[NEohioPAL] Review: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: CVLT

[Martin Friedman]

Monday, April 4, 2011
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Chagrin Valley Little Theatre
Christine Howey 
is an award-winning theater critic, having been named Best Critic in Ohio by 
both the Press Club of Cleveland and the Society of Professional Journalists. 
She has been a theater critic for Cleveland Free Times, Cleveland Scene, and 
City Pages in Minneapolis, MN. Christine also acted and directed locally, 
primarily at Dobama Theatre, from 1969-1985. http://raveandpan.blogspot.com/
The plus side of being a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist is that life often presents 
you with happy surprises. And one of those nuggets of joy reside in Dirty Rotten 
Scoundrels now at CVLT, where two actors in the leads make this con artist 
musical come to hilarious life.
The performances of Rob Albrecht and Trey Gilpin as the competitive con men 
Lawrence and Freddy, on the make in the south of France, bring out all the fun 
of this show. With clever lyrics (and often forgettable music) by David Yazbek 
and a fairly predictable book by Jeffrey Lane, Scoundrels is a piece yearning 
for just the right people in the two major roles.
Director Martin Friedman hits the comedy target almost perfectly with his duo. 
Albrecht plays the dapper grifter Lawrence with smooth condescension and a handy 
grab bag of Euro accents. Plus, he uses his rich baritone voice to excellent 
effect in his songs, particularly the second act “Love Sneaks In.”
But the featured role is Freddy, the common, two-bit hustler who first is 
tutored by Lawrence and then competes with him to see who can fleece the 
supposed American heiress Christine Colgate. Gilpin slides into this character 
with enormous physical ease, then proceeds to craft a few laugh-out-loud set 
pieces, including a stint as Lawrence’s offensive “brother” Ruprecht.
Although relying a bit too often on the gag of pulling or emitting various 
unpleasantries from different bodily orifices, the rumpled Gilpin can throw away 
a laugh line with the best of them. And that results in a performance that 
consistently delights from start to finish.
Playing the mark Christine, Heather Hersh has a gawky and gangly innocence that 
works well for her character, although she wrestles with her songs—losing three 
out of four falls in the process. 

Sharon Lloyd as the rich Muriel Eubanks and Eric Oswald as the malleable local 
gendarme Andre have fun with their tryst in the second act, especially in their 
ditty “Like Zis-Like Zat.” And Libby Merriman kicks up some laughter in her 
musical tribute to Oklahoma: “Not a tree or a Jew/To block the lovely view.”
While the production feels a bit arthritic in the larger scenes where the 
ensemble is called upon to perform, this Scoundrels soars on the wings of its 
two leads. And that makes for an often giddy ride.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Through April 16 at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, 40 River St., Chagrin Falls, 
440-247-8955
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20110406/ed188a56/attachment-0003.htm>