{"id":3834,"date":"2010-02-21T07:07:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-21T15:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=3834"},"modified":"2010-02-21T07:07:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-21T15:07:00","slug":"a-dirty-rotten-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=3834","title":{"rendered":"A Dirty, Rotten, Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Ever since I\u2019ve heard the music from David Yazbek<\/a>\u2019s \u201cDirty Rotten Scoundrels<\/i>\u201d in 2005, I\u2019ve wanted to see the show. But it has never worked out—either it was at a theatre that didn\u2019t discount from their full high prices (cough, Pantages, cough, Theatre League) or at locations that were a pain (cough, south Orange County) or at times that didn\u2019t work. Luckily, the stars finally came together this winter: a local company doing the show at a local theatre, and putting half-price tickets up on LA Stage Tix<\/a>. So last night, we went to the NoHo Arts Center<\/a> in North Hollywood to see the show, which was being produced by the center\u2019s newest resident company, Interact Theatre Company<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDirty Rotten Scoundrels<\/a><\/i>\u201d is based on the 1988 movie with Steve Martin and Michael Caine<\/a> (written by Dale Launer<\/a>, Stanley Shapiro<\/a>, and Paul Henning<\/a>). Adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Lane<\/a>, and with music and lyrics by David Yazbek<\/a>, the story centers on two competing con men living on the French Riviera. At first, the suave and experienced Lawrence Jameson takes the rookie con man, Freddy, under his wing. But soon, Freddy tries to compete directly with Lawrence. The competition comes to a peak when they agree that the first con man to extract $50,000 from the female heiress, Christine Colgate, wins and the other must leave town forever. Going into further details might spoil the story for those who haven\u2019t seen it, so I\u2019ll note there is a more detailed synopsis on Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those that have seen the movie or this musical know that the story is a very funny one. This is a comedy, not a social commentary (although I still insist that the song \u201cChimp in a Suit\u201d could have applied to a past occupant of the White House). For this to work, you need to have actors that can channel their funny, and that don\u2019t mind being silly at times. This is not a show that calls for underplaying and subtlety. Luckily, Interact has cast some very talented actors in the lead positions that do just that. Leading the show are Chip Phillips<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup> as Lawrence Jameson and Matt Wolpe<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup> (FB<\/a>) as Freddy Benson. These two men have excellent coming timing, and reasonably strong singing voices (there were only a few spots where they could have been a tad louder). Their vocal quality is very similar to the original leads in the roles (John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz, respectively), and they were a joy to watch. Supporting them as the Chief of Police, Andre Thipault, was Michael Manuel<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>. Manual gave a very strong performance and had a strong singing voice in his main songs: \u201cM0nkey in a Suit\u201d and \u201cLike Zis\/Like Zat\u201d. <\/p>\n

As for the ing\u00e9nues who were, ahem, worked over by these men… the first one we meet is Muriel Eubanks of Omaha, played by Susan Hull<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>. No, she doesn\u2019t constantly sing and hold her arms in the air in the manner of a last act finale (does anyone get that reference?), but she does give a wonderfully comic performance as a woman first interested in Jameson, and later interested in Andre. She has some great numbers such as \u201cWhat Was a Woman to Do?\u201d and \u201cLike Zis\/Like Zat\u201d. The next lady we meet is Jolene Oakes, a heiress from Oklahoma, played by Tracy Powell<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, who also goes after Lawrence. Her introductory number, \u201cOklahoma\u201d is a comic gem when you look at the words closely. Our last leading lady is the soap queen, Christine Colgate, played by Kelly Lohman<\/a>. Yet another strong actress who captures the comedy well, Lohman has a number of excellent numbers, with the introductory number, \u201cHere I Am\u201d, being one of my favorites. However, all three leading female leads have a common problem: although they sang the songs well, they need a bit more power in the presentation—they need to belt the numbers a bit more. \u201cHere I Am\u201d also highlights another minor problem with the show (which is also seen in \u201cRuffhousin’ mit Shuffhausen\u201d): they hold back a bit on the physical comedy. In other words, the clumsiness of Christine Colgate or the switch hitting of Dr. Shuffhausen needs to visibly appear to hurt, and the stage performance held back a bit. This is more likely a problem with the direction of Richard Israel<\/a>, as the actors would follow the director\u2019s instructions here, but I do hope they can improve this a bit.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the ensemble were a team of four men and four women. The men were Steven Connor<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, James Benjamin Cooper<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, Robert Briscoe Evans<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, and Marc Fellnererez\u00e6<\/sup>. All were good, but none particularly stand out in my memory. The women were Ellen Dostal<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, Jessica Evans<\/a>, Melanie Rockwell<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, and Sara J. Stuckey<\/a>. All were strong singers and comics. Of these I was particularly enamored with Ms. Dostal and Ms. Evans. Different looks than most actresses for both, and both were just fun to watch.
\n[\u00e6<\/sup> denotes members of \"\u00e6\" Actors Equity<\/a> ]<\/font><\/p>\n

