Producer Sol C. Siegel had developed a project based on the young Marx Brothers in the early 1960s with a script written by Julius J. Epstein, but it was never made.

Arthur Marx says his father was a disruptive influence at rehearsals as he kept telling anecdotes about the past and slowing down progress.

Arthur Whitelaw was going to fire her and replace her with Totie Fields but it would have cost $300,000 to pay Winters out of her contract, so it was decided to keep her.

[4] Theatre historian Ken Mandelbaum wrote Minnie's Boys "is a fine example of the dangers inherent in skipping a road tryout and the out-of-town reviews that go with it"[5] "It was a mistake not to take the show out of town," agreed Arthur Marx.

However there was a highly negative review from Clive Barnes in The New York Times which was felt to have killed the show's commercial prospects.

[12] According to Ken Mandelbaum the main problem with the show was "its lead female character was never as fascinating or colorful as Gypsy’s Rose.

The four boys, extremely well played in the musical, were far more entertaining and interesting than Minnie, but because a star had been hired for the part, the character had to be kept around even when she wasn't needed."

[14][6] The score's song "Mama, a Rainbow" has become a standard for cabaret performers,[15] and was recorded by Steve Lawrence and Jim Nabors soon after the show opened.

The cast included Erik Liberman, Pamela Myers, Jim Walton, Dan Bogart, Ryan Duncan, Nick Gaswirth, Beth Glover, Don Mayo, Nancy McCall, Emily Shoolin, Kelly Sullivan, and Stuart Zagnit.