Review: DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS at Hale Centre Theatre

With DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, Hale Centre Theatre treats the East Valley to an exquisite production of a rarely produced musical gem. It's delightful from moment one and impeccably staged by director/choreographer Cambrian James. It's full of skilled performances, but the design elements might be the greatest successes of the show.

Based on the Michael Caine and Steve Martin 1988 movie of the same name, the quickest plot summary is "con-artists conning marks and each other." A deeper dive into the plot has Lawrence Jameson (Protagonist #1) swindling money from wealthy women near the French Riviera. His constant flow of despicable crimes has him a millionaire living extravagantly in a lavish, fully-staffed mansion. He's warned that a highly successful con-artist named "The Jackal" is said to be visiting the area. After seeing Freddy Benson (Protagonist #2) scam a train passenger, Jameson pegs Benson as the Jackal and tricks him into leaving town. Or so he thinks. Freddy returns to Jameson and begs for a criminal apprenticeship. Jameson initially hesitates but soon takes on the challenge of tutoring Freddy. Jameson becomes indebted to Freddy for helping him get out of a grift gone wrong, but their friendship wanes and the two make a wager to determine which of them will leave the Riviera. Their target is rich and innocent Christina Colgate. Whoever scams her for $50,000 first, gets to stay. The pair one-up each other until the prize is claimed.

In the movie-to-musical genre, some work, some don't, and only a few work better as a musical than a film. LEGALLY BLONDE, HAIRSPRAY are a couple of examples and, believe it or not, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is on that list. Movies forced to explain or ignore questionable plot points are unburdened by revision into musical theatre. Singing and dancing on stage allows us to forgive the absurdity that anyone would actually fall for these cons.

Composer/Lyricist David Yazbek has THE FULL MONTY, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, TOOTSIE, and 2017's Best Musical Tony-winner THE BAND'S VISIT rounding out his catalogue. All based on movies, it would seem Mr. Yazbek has a penchant for film-to-musical adaptations. His score for DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is sometimes original, sometimes derivative (a hoedown here, a Samba there). It's pleasant, memorable, but far from show-stopping. He's counting on the comedy and design elements to do the heavy-lifting.

In Hale's production, the costume design by Tia Hawkes is next-level. It is truly reason enough to attend the show. She's handed a formidable task. Costume a large cast musical set in the luxurious, high-end casinos you'd find in a James Bond film, go. This request could've been a community theatre disaster with ill-fitting, storage-shelf tuxedos and obviously pinned dresses constantly pulling us out of the ostentatious black tie world. Instead, Hawkes has got seemingly couture gowns and sharp tuxes entering and exiting the stage all night. Even the shoes were dazzling and apropos. Paired with impressive wigs by the show's director/choreographer Cambrian James, the cast looks sensational.

Speaking of Mr. James, the choreography is eye-candy. If you're not familiar with Hale's performance space, it's square with seating on all four sides. The seats are on a steep incline. The stage is not raised. The audience sees the stage floor in ways not possible in proscenium or traditional "Theatre in the Round' set-ups. That downward viewing angle starts pushing out patterns you couldn't see sideways. Mr. James has what's possible in that space mastered. The choreography is traditional when appropriate, and inventive where opportunity exists.

Other noteworthy elements start with scenic painter McKenna Carpenter's marbling, kaleidoscoping and deco right angles created on the stage floor. It's a perfect backdrop for the choreography. The sound design was impeccable with every lyric heard and understood. The light design was serviceable, only showy when necessary.

The performers were capable and talented. Mychal Leverage as Lawrence was particularly effective singing difficult phrases and high, held out notes without making the "I'm hitting a high note!" face and body language that would be far out of character for Lawrence. His composure reigns. I bought the arc he created.

David Michael Paul presented a fine foil for Lawrence. As Freddy, he's tasked with keeping the energy up and he does. He's a skilled comic but he's undercut by the softening of the script. Hale Theatre imposes on even PG-13 material. This character is hysterically depraved but can't quite get where he needs to go with his football replaced by a nerf.

Heidi-Liz Johnson as Christina Colgate kicks the show into gear making her first entrance well into the show as the new mark the gentlemen have decided to pursue. Ms. Johnson rolls from sincere to silly to sincere well. She's a charming, refreshing break from the lasciviousness of the male leads. Rochelle Barton is a standout as another of Lawrence's victims, Muriel Eubanks. She injects some traditional musical comedy tropes into the mix and wisely doesn't pile on the rest of the principles' mounting silliness. Her singing voice and contrasting comic style make her a more than welcome addition. Sarah Cleeland as Jolene, (yet another of Lawrence's victims) comes off the bench and hits quality baskets.

Even with all of the above, I don't 100% endorse this production. I left with a bizarre sense of non-closure. The many changes to the lines and lyrics, while legal and pre-approved, kick this marvelous production right in the shin. I'll use an extreme example to make a point. You buy tickets to CHICAGO. You're several minutes into the show before you realize this production has removed all the sexual references and even innuendo, and all the curse words have been softened, as in, "damn" to "dang", etc. Besides that CHICAGO being 12 minutes long, all of the most popular jokes are scrubbed. Now, of course, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS isn't as ribald as CHICAGO, but the premise carries. Every time you cut a line of dialogue that got a positive audience response in its original format, the show is quantifiably diminished in quality.

Here's one example: In Freddy's self-introductory number, "Great Big Stuff", his recitative builds to a final rhyming couplet, a moment that has a hold for laughter built into the score.

"Now I know where I belong, a life of taste and class,

With culture and sophistication pouring out my ass."

In this edited version we got "... with culture and sophistication filling up my glass." Cringey.

I was lucky enough to see the original cast perform DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS and I can tell you in that particular moment, Norbert Butz as Freddy got his largest laugh of the evening.

In this scenario, one segment of the audience is shortchanged to cater to another. The word "Dirty" is right there in the title. Isn't that a heads up that there might be some, I don't know, "dirty" material?

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS' message is "Be a career criminal, It's amazing. Deceit and lies are a great way to make a living. Lying isn't a sin if it makes you rich." You should not need to scrub DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS because children shouldn't be seeing it anyway! There's actual CRIME being glorified. Families can watch that plot unfold, but can't hear the word "ass"?

I'd like to see Hale re-examine their policy. I spent a long time thinking about whether I should bring this up. My opinion on this is personal, unimportant, even meaningless. I decided that I would bring it up because patrons could and should be well-informed that they are purchasing tickets to the G-Rated version of a PG-13 show.

Perhaps include an "Edited for Content'' on marketing materials. Or perhaps the reverse, leave the show intact but include "This is a PG-13 production" on marketing materials. Or better yet, offer performances of both versions.

All this considered, despite the production's beauty and wonder, I left the theatre unsatisfied. It's like going to Disneyland and all the good rides are closed. You're still at Disneyland and that's great and awesome and fun, but the visit isn't all of what you were hoping for and is less than what the park is capable of.

UNTIDY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS plays through June 26th in Gilbert, AZ.

[photo credit: Nick Woodward-Shaw]

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