[NEohioPAL] Dirty Rotten Scoundrels previews June 5

Janis Harcar via NEohioPAL neohiopal at lists.neohiopal.org
Thu May 29 08:01:08 PDT 2014


Weathervane Playhouse’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” Serves Up
a Devilishly Delightful Musical Comedy Treat 
Scammers, Schemers and Double-Crossers Mix and Mingle in Hilarious Tale of Con Man Versus Con Man

“The con is on!” at Weathervane Playhouse as Akron’s hometown theater closes its 2013-2014 season with the devilishly delightful musical comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – presented live on stage from June 5 to 29, 2014. 

Set against the beautiful backdrop of the French Riviera, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels tells the madcap tale of two lying, cheating, dirty, rotten con men. The high-brow sophisticate Lawrence Jameson makes his lavish living by sweet-talking rich ladies out of their money, whereas the low-brow hood Freddy Benson swindles women by waking their compassion with outrageous lies about his ill grandmother.

From outward appearances, the two scheming scammers could not be more alike. But united in their passion for separating rich women from their wallets, Freddy urges Lawrence to take him under his wing as his thieving apprentice.

Lawrence realizes quickly that there isn’t enough room in town for two con men — so he strikes a deal with Freddy: The first man to swindle $50,000 from a woman gets to stay in town while the loser must hit the road. 

The crooks set their sights on the American soap heiress Christine Colgate, who’s just blown into the French Riviera from Cincinnati. Trouble is, she just might be smarter than the two bamboozling fraudsters seeking to drain her bank account! What ensues is a hilarious battle of cons that will keep audiences laughing, humming and guessing to the end!

With its cheeky humor and outrageously risqué scenarios, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is best enjoyed by audiences over the age of 16.

Weathervane Playhouse’s production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is directed and choreographed by Jim Weaver with musical direction by John Ebner. The production is sponsored by FirstEnergy.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Performance and Ticket Information

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels plays on the Weathervane Playhouse Founders Theater stage between June 5 and 29, 2014. The performance days and times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
The low-cost preview performance is Thursday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m.; the official opening-night performance is Friday, June 6 at 8 p.m.
Tickets for the June 5 preview performance only are $19 each. Tickets for performances after June 5 are $25 each.

For performances after June 5, $21 tickets for seniors are available for Thursday and Sunday performances. Tickets for children (ages 17 or younger) and college students are $7.50 each at all performances (including the June 5 preview performance). Additional discounts for groups of 10 or larger are also available. 

The Weathervane Playhouse Box Office is open Mondays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and is also open beginning one hour before each performance. For tickets, visit or call the Weathervane Box Office at 330-836-2626 during Box Office hours or connect online to www.weathervaneplayhouse.com.
 
The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Cast
PATRICK DUKEMAN -- Lawrence Jameson

ADAM VIGNEAULT -- Freddy Benson

AMANDA DAVIS -- Christine Colgate

MEG HOPP -- Muriel Eubanks

KYLA WILLIGER -- Jolene Oakes

DANIEL COLANER -- Andre Thibault

Ensemble:
ADAM ALDERSON
TIFFANY CAGWIN
KAY CAPREZ
NOAH CASINO
JENNIFER DESBERG
KAITLYN GLOVER (Dance Captain)
DANIELLE GRUHLER
MELANIE HAUER
SHANNON KLAINER
KEVIN LAMBES
MARCUS MARTIN
DANIEL O'DONNELL

