Sometimes, you come across a memory in the oddest place. I recently opened a drawer looking for one thing and found two old ticket stubs to the Hermosa Beach Playhouse located, amazingly, in Hermosa Beach, California. They were from October 29, 2002 — a little over 23 years and one month ago. That was the day four of us — my friend Carolyn, my friend Gordon Kent, Gordon's lovely wife (and my friend) Donna and Yours Truly — went there to see a show I'd heard good things about. It was called An Evening with Groucho and it starred a gent named Frank Ferrante who, word had it, did an uncanny and respectful impersonation of Groucho Marx.
We had what I recall as a not-very-good dinner at a nearby restaurant, then went to the playhouse and took our seats. Gordon was, as I am, a staunch Marx Brothers fan and he was probably harder to impress than I was.
The play started…as most plays do. This Frank Ferrante guy entered and I don't recall the specifics of what he did. What I do remember is that within a minute or two, I could relax and think, "Oh, this is good." Because we've all sat through things that weren't and the meal we'd just had was bad enough. And I recall looking over at Gordon a couple minutes later into the play and he was laughing and obviously very pleased, as well.
And what I really remember is after the show. Mr. Ferrante, still in full Groucho drag, was out in the lobby posing for photos and also selling and signing CDs. There was a long line because everyone in the house (it seemed) wanted to at least tell him how much they enjoyed the show. It meant a long wait but we wanted to tell him how much we'd enjoyed what he did on stage.
We were the last ones in that line and we must have talked for twenty minutes. Frank was charming and funny and we've been good friends since that evening. I've probably seen him perform a dozen times, often traveling great distances to do so, and I've always enjoyed what he does. I've even seen him play Pseudolus in a production of my favorite musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He was terrific and believe me: If he wasn't, I'd be on this blog and friendship or no friendship, I'd say so. I'm very particular about my Pseudoluses.
It made me happy to find those stubs and to realize just how long I've known this guy. He's about to embark on a series of shows in Florida playing one of his non-Groucho identities. If you live down there, here's his schedule. He's funny even when the mustache isn't painted-on.