Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels tells the tale of two conmen hard at work on the French Riviera – classy English gent Lawrence Jameson and brash American upstart Freddy Benson.  When Freddy turns up and begins to queer Lawrence’s pitch at Beaumont sur Mer, Lawrence reluctantly takes him under his wing.  But it’s not long before they realise there isn’t room for both of them, and the die is cast on a fateful bet to decide who stays and who goes…  Based on the 1988 film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin (which was itself based on an earlier movie – Bedtime Story), the musical version add songs and dance to the madcap mix of humour that fills the story. 

Ben Wilson gave a confident and stylish performance as Lawrence, equally at home lying to rich American ladies about his imaginary Kingdom as he was pretending to be eccentric doctor Emil Shuffhausen.  Alongside him was his faithful collaborator, Police Chief Andre Thibault, played with relish by Toby Edwards who gave us a stream of witty asides and one-liners.  The musical version gave him a romance subplot with one of Lawrence’s previous conquests, Muriel Eubanks (nicely portrayed by Lynsey Beckley) which I don’t think was in the movie version.  It certainly provided the opportunity for some very funny, saucy gags, which were well delivered by the pair. 

Eddie Paisley captured Freddy’s breezy brashness well, and formed a superb double act with Ben’s Lawrence – the tale of their partnership evolving very naturally, from competitors, to conspirators, back to competitors again, and finally becoming friends.  He excelled in particular at physical comedy – an essential part of this role.  The scene in which he played the part of Ruprecht in order to scare off one of Lawrence’s conquests, Jolene (winningly played by Ellie Morris, with lashings of cowgirl charm) was very funny and neatly executed.

The show really kicked into high gear when Lawrence and Freddy, having decided that their town isn’t big enough for the both of them, agree to resolve their conflict with a bet – who can be the first person to make $50,000 from naïve ‘American Soap Queen‘ Christine Colegate. As anyone who has seen the movie will know, they have unwittingly bitten off more than they could chew with Christine, who was charmingly played by Leila Thompson, combining a sweet innocence with, as the boys eventually find out, a con-woman’s core of steel.  The little coda in which she reappears to invite the pair of them to join her latest scam was particularly well done. 

Director Chris Holloway found lots of inventive ways of involving the 25-strong ensemble in the action, from adding richness and colour to some extended dance routines, to having them act as a Greek chorus, to moving bits of the set.  For instance, ‘Great Big Stuff’ saw a parade of pirouetting waiters and waitresses demonstrating Freddy’s fantasy of being rich, whilst ‘Oklahoma’ turned into a rumbustious hoedown (excellent choreography here from Helen Leek and Evie Maitland).  There was also a great routine as the train on which Lawrence and Freddy were travelling made its way back and forth across the stage, as Muriel sings ‘What was a Woman to do?’

Importantly, the pace was kept up very well throughout, by both the principals and the ensemble – clear evidence of a well-rehearsed show and resulting in a slick presentation.  Costumes were also well done and felt authentic to the setting and redolent of the film from which the show originates.  I’m not sure whether having familiarity with the film was a good or bad thing – certainly some of the twists that I was waiting for took other members of the audience by surprise! 

The action was well backed by a set depicting a series of Mediterranean arches and stone balustrades, with the sun (and sometimes the moon) visible in the distance.  Several movable pieces of staging were brought on from time to time, to depict different locations of the story, such as a hotel lobby, a guest room, and Lawrence’s plush villa.  These were all of high quality and worked extremely well, being superbly marshalled by the well-drilled backstage team.  High quality scenery like this really helps to elevate a show, and it was used to great effect here. 

Musical accompaniment was led by a nine-piece orchestra, well marshalled by Musical Director Sheila Boniface.  Although I feel obliged to point out that the on-stage ‘Accordion Player’ was in fact playing a concertina!

Congratulations to WODS for their presentation of this very entertaining, fun show.  By the time we reached the ‘Dirty Rotten Number’ that heralded the finale, the whole theatre felt full of such energy and joie de vivre that it was hard not to be swept away by it all.  There truly was no scam taking place here – WODS are the genuine article!  

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.