Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a Laugh-a-Minute at NSMT

REVIEW -- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a fun night out with a terrific cast. A ribald, raucous, resplendently fun adult musical comedy is a MUST SEE laugh fest at the North Shore Music Theater. Don’t miss it. Vaudevillian, with a lot of burlesque, wit, double entendres, whopping, hollering and fun time at the theater. Never stopped laughing.


Brent Barrett, as suave con man Lawrence, and D. B. Bonds, as “ordinary guy” Freddy, become unexpected partners in deception. Bonds’ comic timing is impeccable, and he plays beautifully off the stuffy Barrett (Lawrence). I kept thinking Martin and Lewis. Their shenanigans and double crosses, switchovers keep the show in high gear. The songs and music keep up the zany pace. The most hysterically funny number in the show is “Oklahoma,” with a real hee-haw giddy-up rhythm.

From the creators of The Full Monty and based on the popular 1988 MGM film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS centers on two con men living on the French Riviera – the suave and sophisticated Lawrence Jameson (think Cary Grant), who makes a lavish living by conning rich ladies out of their money; and a small-time crook named Freddy Benson, who swindles women by waking their compassion with fabricated stories about his grandmother’s failing health. After meeting on a train, the unlikely duo decide to team up their cons together but he small French Riviera town isn’t big enough for the two of them. They decide that the first one to swindle $50,000 from a young heiress will keep the “territory,” triumphs and the other must leave town. What follows are a series of schemes, masquerades and double-crosses in which nothing may ever be exactly what it seems.
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This adult musical comedy left me smirking, guffawing, howling and rocking with laughter – along with the rest of the audience – for almost the entire musical. Innuendo, double entendres, risqué lyrics, sexy dancing, singing, patter combine with a lilting, hip, happy beat and songs made this a Numero Uno night at the theater. The show is non-stop action, with never a minute to catch my breath. Sitting on an aisle, with cast rushing down towards the stage for the multitude scene changes, I felt part of the action. And I loved it.

The fab actors, and ensemble, kept a smart pace with the words and song, from Act I as the show opens on the French Riviera, where Lawrence is a con artist making a very nice living off the lonely wealthy women who vacation there, although he justifies that they are equal partners in deluding themselves (Give Them What They Want). His story is that he is a prince whose kingdom is being threatened by revolutionaries, and he is attempting to find the money to raise an army.

One of the women who donates to his cause, a divorcee named Muriel, whom he met on the train to finds herself wondering the next morning if there isn't more she can to help (What Was a Woman to Do).

Lawrence gets word that another well-known con artist, who goes by the name of "The Jackal", is heading to town. On a return trip from Switzerland, he meets Freddy, who is working his small-time grift on a fellow passenger. Assuming that Freddy is the Jackal, Lawrence convinces him that Beaumont Sur Mer is not worth his while and sends him on his way. However, a chance encounter with Muriel shows Freddy that Lawrence is a fraud, and he confronts him at his palatial estate. The splendor of Lawrence's world overwhelms Freddy, who begs him to teach him what he knows so that he too can get some Great Big Stuff. Meanwhile, Lawrence asks Andre to make sure Muriel stays away.
Now comes the scene that steals the show: Oklahoma! With the lithe, gorgeous, Jolene played by Jennifer Cody. She is engaged to Lawrence, who is about to break up with her, after taking some of her dough, but she had planned to have her Daddy’s private jet fly in that night pick them both up and high-tail it to Oklahoma for the wedding. Lawrence doesn’t want to live with her – she is an empty-headed, bossy twit, albeit rich, so devises a plan so she will dump him.
When Lawrence attempts to show Freddy how it's done by winning over the rich Jolene, his plan backfires as she becomes convinced they will marry and move back to her home (Oklahoma). In order to get out of this mess, Freddy poses as Lawrence's younger brother, who manages to repulse Jolene enough to make her leave (All About Ruprecht).

Lawrence's assistant-in-crime, the police chief Andre, is unimpressed with Freddy (Chimp in a Suit), and warns that he could give them all away. Meanwhile, the Colglate heiress, Christine, arrives and Lawrence and Freddy both woo her. Brynn O’Malley, as Christine, is a treasure, a great singer, actress and dancer and a beautiful. Another women, flitting through the play, is the plain Muriel, played by Lynne Wintersteller, who’s got her own surprise.

Oh, but wait until Act II to see who gives the game up. I’m not telling. Who is the Jackal? Who is the biggest con artist of all?

Book by Jeffrey Lane, Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek, Based on the film "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" written by Dale Launer and Stanley Shapiro & Paul Henning. The North Shore Music Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Steven Freeman, was terrific. Costumes tantalizing, especially in the Oklahoma number; lighting, good, sets, good, direction by Mark Martino, superb; choreography by Denis Jones, terrific.