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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:22.0pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>DIRTY ROTTEN
SCOUNDRELS<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Now <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>this</i> is
something you simply will not want to miss!</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Director Jack O�Brien, choreographer Jerry Mitchell, and our
friend, song writer-lyricist David <span class=SpellE>Yazbek</span>�the team
who did the wonderful musical adaptation of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Full Monty</i> a few years ago�have combined once again, this time with Jeffrey
Lane (book) and David Rockwell (set design), to create a stylish, intelligent,
rollickingly fun new musical, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Dirty Rotten Scoundrels</i></b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The story line is essentially the same as
that of the 1988 Frank Oz film of the same name, starring Michael <span
class=SpellE>Caine</span> and Steve Martin:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>a tall, handsome, suave, and debonair con man named Lawrence Jameson
(John Lithgow) is elegantly wooing and cleverly swindling rich women on the
French Riviera, when Freddy Benson (Norbert Leo <span class=SpellE>Butz</span>),
a short, boorish, small-time <span class=SpellE>grifter</span> from America
arrives in town; they clash, eventually collaborate, and finally end up in a
competition to see which of them can con a newly arrived American heiress
Christine Colgate (<span class=SpellE>Sherie</span> Rene Scott) out of
$50,000�with the loser having to leave town.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>In this stage version, there is an additional subplot about one of
Jameson�s victims, Muriel �of Omaha� Eubanks (Joanna Gleason) becoming
romantically involved with the town�s chief of police, Andr� (Gregory <span
class=SpellE>Jbara</span>), who also is Jameson�s accomplice in crime.</p>
<p>The opening was last evening (3 March 2005), and today�s reviews, while
generally extremely positive, were strangely mixed.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><a
href="http://www.nypost.com/theatre/41724.htm">Clive Barnes</a> in the <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>New York Post </i>(�<span style='color:windowtext'>super-smart
new musical</span>�; �<span style='color:windowtext'>one of the liveliest,
best-performed musicals in years�; �In every way, this is a superior musical�)</span>,
<a
href="http://www.ny1.com/ny/Search/SubTopic/index.html?&contentintid=48739&search_result=1">Roma
<span class=SpellE>Torre</span></a> [for those of you with broadband
capabilities, this link has her televised segment available, with a few short
video clips from some of the numbers] from NY1 (�it's a treat for audiences
craving something smart, catchy, and fun�; �a dazzling gem�; �This is a finely
crafted musical that would be a crime to miss.�) , and<a
href="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110988906900369935-email,00.html"><span
style='text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'> Terry <span class=SpellE>Teachout</span></span></a>
of the <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Wall Street Journal</i>
(�wonderfully, almost arrogantly entertaining�; " more than just a vehicle
for its superlative stars: It's an exemplary piece of comic craftsmanship�) all
seemed to love it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Meanwhile, <a
href="http://theater2.nytimes.com/2005/03/04/theater/reviews/04DIRT.html">Ben
Brantley</a> of the New York Times had a <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>markedly</i>
different opinion:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>he seemed unable to
get beyond some notion that the play represented merely a not particularly
successful attempt to recreate <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Producers</i> (OK, both plays are based on movies that do involve two men of
very different types who bilk women�but come on:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>these are vastly different plays about vastly
different things), and he was unable to grant much of anything positive about
it (except, perhaps, for acknowledging �Mr. <span class=SpellE>Yazbek's</span>
sophisticated knack, much needed on Broadway��only then to say it was not
present in several numbers).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Everyone,
including Brantley, seemed to appreciate Mr. <span class=SpellE>Butz�s</span>
exciting performance�and some, like Roma <span class=SpellE>Torre</span>,
labeled<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it �a breakout performance
that's so sensational, it alone makes �Dirty Rotten Scoundrels� a must-see�;
and most recognized the excellence of Mr. Lithgow�s performance.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was Clive Barnes, however, who best
captured the extraordinary effect of the synergy between their
performances:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>�Lithgow � superior from
fingertips to toenails, and imbued with an elegance that could shatter a
looking-glass � finds the perfect foil in <span class=SpellE>Butz's</span>
grotesquely bravura yet perversely charming cunning. They are a stunning team.
