“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” at the Walnut (2nd review)

I liked Dan Rottenberg's critique of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. But here's a different angle.

In Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, adapted from the non-musical film of the same name, the creators turned their backs on serious theater to give us, essentially, a spoof of musicals from the 1920s and early 1930s. If you take the flirtatious shenanigans of No No Nanette or Yes Yes Yvette, and blend them with the plot of Cole Porter's Anything Goes (about a gangster on the lam on an ocean liner), you'll see a formula for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Instead of character and plot, we get a combination of songs, dances and silliness that provides opportunities for six performers to strut their stuff. This is what the show's all about; little more.

Paul Schoeffler, who has played Javert in Les Miz and Captain Hook in Peter Pan, was slick as the experienced con. Ben Dibble was fun to watch in his most physical role since he climbed walls as the title character in Bat Boy in 2004. Mary Martello sang and acted appealingly as a gullible American heiress, and Fran Prisco was an amusing, corrupt police chief, while Jessica Rush and Maggie Anderson decorated the stage as targets for the con men. Each of them got at least one big song and dance as well as ample chances to mug.

David Yazbek's songs exhibit variety and cleverness beyond what he wrote for his previous show, The Full Monty. But he seems incapable of writing a ballad that we'll hum on our way home. Still, the energetic singing actors provide ample (albeit lightweight) entertainment. ♦


To read another review by Dan Rottenberg, click here.