Take a successful comedy film, add music, and you’ve got a hit—right? Not always. It’s a risk. You don’t always get The Producers, and even that took 34 years in its transition from non-musical film to Broadway stage. The alchemy has to be just right, and all elements of the piece—book, music, lyrics and casting—have to work well.
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” at San Jose Stage Company is wonderfully cast and performed. I just don’t think the songs—written by David Yazbek—are very good. In a well-written musical, there are songs that will usually stay in your head for a few days—or at least as you’re walking out of the theatre. There were none as I left The Stage in San Jose. That is not to say that the performances were a letdown—far from it.
Jonathan Rhys Williams is terrific as upper-class conman Lawrence Jameson. I found Mr. Williams to be wonderful on this same stage earlier this year in “The Play That Goes Wrong” and it is evident that his performance in that show wasn’t a one-off. As his nemesis-then-partner, the ever-fabulous Keith Pinto is…well…fabulous as Freddy Benson, the “Liza Doolittle” of the conmen set. I was hoping for a less than terrific performance from Mr. Pinto so I would not have to continually search for varieties of superlatives to employ when reviewing him but, alas, no. The same goes for Hayley Lovgren as Jolene. Does “every actor has an off night” mean nothing to you people? A thesaurus only helps so far. Adrienne Herro is luscious as multi-millionnairess Muriel Eubanks, and, as Christine Colgate, Ashley Garlick is just as bright and bubbly as she needs to be.
Director Johnny Moreno is as successful in guiding his cast as he is as an actor. Very well done. Music Director Brian Allan Hobbs got everyone in fine voice, and choreographer Leslie Waggoner’s had the dancers dancing well in the limited stage space. Speaking of which, Jonathan Rhys Williams’ sets make the stage seem bigger than it actually is, and Maurice Vercoutere lights the space effectively. In addition to her brilliant performance, Ashley Garlick designed the terrific costumes. My only technical issue with the show is that the orchestra was a bit too pronounced and kind of overshadowed the vocal mix. If they bump the orchestral mics down a notch or two, it would be perfect.
As I said previously, the performances overall were wonderful. My issues with this show are primarily with the songwriting. However, don’t let that keep you from seeing this wonderful show. Lots of laughs, terrific singing, and good performances. You don’t need much else to have a great evening out at the theatre
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Rating: **** (For an explanation of Theatrestorm’s rating scale, click here.)
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