The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Creative Team

JIM WEAVER
Director and Choreographer

JOHN EBNER
Musical Director

JULIA "J.J." McADAMS
Stage Manager

JONATHON HUNTER
Lighting Designer

ERIN KATZ FORD
and HANNAH VINOGRAD
Properties Co-Designers

HAZEN TOBAR
Sound Designer

JASEN J. SMITH
Costume Designer

ALAN SCOTT FERRALL
Scenic Designer and Technical Director

KATHY KOHL
Assistant Technical Director

About the Show’s Director and Choreographer
JIM WEAVER returns to Weathervane Playhouse, where he previously directed The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 2012. Elsewhere, he has mounted shows that range from the musical comedy styling of Gilbert and Sullivan to the drama of August Wilson. Included in his body of work are productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado as well as The All Night Strut at The American Stage Festival; A Raisin in the Sun and The Hi-De-Ho Man: Cab Calloway for the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Sarasota, Florida; Five Guys Named Moe, Little Shop of Horrors, Floyd Collins and Once On This Island at the Weston Playhouse; Fences and A Soldier’s Play at the historic Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida; Ragtime for Kent State University; Junkanoo Drums at Lincoln Center (New York City); Guys and Dolls for the Fine Arts Association of Willoughby; and Ain’t Misbehavin' at Maine State Music Theatre American Stage Company, Bay Street Theatre and Weston Playhouse. Internationally, he has directed works seen in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France and Austria. He is a member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers.
About the Show’s Musical Director
JOHN EBNER most recently at Weathervane Playhouse served as the musical director for Christmas My Way and Xanadu. In prior seasons, he held the same position here for Ragtime, Putting it Together and The Drowsy Chaperone. He received a Youngstown Area Community Theater Association Marquee Award for his work on Ragtime and a Chanticleer Award for The Drowsy Chaperone. John has worked extensively in a variety of ways as musical director, keyboardist and accompanist for Canton Cabaret, Carousel Dinner Theatre, Coach House Theatre, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, The Players Guild of Canton, Western Reserve Playhouse and Voices of Canton. He has performed with Arthur Fiedler, Paul Williams and a Billy Joel tribute band at Cleveland’s House of Blues. John is a retired music teacher and continues to work with local schools in Stark and Summit Counties.
About the Show’s Production History

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is based on the film of the same name, starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin. The film itself is rumored to be a remake of the 1964 film Bedtime Story, which closely matches the plot and has the same names of its two leading men. Composer and lyricist David Yazbek happened to catch the film on television one day, and became interested in the concept. After contacting MGM to obtain the rights, TV writer Jeffrey Lane showed interest in the project and was brought on as the show’s book writer.

The musical premiered in San Diego, California on Sept. 22, 2004. The show opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on March 3, 2005. The cast included John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Sherie Rene Scott, and Joanna Gleason. Directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the production was nominated for 10 Tony Awards — including best musical, best book and best score — but it won only one, for leading actor (Butz). The show also received 10 Drama Desk Award nominations, and won one for leading actor (Butz). Dirty Rotten Scoundrels closed on Broadway on Sept. 3, 2006 after 36 previews and 627 performances.

A North American national tour launched in August of 2006 with Norbert Leo Butz reprising his role as Freddy. The tour ended in August of 2007. The next month, a 25-city non-Equity tour opened in Dayton, Ohio, and played across America until closing in Memphis, Tenn., in March of 2008. A production in London’s West End just opened in March at the Savoy Theatre and is currently booking tickets through March of 2015.

(Sources: Music Theatre International, Wikipedia.com and the Internet Broadway Database)


About the Show’s Creators
DAVID YAZBEK (music and lyrics) — A varied career as a recording artist, Emmy-winning TV and film writer, music producer and pianist has somehow led Yazbek to a career on Broadway. His three shows (The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) received a combined 25 Tony Award nominations with Yazbek being nominated three times for best score. The Full Monty won him the Drama Desk Award for Best Music. As a recording artist, Yazbek is responsible for five albums: The Laughing Man (winner NAIRD award, Best Pop Album of the Year), Tock, Damascus, Tape Recorder and the recent Evil Monkey Man. He also produced the original cast albums of his three Broadway shows, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, the first two of which were nominated for Grammy Awards. He is now Twitter-crazy @DavidYazbek.
(Source for this biographical sketch: Music Theatre International)

JEFFREY LANE (book) was most recently represented on Broadway by his work with David Yazbek for the musical version of Pedro Almodóvar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. His work for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels earned him both Tony and Drama Desk nominations, as well as the Drama League Award for Best Musical. Perhaps best known for such television programs as Mad About You, Ryan's Hope, Lou Grant, Cagney & Lacey, The AFI Life Achievement Awards, the Tony Awards broadcast, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and the miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan, he is the winner of five Emmy Awards, three Writers Guild Awards, two Peabodys, a Golden Globe and the Christopher Award, and the relatively good-natured loser of many more. According to imdb.com, he also played Clarice's father in the film The Silence of the Lambs. But he didn't.

(Source for this biographical sketch: Music Theatre International)

Weathervane Playhouse and its dedicated volunteers offer vital performing arts resources for the people of Northeastern Ohio. We create exciting and thought-provoking shows with impressive production values. Through educational programs and volunteer opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds, Weathervane serves the theater community, our patrons and our volunteers.

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.


Janis Harcar
Director of Advancement
Weathervane Playhouse
330-836-2626 X16
jharcar at weathervaneplayhouse.com



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