>[https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0126108/ The Unknown Marx Brothers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405191544/https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0126108/ |date=April 5, 2022 }}, host: [[Leslie Nielsen]], writer-directors: [[David Leaf]], John Scheinfeld, [[IMDb]], (1993)</ref>

====''The Cocoanuts'' and ''Animal Crackers''====
The success of ''I'll Say She Is'' attracted numerous producers eager to develop the Marx Brothers' next show.  After being unable to come to an agreement with [[Florenz Ziegfeld]], the brothers settled on [[Sam H. Harris]], due to his association with composer [[Irving Berlin]].{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=289}}.  Harris recruited [[George S. Kaufman]], a member of the Algonquin Round Table, to write the show.  Kaufman, who knew of the brothers' tendency to harass writers and ignore the script, reportedly exclaimed, "Are you crazy? ''Write'' a show for the ''Marx'' Brothers?  I'd rather write a show for the Barbary apes!"{{sfn|Marx|Barber|1961|p=187}}  Nevertheless, Kaufman signed on, believing that a show starring the Marx Brothers, with music by Berlin, was almost certainly going to be a hit.{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=300}}

''[[The Cocoanuts]]'', penned by Kaufman, with music by Berlin, premiered in Boston in October 1925, and came to Broadway in December of that year.{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=439}}  The critics were glowing, with Woollcott saying, "It need only be reported that ''The Cocoanuts'' is so funny it's positively weakening."{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=305}} ''The Cocoanuts'' was notable for another Marx Brothers first: the inclusion in the cast of [[Margaret Dumont]], a former small-time vaudevillian who had married into wealth, become widowed, and then been forced to take the stage again.{{sfn|Bader|2022|p=307}}  Dumont played a straight foil to Groucho, a role she would go on to reprise in their next Broadway production, and in seven of their movies.

Kaufman also wrote their next production, ''[[Animal Crackers (musical)|Animal Crackers]]'' (1928–1929), with music and lyrics by [[Bert Kalmar]] and [[Harry Ruby]].