[NEohioPAL]Berko review: DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (Playhouse Square Center)

[Roy Berko]

Farcical ‘DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS’ pleases some at the
Palace, but...

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


‘DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS,’ which is now on stage at
the Palace Theatre, is a musical farce.  Farces aim to
entertain the audience by means of unlikely and
extravagant situations, disguises and mistaken
identities.  They contain broad physical humor and
verbal comedy of varying degrees of sophistication,
which often includes puns and sexual innuendo.   To be
effective the material must sizzle and the performance
must be right on target.  (Think Great Lakes Theatre
Festival’s ‘FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE
FORUM’ and ‘HAY FEVER.’)  Unfortunately for local
audiences, ‘DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS’ is shallow in
both book and staging.

First conceived as a movie in 1988, the film, which
starred Steve Martin and Michael Caine, is considered
by many cinema aficionados as one of the 50 most
humorous American films.

In 2005, the movie was adapted into a Broadway musical
following the same plot line.  It starred John Lithgow
and Norbert Leo Butz, and in spite of mixed reviews,
it was nominated for several Tony Awards, including
Best Musical.

The story concerns Freddy Benson, who lives off women
by conning them with stories about his fake persona. 
One day, he meets Lawrence Jamieson, who shares the
same passion.  Lawrence, however, has neither the
charm nor the maturity to pull off high level cons. 
He relies on his youth and made-up family tales.  As
there is no way two con men can work the small French
town, Lawrence and Freddy agree that the first one to
extract $50,000 from a young female target stays, and
the other leaves town.  What they fail to realize is
that a con man can also be conned!

The touring production does not have the appeal of the
Broadway production or the film.   Tom Hewitt is fine,
but not outstanding, as Lawrence.  D. B. Bonds has
some good moments as Freddy, but isn’t in the same
league as Norbert Leo Butz, who won a Tony for the
role.  Laura Marie Duncan, who has a nice voice,
doesn’t ring true as Christine Colgate, who eventually
cons the con artists.  Only Hollis Resnik stands out
as one of the ladies taken advantage of by Lawrence.

Songs like “Great Big Stuff” and “Love Is My Legs”
were audience pleasers.  However, “All About Ruprecht”
and “Ruffhousin’ Mit Shuffhausen” were just too
ridiculous to entertain anyone with at least a normal
IQ.

The dancing was often too automatic and uncreative and
the pace seemed to be that of a show which has been on
the road too long.

Capsule judgment:   The opening night audience gave
its usual Cleveland standing ovation to a production
which was basically mediocre.  This is the kind of
show that some will love, while others, like the four
ladies sitting behind me, who are self appointed
critics, were debating during intermission whether
they were going to give the show a C- or a D+. 
Whichever grade they picked was just about right.

‘DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS’ runs through  June 24 at the
Palace Theatre.  For tickets call 216-241-6000,
800-766-6048 or go on line to www.playhousesquare.com.

Playhouse Square Center’s next production is the
return of THE LION KING from August 2 through
September 9.  Tickets are now on sale.



Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info
      
Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.  His reviews also appear on www.coolcleveland.com


       
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