The Ritz Brothers,,,,appear a unified whole; three brothers reveling, almost as one…they moved, spoke, and sang in perfect harmony. They feel less like a comedy team and more like a single comedian tripled. The Ritzes represent the comedy of unity—not to the outside aggravators who step in their path, but within their group. They are as tightly bound and energetically vibrant as an atom.”

As a stage director who always strove for tight precision in musical numbers and staging, I know how difficult it is to achieve the coordination that the Ritz Brothers appeared to display effortlessly. (So did my often exasperated casts.) Many of the great physical comics of the past, from Chaplin to “Seinfeld’s” Michael Richards, impress with their obvious dedication to perfection, but only the Ritzes combine that perfection with the collective exactitude of the Rockettes.

The Ritzes (their real surname was “Joachim”: they claimed to have named themselves in honor of Ritz Crackers) displayed in their dancing the same ethereal chemistry that makes the harmony inmusical sibling acts like the Everly Brothers, the Osmonds and the Andrews Sisters impossible to achieve with unrelated combos. Unlike most family acts, the Ritz Brothers never broke up when a single member had a chance to become a star. Harry was offered many lucrative opportunities to become a featured comedian, and always refused. He even stuck with brother Jimmy after the death in 1965 of Al Ritz ended the trio as well as making the act a shadow of its former glory.

So the Ritz Brothers weren’t only unique and superb at what they did, they were ethical too.

Attention should be paid.