Turning to the technical side: The production was directed by Richard Israel<\/a>, who as done a number of West Coast Ensemble\u2019s musicals. The direction here was good and made the most of the small stage, however (as noted above) there were a few scenes where the comic pain was dialed down, and this was distinctly felt. Choreography was by Tracy Powell<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup> and was quite good: I enjoyed the stage coverage, I enjoyed the soft shoe numbers, and it was just fun. The set was designed by Deborah \u201cDove\u201d Huntley (assisted by Robert Corn), who took the small stage at the No Ho Arts Center and turned it into the Riviera. I should note this is not an easy task: remember, Scoundrels<\/i> was on Broadway with numerous set changes, and this production transferred that to a single set with no flyspace (only movable props) in a 99-seat theatre. The costumes by Meagan Evers evoke the mood quite well within the likely budget for this show, although a bit more \u201coomph\u201d would likely have been nice. Lighting was by Carol Doehring<\/a> (who for some reason didn\u2019t have a bio in the program) and was quite good: no follow spots, but general lighting and a few effective gobos created the moods and illuminated everything. If there was a weak technical area, it was the sound by Matt Richter: although there were drop mikes, they seemed ineffectual, leading to my comments above about the lead actresses needing stronger voices. Stronger unobtrusive light amplification could have helped quite a bit. The stage manager was Faryl Saar, and Carla Marnett was the producer.<\/p>\n

The musical director was Johanna Kent, who we have seen in a number of productions. She led the small orchestra, consisting of piano (Kent), drums (Mike Wachs), Bass (Clyde Yashuara), and keyboards\/clarinet\/saxophone (Patrick Burns). This small group was likely due to the size limitations of the facility, but it did hurt the show. Scoundrels<\/i> needs strong music, and the addition of some real horns would likely have helped this quite a bit (although it likely would have forced amplification of the actors).<\/p>\n

\u201cDirty Rotten Scoundrels<\/i>\u201d continues at NoHo Arts Center until March 21. Tickets are available through Interact<\/a>. Half-price tickets, if available, are through LAStageTix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Theatre<\/b>. As for us, what\u2019s upcoming on the theatre calendar<\/a>? Today sees two more productions: this afternon brings \u201cRay Bradbury\u2019s Wisdom 2116<\/a><\/i>\u201d at the Fremont Theatre Center in South Pasadena<\/a>, and this evening brings the February installment of \u201cMeeting of Minds<\/i>\u201d<\/a> (Episode 23 with Jean Smart as Catherine the Great, Ian Buchanan as Oliver Cromwell, and James Handy as Daniel O’Connell) at the Steve Allen Theatre in Hollywood. The last week of February is open, and may remain that way as we\u2019re seeing our congregation\u2019s Purim Schpeil on Sunday evening. March starts with \u201cThe Story of My Life<\/i>\u201d at the Havok Theatre<\/a> on March 6 @ 8pm (where we\u2019ll be joined by shutterbug93<\/a>). March 13 brings \u201cCelebrate Dance 2010<\/a><\/i>\u201d at the Alex Theatre in Glendale; followed the next day by \u201cOn Golden Pond<\/i>\u201d at REP East<\/a>. March 21 will be another installment of \u201cMeeting of Minds<\/a><\/i>\u201d. April brings more of potential interest, most currently pending ticketing, including \u201cJacques Brel is Alive and Living in Paris<\/i>\u201d at the Colony Theatre<\/a> (likely April 10 or April 16), \u201cDamn Yankees\u201d at Van Nuys HS (April 15-17), the April installment of \u201cMeeting of Minds<\/a>\u201d at the Steve Allen Theatre on April 18, \u201c12 Angry Men\u201d at REP East<\/a> (likely April 24), and the So Cal Ren Faire<\/a> (either April 25 or May 16). May looks to be equally busy, with \u201cLittle Shop of Horrors<\/i> at Cabrillo Music Theatre<\/a> (May 1), \u201cSee What I Wanna See<\/i>\u201d at the Blank<\/a> (likely May 9), \u201cThe 39 Steps<\/i>\u201d at the Ahmanson<\/a> (likely May 15), the May installment of \u201cMeeting of Minds<\/i><\/a>\u201d at the Steve Allen Theatre (May 16), the Spring Dance Show at Van Nuys HS (May 20-22), and \u201cThe Wedding Singer<\/i>\u201d at Repertory East Playhouse in Newhall<\/a> (likely May 30). <\/p>\n

As always: live theatre is a gift and a unique experience, unlike a movie. It is vitally important in these times that you support your local arts institutions. If you can afford to go to the movies, you can afford to go to theatre. If you need help finding ways, just drop me a note and I\u2019ll teach you some tricks. Lastly, I\u2019ll note that nobody paid me anything to write this review. In fact, I receive no remuneration for any reviews I write.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever since I\u2019ve heard the music from David Yazbek\u2019s \u201cDirty Rotten Scoundrels\u201d in 2005, I\u2019ve wanted to see the show. But it has never worked out—either it was at a theatre that didn\u2019t discount from their full high prices (cough, Pantages, cough, Theatre League) or at locations that were a pain (cough, south Orange County) Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,28,1],"tags":[212,331,323],"class_list":["post-3834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-theatre","category-lj-xfer","tag-noho-arts-center","tag-reviews-2010","tag-theatre-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}