Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: A Musical For Guys Who Like To Smash Beer Cans On Their Foreheads

"What you lack in grace you more than make up for in vulgarity.", says John Lithgow to Norbert Leo Butz in their roles as con man and protege'.

The same can be said for the riotously funny musical they star in, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. In fact, with his own brand of exquisite artlessness, composer/lyricist David Yazbek, partnered once again with director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell, may be one of the great hopes for bringing in a whole new audience for the Broadway musical; the beer drinkin', butt scratchin', football and pro wrestlin' watchin' American male.

Rent was once advertised as the musical for people who hate musicals in an attempt to appeal to those who look down on musical theatre as being crass and commercial. But Dirty Rotten Scoundrels might do very well marketed for people who hate musicals because they consider them too snobbish and artsy.

Four years ago, with The Full Monty, Yazbek wrote a score with a song about a "Big-Ass Rock", a ballad sung by a guy to his enormous belly, and a number about the hotness of Victoria's Secret models. Mitchell countered with a dance routine based on schoolyard basketball moves and Terrence McNally's book, although it provided a serious and sentimental undercurrent, was loaded up with dick jokes. But with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, whose gag-infested book was expertly crafted by Jeffrey Lane, Yazbek and company create a fantasy world the union boys of The Full Monty could only dream of. But they do so in a way that miraculously balances high comedy with lowbrow humor.

What other musical can boast half the audience laughing at a well-placed George Bernard Shaw quote followed by the other half guffawing at a fart joke? (Including some crossover laughter, no doubt.) Many may look down on the name-dropping lyrics that reference Al Roker, the Bush family and the midget in the Crazy Glue commercial, but check out the sophisticated double and triple rhyme patterns Yazbek utilizes while dropping those names. And while some may complain that the plot involving a bet between a wealthy phony on the French Riviera (Lithgow) and a punk nickle-and-dime con man (Butz) to see who can swindle a hot babe (Sherie Rene Scott) out of $50,000 first may lack empathy... well, that's the whole point! If you actually cared about any of the characters the show wouldn't be nearly as funny.

Traditional musical comedy craftsmanship suggests alternating comedy scenes with romantic ones, but instead Dirty Rotten Scoundrels alternates styles of comedy. On the one hand you have Lithgow and Butz utilizing an acting technique that brings you back to the glory days of The Three Stooges. Watch Butz exude roars from the audience in a routine where he desperately tries to pull out a piece of beef jerky stuck in his mouth. Soon after, Lithgow replaces his fake erudite accent with an ever faker German one for a sadistic bit of physical comedy involving Butz in a wheelchair claiming he has no feeling in his legs. In a con game where Lithgow is trying to disgust a gun-toting Oklahoman (Sara Gettelfinger in a brief, but kick-ass funny appearance.) into taking back her insistence that he marry her, Butz plays his mentally unstable brother who practically dry-humps his sibling while licking his co-star's face.

And then you have Sherie Rene Scott, whose cheery, innocently trusting character evokes Marilyn Monroe at her funniest. And Joanna Gleason, who effervescently floats through the evening with the kind of subtle sophistication that can draw multiple meanings from just saying "Oh." When teamed with Gregory Jbara, as Lithgow's virile gentleman's gentleman with just the right amount of cartoon snootiness in his French accent, the two of them inject the proceedings with a smart dash of drawing room wit.

The fact that such contrasting comedic styles can compliment each other in the same musical is a testament to the versatility of bookwriter Jeffrey Lane and the seamless propulsion provided by director Jack O'Brien. Add to that potent mix Jerry Mitchell's sexy and stylish choreography, the postcard perfect sets by David Rockwell (sparkling under Kenneth Posner's celebratory lighting), Gregg Barnes snazzy costumes, and Harold Wheeler's versatile orchestrations, and you've got Broadway musical comedy heaven.

But David Yasbek is truly the star of this one, providing a diverse score drawing on hip-hop, Henry Mancini, country-western and traditional Broadway. In Act I he has Norbert Leo Butz roaring across the stage in a testosterone-driven ode to materialism where he fantasizes of getting hummers in his Hummer, while in Act II Joanna Gleason and Gregory Jbara sing and dance a charming little seduction number cutely titled "Like Zis/Like Zat".

And active listening is required, as his lyrics frequently take on a "Did-I-just-hear-that?" quality. Ms. Scott's entrance number includes a parade of triple rhymes with gleeful exclamations like "These guys are French! / These fries are French!" and Ms. Gettelfinger's politically incorrect celebration of her home state boasts how there's "Not a tree or a Jew / To block the lovely view."

If there's a weak contribution to the score, it's Lithgow's ballad late in Act II. Not that there's anything especially wrong with the song or his performance of it, but it seems so out of place in a show where every other wisp of sentiment is just a set-up for a punch line.

Cause, believe it or not, there are times when a great evening of musical comedy ain't gotta have heart.

Photos by Carol Rosegg: (top to bottom) John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz & Sherie Rene Scott