Juliana Scott
Mr. Bengford
Drama I 2
May 16, 2007
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Critique
American Musical Theatre San Jose produced Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on May 10, 2007. Jack OÕBrien directed this production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, written by Jeffrey Lane with the music and lyrics by David Yazbek. The musical is about two men, Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson, who make a living by fooling women into giving their money to them. When they realize that both of them cannot work in the same town, they make a bet in order to discover who is better. Lawrence and Freddy agree that whoever gets $50,000 from Christine Colgate, an American heiress, first wins and is allowed to stay, while the other must leave town. The plot progresses as the men take on different identities to win her affection. In the end, the men realize that Christine was also playing them and she ran off with their money. In the finale, the three meet up to form a team to get money out of na•ve tourists.
In this production, D.B. Bonds portrayed the over-the-top part of Freddy Benson. Freddy is the younger and more extreme out of the conniving duo, and Bonds played this character perfectly. From the moment he walked on stage, he exerted energy with his stylized movements and crisp, clear voice. After swindling a woman to pay for his meal, he reveals his occupation to Lawrence Jameson, who is sitting right next to him. The transformation from being a character to the lady into being his real self was perfect. Bonds went from being a humble, poor man into a very conceited and self-assured individual, and his body movements, including gestures, posture, and walk, followed the same transformation. He reacted wonderfully to the different challenges that he faced by taking on a different personality to reach his goal. For example, when he tried to win the affections of Christine Colgate, he portrayed the role of a heartbroken crippled marine but as soon as she left the room, he jumped up into his usual eccentric self. Throughout the entire performance, Bonds did a fabulous role of portraying the very suggestive character of Freddy Benson.
Doing an equally fabulous job was Laura Marie Duncan portraying the part of the sweet and innocent Christine Colgate. Christine is first introduced as the na•ve heiress to the Colgate fortunes. Duncan achieves this character wonderfully by moving with a bit of bounce in her step and using dainty gestures. Her voice was clear and loud, and her different tones helped show all the characterÕs range in emotions, including passionate, sympathetic, and cheerful. She reacted to each of the men differently, depending on how they were coming across to her. With Freddy Benson, she created a loving and caring relationship because she reacted kindly to his medical issues, while with Lawrence Jameson, she developed a more outgoing and carefree relationship because he was supposed to cure Freddy. DuncanÕs transformation from the sweet Christine Colgate into the true Christine was amazing. It was a totally unsuspected twist that the audience first found out about when the Lawrence realizes she took his money. The next time she is seen, she is a sexy tour guide that is nothing like the original Christine. Duncan became much more aggressive and commanding in her movement and vocal tone. The final partner relationship between the two men and Christine worked wonderfully because of this radical transformation by Duncan. Throughout the show, Duncan marvelously portrayed Christine Colgate every moment on stage.
The technical design worked great for this production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. To change locations quickly, a circular moving piece was used. Different sets were set up on the piece so all the piece just needed to spin in order to make all the quick changes throughout the show. The sets themselves were somewhat minimalistic but they worked wonderfully. Each gave a different feeling that was necessary to that scene. For example, Lawrence JamesonÕs house was very grand and extravagant, and it included a huge stair case and a lot of expensive looking furniture. The lighting contributed to the chaotic mood of the play and characters. It emphasized where the audience should be directing their attention, if there was more then one set of stage, particularly when one seat in the audience needed to be lit. Also, it complemented each actor well and worked with the costumes. Speaking of costumes, they added more to each character, without being over the top. Also, the costumes helped clarify what different personas Freddy and Lawrence were portraying at any given moment. For example, when Freddy was a marine, he was in a uniform but when he was just Freddy, he wore more laid-back, carefree attire which fit his personality perfectly. Also, none of the make up was extremely extravagant, but rather it nicely added to each character. The score of the show was exceptional and helped create a chaotic, uplifting, and exciting mood throughout the entire show. The entire technical design definitely helped create the entire mood of the show.
Overall
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was an amazing show. The acting, singing, and
choreography were marvelous and contributed to make the show very enjoyable.
Although some parts of the show were a bit long and pointless, the majority
flowed nicely and was just the right length. Also, some of the comedic bits
were a bit tasteless to me, but most of the audience loved the sexual jokes.
Throughout this production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, all the different
aspects of theatre merged together to produce splendid show.
