The experience of attending theater doesn't begin when you enter the theater; it begins when you leave the house, and it comprises more than just what happens on stage. The current State Fair Musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, rates a 10 on the Disaster Scale from 1 to 10.
If you happen to have a handicap license plate, don't think you can enter the Music Hall where you usually do. Not! You will be directed down the road about half a mile to enter at gate 5 along with the hordes of people going to the Fair. What's more, you will be charged $10 for the privilege of entering the Fairgrounds. A perk is that your Musicals tickets will gain you free admission to the Fair, a dubious perk since almost every day is a free-admission or vastly reduced admission price day for various groups: seniors, those who bring a Dr. Pepper can, those who bring canned food for the food banks, etc.
Once you enter the Music Hall and claim your seat, you will most likely wish you'd brought your parka, the one with the hood. Then the music begins at a decibel level that is deafening. Despite my daughter having excellent seats - 16th row center orchestra - and are both blessed with acute hearing, neither of us could decipher much of the dialogue. Oh, we heard it all right, but the acoustics were so godawful we couldn't make out the words. All this despite Dallas Summer Musicals having spent a gazillion dollars several seasons ago to update the sound system.
What a pity, as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a fun show, and Norbert Leo Butz deserved the Tony he received for his role of the lovable con man, Freddy Benson. Butz turns in a tour de force performance. The acting, singing, and dancing are first rate by the entire cast. As for David Yazbek's music and lyrics, one can only wonder what magic Adam Guettel, who was first offered the gig, would have wrought.
Jack O'Brien's directing and Jerry Mitchell's choreography are seamless and well executed by every cast member, with Butz, of course, stealing the show with his nimble executions of Mitchell's choreography. Also in line for kudos are David Rockwell's scenic design, Gregg Barnes' costumes, and Kenneth Posner's lighting.
Based on the 1988 film, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels relates the story of two con men plying their trade on the French Riviera, one the suave Lawrence Jameson (Tom Hewitt) and the other, small-time grifter Freddy Benson (Norbert Leo Butz.) The former has a knack for extracting money from rich women; the latter plays on their sympathy. They meet on a train and try working together without much success; so they decide to go it alone and make a bet that the first one who can con $50,000 from a young heiress wins the bet, and the other must move on. What unfolds is a series of cons in which we're never quite sure who is conning whom.