Indeed, watching the savvy way Lithgow lobs back <span class=SpellE>Butz's</span>
virtuoso histrionics is one of Broadway's purest delights.<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>�</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I, in fact, found it to be an incredibly enjoyable
show.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It has become tighter and punchier
than when we saw it open in San Diego.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>It is engaging, absorbing, and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>very</i>
funny.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The acting is on all sides good,
and on some, inspired.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The characters
are wonderful, and they are played to perfection by this extraordinary cast.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The singing is solid, and occasionally
exceptional:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Sherie</span>
Rene Scott has the best voice of the cast, but Norbert Leo <span class=SpellE>Butz</span>
certainly can belt out a comic song to great effect, and John Lithgow, as even
Ben Brantley noted in the <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Times</i>,
�does fine by a <ALT-CODE value="Harrison, Rex" idsrc="nyt-per" />Rex
Harrison-style patter number.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The
numbers done by the talented Joanna Gleason and Gregory <span class=SpellE>Jbara</span>
are quite lovely and satisfyingly humorous.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>And even the �<span class=SpellE>hootin</span> n� <span class=SpellE>hollerin</span>�
over-the-top number done by Sara <span class=SpellE>Gettelfinger</span>�singing
the praises of her character <span class=SpellE>Joalene</span> Oakes� home
state of Oklahoma, where there�s �Not a tree / Or a Jew / To block the lovely
view��is thoroughly successful.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Jerry
Mitchell�s choreography fits right in with the tone and feel of the show:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>as Clive Barnes writes, it �enlivens every
step of the way.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And the dancers are
remarkably adept at realizing his intentions�although some of the main
characters are not quite as adept at this as they might be. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The sets by David Rockwell are sheer genius.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>David uses a minimalist approach to create a
totally luscious environment:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the
evocative gesture of colorful, stylized palm fronds rotating inward and
downwards from high on opposite sides of the stage bring one outside onto the
Riviera; a <span class=SpellE>perspectivally</span>-distorted, silver
chandelier descends to suggest that one is now in a grand interior space; and
the single presence of an elegantly curved staircase framing a set of French
doors underneath it is virtually all that is necessary to create all of the
various rooms of the lavish, palatial villa of Lawrence Jameson.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And, as it does so effectively with the
staircase of the villa, the rotation of the central stage is used masterfully
to multiply the spatial possibilities, and infuse the set with the action of
the drama�and the movement of the various components of the set add a sense of
action and vitality to what is occurring in the drama<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As Terry <span class=SpellE>Teachout</span>
of the <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Journal</i> put it, �David
Rockwell, who designed the quick-change sets, deserves a special Tony for Best
Use of a Turntable.�</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Without making too insistent a point of it, there are
moments when the boundary between the theatrical reality and the reality of the
theater are playfully stretched:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>in the
midst of one musical number early in the first act when the female members of
the ensemble begin, one at a time, to sing as conquests of Lawrence Jameson�s
charms, they are joined from the theater floor by an �usher� who begins singing
about her enchantment with some guy she has just moved down from the balcony to
Row G in the orchestra; and there are several moments at which one of the
actors communicates something to the orchestra�or to the audience; and there is
one emotionally charged moment when one of the main characters makes an exit
out through the aisle of the theater.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I can, of course, be accused of being biased, but I think
David <span class=SpellE>Yazbek�s</span> music and lyrics are the magnificent
heart and soul of the show. They are intellectual and emotional, moving and
silly, profound and profane, lyric and rhythmic, very traditional and very
current.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But Clive Barnes rather shared
my opinion about what he called �<span class=SpellE>Yazbek's</span> divinely
offbeat songs�:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>�The quirky brilliance
of composer David <span class=SpellE>Yazbek</span> is on full display. The
songs enhance and propel the plot with such resounding force, you need to
listen to every word.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It may be an odd
association, but to me David�s songs for <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Dirty
Rotten Scoundrels</i> are most reminiscent of Cole Porter!<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is not that they are in the style of Cole
Porter; it is that they are in the <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>spirit</i>
of Cole Porter.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is a
sophistication in the word-play�even when the content is at its earthiest�that
interacts with the elegance of the musical-play in a way that is so rich and so
refined�even when the tune is a driving, modern, popular form�that the result
is sublime.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There has been no other
unique presence of the stature of David <span class=SpellE>Yazbek</span> in
musical theater for many, many decades.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>But, most of all, his music is fun!</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The show has a running time of two hours and thirty-five
minutes.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is long, but it moves you
right along with it�and the pace and energy of the show builds as it goes.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Early on you will find yourself completely
and pleasantly absorbed; but by the time you are hit by the final number, the
show has you!</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>This is a wonderful, fun experience.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Don�t miss it.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And plan ahead:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it is already not an easy ticket to get.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(I�ve now seen it twice, and I�m arranging
for a third time in April.)</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Dirty Rotten Scoundrels</i></b> is at the <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Imperial Theater</b>, 249 West 45th Street</p>
<p class=MsoNormal> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Tickets are available through <a
href="http://www.telecharge.com/go.aspx?MD=102&PID=2107&AID=BWY000210700"><span
class=SpellE>Telecharge</span></a>; or, if, you are a Gold or Platinum Card
member, better tickets are available through <a
href="http://www.broadwayoffers.com/">American Express</a>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Good, but <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>very</i>
pricey tickets are available through <a
href="http://www.tickco.com/buy/theatre/dirty-rotten-scoundrels-ny.asp">Tickco.com</a>.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The Official Website:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span><a href="http://www.dirtyrottenscoundrelsthemusical.com/">http://www.dirtyrottenscoundrelsthemusical.com/</a></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><img border=0 width=573 height=6
id="_x0000_i1025" src=line1.gif></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><a href="http://www.rlrubens.com/"><i>Return
to Dead Parrot home page. </i></a></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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