Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

The musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is based on the 1988 MGM film of the same name which takes us to the French Riviera for high jinks and hilarity. Sophisticated, suave with a good dash of mischief, this hysterical comedy features a delightfully jazzy score by David Yazbek (The Full Monty) and was nominated for a staggering eleven Tony Awards. The story centres on Lawrence Jameson who makes his lavish living by talking rich ladies out of their money and Freddy Benson who more humbly swindles women out of their money by waking their compassion with fabricated stories about his grandmother’s failing health. They meet and attempt to work together, only to find that this small French town isn’t big enough for the two of them. They agree on a settlement: the first one to extract £50,000 from a young female target, heiress, Christine Colgate, wins, and the other must leave town. A hilarious battle of cons ensues that will keep you laughing, humming and guessing to the end; but wait for the twist!

This was my first visit to see St Ambrose Players and having never seen either the film version or the musical version of ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ –  I was hoping for a fascinating and entertaining evening – I was not disappointed!

It isn’t very often that I can say that the male leads ‘stole the show’;  but in Mark Kendall as Lawrence Jameson, Mikey Coleman as ‘Freddy Benson’ and Matt Clark as ‘Andre Thibault’ we had a ‘trio’ of guys ‘ on top of their game’.  Mark Kendall was totally believable as the resident scoundrel ‘Lawrence Jameson’. Confident, assuming, his characterisation of the suavely rogue was excellent; extracting money from vulnerable women with ease, he proved the perfect foil for Freddy.  ‘Freddy’ played by Mikey Coleman was amazing - a wonderful lesson in characterisation – he obviously understood and had an excellent grasp of a cheeky young upstart / conman, the scene in the bedroom with Lawrence and Jolene was a ‘showstopper’ – side-splitting!  His song ‘Great Big Stuff’, his duet with Lawrence ‘Dirty Rotten’ and his song with Lawrence and Jolene ‘All about Ruprecht’ were brilliant!

To complete our trio we find Matt Clarke as the corrupt police officer ‘Andre Thibault’; Lawrence’s ‘bodyguard’, ‘protector’ and ‘fixer’... Matt was exceptional. Another who understood this role perfectly and delivered characterisation and an accent that never wavered!  As an individual - brilliant but when he got together with ‘Muriel’ in Act Two – we were taken to another level.  I loved their rendition of ‘Like Zis and Like Zat’; their interaction and by-play was hilarious!

The guys may have ‘stolen the show’ for me...but our ‘trio’ of ladies weren’t very far behind!  Beth Wharton as ‘Christine Colgate’ the butter wouldn't melt  'little innocent' American heiress who becomes the target for the conniving duo - ‘don’t be ‘fooled’.... that ‘yellow dress’ providing that ‘sunny disposition’ isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be and she adds that ‘twist in the tale’ ending...well done Beth!   Kimberley Barker played the part of Jolene Oakes the Oklahoma Girl, a truly wild-west girl who tries to get Lawrence to marry her.  Her scene and song with Lawrence and Freddy in Freddy’s bedroomwas, as previously stated, hilarious...a highlight for me!  Last but certainly not least was Julie Webster as ‘Muriel Eubank’, she was great throughout but with Andre in Act Two...she was amazing!  The comedy timing, the interaction, and again her song with Andre ‘Like Zis, Like Zat’...brilliant!

The ‘ensemble of twenty six worked hard to create some great characters. It was obvious from the ‘smiles’ and ‘work ethic’, that not only as actors, but as ‘stage crew’, helping to move scenery with speed and precision, thus keeping the pace of the show high, that this was very much a ‘team effort’ and that everybody was just enjoying every moment on stage.  You should all be really proud of what you helped achieve and giving the audience ‘what they wanted’.

Congratulations to everyone involved in putting this show on stage.  Congrats to Kirsty Chapman and Sarah White (Directors) for their understanding of this piece and for the great casting and to Carole Unitt for some great choreography...together you created a wonderful piece of musical theatre.

The orchestra lead by Musical Director, Debbie Brotherton, were a amazing and totally professional in their approach, however at times, I, along with several audience members sat around me, found it difficult to hear some of the dialogue and the song lyrics. I’m not sure if this was down to the orchestra being perhaps a little too large for the venue or the volume a little high or if it was down to the overall sound system. What it did mean, was that some dialogue and some lyrics were difficult to hear.  I hope I don’t offend anyone by these comments, they are meant totally as ‘constructive criticism’ and because this was such great production I really didn’t want to miss a word, but it did become a little problematic at times.

Lighting was superb throughout, congratulations to Stephen Porter.  What can I say about the set...FABULOUS!  Obviously ‘In House’... congratulations to Set Designers, Constructors and Painters: Graham Forrest, Paul Gregson, Steven Barnes, Martin Dempseyand Gordon Manley ... the set was well constructed, made great use of the space available, worked well, was apt and added so much to the overall production. But, without doubt, the ‘pièce de résistance’..was ‘Freddie’s Toilet Block’ - rolled out ‘IN’ a truck, with ‘Freddie sat on the loo’  be ever so proud guys, I’m so envious of your talents!  But to make any set work you need the people to ‘push, shove and carry’...so congrats to Stage Manager Graham Forrest, his crew and the cast for their involvement in what was a ‘very slick’ production.

Props were in keeping with the era as were the costumes, so congrats to Siobhan Edge, Pat Connor, Jean Lee, Kath Creer and the cast.

Thank you for inviting my wife and I, we thoroughly enjoyed the show and look forward to seeing other productions in the future.  Once again...congratulations to everyone concerned.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.