DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, Theatre Royal, 24 October-8 December 2013. Photography by Kurt Sneddon: above Matt Hetherington, Tony Sheldon and Amy Lehpamer; right - Anne Wood and John Wood.
Tony Sheldon has been on an odyssey to Broadway stardom since childhood and no one would begrudge him the recent years away from Sydney - on the West End, in Toronto and finally Broadway - where he was finally recognised for the great musical theatre star that he is. But it's wonderful to have him home again and in such a delightful show as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
The show is a spicy and much-improved version of the 1988 movie that starred Michael Caine and Steve Martin. "Improved" in that the book and lyrics are the sharpest, wittiest and funniest to have graced an Australian stage in decades. It's about two con men on the loose in the south of France where they attempt to cheat each other, and any rich woman they come across, out of as much money as possible.
SPOILER NON-ALERT. It's highly likely that after more than 20 years, most will have forgotten or never known the twists and turns of the plot - and it should stay that way, because when the grifters finally trip over their own ambitions the gasps and shrieks of laughter from the audience are a highlight. So avoid knowing or being told "what happens".
What happens, however, is a simply and vividly staged show powered by the very best cast and creatives. Riviera nights sparkle on the backdrop and the moon appears on romantic command in camp Deco settings by Michael Hankin and creative consultant Michael Scott Mitchell. The playful and occasionally obedient lighting is by Nicholas Rayment and the divinely colourful, vaguely mid-20th century costumes are by Teresa Negroponte. In the pit an 18-member orchestra under the baton of Guy Simpson lays down the musical foundations for the cast to build on.
And what a cast it is. As well as the rightly revered Sheldon - suave and funny as the silver fox Lawrence Jameson - director Roger Hodgman has assembled a cracking fine crew. Matt Hetherington is eye-opening as tough-as-guts chancer Freddy Benson, relative newcomer Amy Lehpamer is up there with both as wide-eyed lamb-for-the-fleecing Christine Colgate. First half highlight is Katrina Retallick as oil heiress Jolene Oakes from Oklahoma, while Anne Wood makes a welcome return to the Sydney stage as the poignantly lost widow Muriel Eubanks. That she's found by John Wood as the local police chief Andre Thibault leads to some of the show's most comical moments.
Choreographer Dana Jolly has a dazzling bunch of dancers to work with - and a plantation of palm trees that are possibly the most tightly choreographed in musical theatre history - so that, all in all, the staging and the story move along at an entertaining pace. Roger Hodgman has now spent enough time crafting Production Company shows in Melbourne to be one of the most experienced and expert directors of musical theatre currently working, but even he can't quite get around the brief sag in the second half. Nevertheless, it all picks up again for a beautifully mixed bitter-sweet and rambunctious finale.
Jeffrey Lane (book) and David Yazbeck (music and lyrics) have successfully built on the original 1988 script by Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning to the point where the cheeky nods to Pygmalion, Noel Coward, Cole Porter et al seamlessly add to the sparkling, risque and risible wisecracks and jokes.
First-time producers James Anthony Productions and George Youakim have set a new and high standard for home-grown shows: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is the best musical to be staged in Sydney in a long time. Well done them.
