Marx Brothers Marx Brothers until the premiere of "I'll Say She Is", which was their first Broadway show, so this would mean that they used their real names throughout their vaudeville days, and that the name "Gummo" never appeared in print during his time in the act. Other sources reported that the Marx Brothers went by their nicknames during their vaudeville era, but briefly listed themselves by their given names when "I'll Say She Is" opened because they were worried that a Broadway audience would reject a vaudeville act if they were perceived as low class. The Marx Brothers' stage shows became
I'll Say She Is autobiography "Harpo Speaks" (1961), Harpo wrote that theatre critic Alexander Woollcott encouraged the Brothers to use their stage names in any subsequent production, which they did, starting with their next Broadway show, "The Cocoanuts" (1925), which was later turned into a film version in 1929. Having toiled on the Vaudeville circuit for nearly a quarter century, this would be the last stage performance that The Marx Brothers would perform for Vaudeville theaters. Once "I'll Say She Is" hit Broadway, they never left. They would have two further Broadway hits, "The Cocoanuts" and "Animal Crackers", which were then filmed in the