Groucho, Chico, Harpo and, yes, even Zeppo live again in the Goodspeed Opera House production of "Animal Crackers," which begins previews Wednesday at the East Haddam theater.

The original 1928 stage musical was written especially for the Marx Brothers, then a star comedy team on Broadway, by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. In 1930 the show was made into the Marx Brothers' second film.

Groucho played Captain Spaulding, the African explorer who shot an elephant in his pajamas ("How he got in my pajamas, I'll never know"). The story ostensibly centers on a stolen painting at a Long Island mansion of society grande dame Mrs. Rittenhouse, originally played by Margaret Dumont. Chico and Harpo play piano, harp and, in one famous scene, bridge.

The musical, with songs by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby ("The Five O'Clock Girl"), features "Hooray for Captain Spaulding," which later became the theme music for Groucho's television series, "You Bet Your Life."

The Goodspeed production is directed by Charles Repole, who knows something about stepping into the role made famous by another comedian -- Eddie Cantor. In the late '70s, Repole starred in Goodpseed's production of "Whoopee!," which later moved to Broadway.

"I'll tell you truthfully," says Repole during a recent break in rehearsals, "I never once felt I was doing Eddie Cantor."

But the Marx Brothers and "Animal Crackers" are another story because the public memory of the film and the comedy team are so strong.

"These guys must feel like they're doing the Marx Brothers," Repole says of the show's leading actors. "But they're doing it within the context of the play, which means they have to have other skills actors have.

Repole says his actors have been studying Marx Brothers films, mimicking the comics at first, but only as a means to get to "the comic essence."

"If you have that essence," he says, "we'll believe them doing all the other stuff. I think initially you start out doing some copying. It's like a dance step. But then you move on.

"They've grabbed onto the heart of the brothers, and they've moved it into their own bodies," he says. "So yes, the physicality looks exactly the same, but it's not, really."

This is not the first time "Animal Crackers" has been revived. In 1982 there was a production at Washington's Arena Theatre. In the late '80s the show was presented at Boston's Huntington Theatre and Atlanta's Alliance Theatre.

Frank Ferrante, who played Groucho in the latter two productions, agrees with Repole's approach to tackling the Marx Brothers.

"To some extent, it is a re-creation [of the Marx Brothers]," says Ferrante. "But I've got to bring my own spin to it. No one can be exactly like Groucho, and no one should try. I think I nail his essence pretty well. I think the physical similarities are there."

Ferrante, 29, has played Groucho since he was 10 and saw "A Day at the Races." He has played Groucho professionaly since he was a drama student at the University of Southern California in the early '80s. Ferrante portrayed Groucho from age 15 to 85 in "Groucho: A Life in Revue" in London, New York and Los Angeles. He earned a nomination for London's Laurence Olivier Award and won New York's Theatre World Award and Los Angeles' Drama-Logue Award.

Les Marsden, who was also in "Groucho: A Life in Revue," plays Harpo in the Goodspeed production. Chico is played by Robert Michael Baker. Craig Rubano portrays Zeppo. Celia Tackaberry, who played on Broadway in the Marx Brothers-inspired show "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine," plays the Dumont role at Goodspeed.

Unlike some attempts at re-creating other famous comedians (such as W.C. Fields, Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy), Repole says it's not a sacrilege to try to re create the Marx Brothers comedy. That's because the Marx Brothers created an archetype, similar to that of the commedia dell'arte, a type of classic Italian comedy where generations of actors play the same stereotypical comic icon such as Pantaloon, Harlequin and Columbine.

Groucho Marx, says Repole, created the stage and screen Groucho who stayed the same throughout his entire career, whether playing Capt. Jeffrey T. Spaulding, Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, Rufus T. Firefly, Otis B. Driftwood or Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush.

Repole says movies with Groucho, Chico and Harpo "are Doris Day movies. Doris was always the same. And they're always the same." And then there's Zeppo.

"What is a Zeppo?" says Repole of the fourth, faceless Marx Brother.

"He was really the extra cog in all of this. He was sometimes put in the male ingenue bracket, and I don't like that. I prefer to think of him as the ultimate straight man, almost a cue-card holder. So when he comes in, he plants his feet and he does what he has to do, and he leaves the stage. He is there to service the piece."

Repole says 2 1/2 hours of just the Marx Brothers might be a little overwhelming for modern audiences. "But could we take 2 1/2 hours of a musical with them? Yes. I think if you surround this re-creation with a musical, a real musical, and a real story, then it's not as difficult. Initially there was no real story. It was a

`Hellzapoppin' ' with the Marx Brothers, and they were allowed to do whatever they wanted."

Repole says he has restructured the original show, taking out a few songs, adding several from other Kalmar and Ruby shows, and refocusing and strengthening the story. "It's still thin, but it's not invisible, and it's all connected."

Repole stresses that the show is not camp. "I make it surreal," he says. "The whole thing is not a burlesque. The Rittenhouse household is a real world, and when the Marx Brothers come on, it's a surreal one."

Will audiences feel they're seeing the Marx Brothers?

"I hope they'll feel a real essence and the spirit and the ghosts in a very strong way," says Repole. "But beyond that, they're riding on a really lovely musical with heart."

Still, some say re-creating the Marx Brothers is foolhardy.

"It is foolhardy," he says, "but fun foolhardy."

Previews for "Animal Crackers" begin Wednesday at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam. The press opening is Oct. 16, and the show continues through Dec. 20. Performances are Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 9 p.m., Sundays at 2 and 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday matinees at 2:30. Tickets are $19 to $28.50 and are available at the box office or by calling there at 873-8668

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