DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS -- What drives the show? — Page 2

I agree with everyone that said first and foremost it is the performances. While I do like Broadway comedies, I tend to see dramas more than once much more often than comedies b/c the comedy loses something when you're expecting it. Yet I've seen DRS 3 times and loved it each time. Should be interesting to see how it plays out with a different cast...

The comedy is somewhat universal, it's diverse. There's typical gross-out comedy(Ruprecht), physical pain comedy(Ruffhausen mit Shiffhausen), lots of tongue-in-cheek comedy(Love is your legs), twists that become funny, and of course for us Broadway reference comedies(mention of act 2, missing scenes, quoting My Fair Lady, etc.) Most people can at least appreciate some of the comedy, making the show's flaws not so obvious.

I think the direction as well plays a major part as the score does lose something on CD, though I still immensely enjoy it. It's directed to excel most of the comedy, and I agree that the score is appropriate for the silliness of the show.

Certainly I think the best musical of the new season, hoping for a tony!

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I disagree- I don't think there was much to DRS that couldn't be spotted the first (or, at the most, second) time out. It did what it did quite well, but there's never more than 2 or 3 layers to things and there aren't a lot of tiny details to be spotted, either (like the posters in Bialystock and Bloom's office).

Pfft. I wasn't looking for depth- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is traditional musical comedy, plain and simple. But still...the whole time I felt like the show was good but not quite great- an almost-Producers.

the plot isn't what kept me intersted... actually the plot was only "eh". the score didn't keep me *that* interested, the scenery was interesting to me. that held my attention. i think my favourite parts were the choreography and mr. butz. that's what kept me, personally, interested in the show. the score/plot was really a bit mediocore in my opinion, but i think it's one of those things that's like "we've been working and reworking this, so, our judgement of quality is now impared." i'm not saying they *did* work and rework it, but it came across that way. kinda messy. to answer your question, jose, it was the performances and dancin' that kept me into it, as well as some numbers like "ruprecht" "great big stuff" and "oklahoma?"

i think in that number i wanted to laugh but i was in too much shock- how could they pen texas so well while talking about oklahoma? while listening the song on the recording, something norbert came into my head- "it's tragic but it's trrrruue"
but yeah i think 99% of the board probably thinks it was cast-driven, and that includes moi. question is, who on earth is going to replace them?

Feinstein9, I have the distinct feeling that the one joke you placed in about Yazbek has not been noticed except for me I saw it in his biography on the drs site as well! Thanx for bringing it up again...

what seven reference? care to elaborate?

I think it's Butz and Jbara who drive the show. Jbara is a bit overlooked; but I think his suave dancing and humor is brilliant and serves the show very well. Butz steals the show. Nuff said.

It also doesn't hurt that the conductor Fred Lassen is also very cute as well, esp. from the lottery seats. =)

I thought the 7 was deliberate, a way of jokingly saying that Yazbek is a kid at heart. But I could be wrong.

As for what I think drives the show, I'm not good at analyzing this sort of thing. Speaking for myself, it was Greg Jbara that put me in my seat on opening night. My husband and I wouldn't have been there if it weren't for him (literally). But, although Greg was THE reason we were there, we also thoroughly enjoyed the show itself in general. There isn't a performance or number that I didn't like, though I have my favorites of course. For me, Greg (who I found amazing in his role) aside, it was a combination of performances, songs, sets, that held my interest and "drove" the show for me. My attention apan tends to drift after a while usually (whatever I'm doing!) ... but at DRS, I think something that helps is that there is always movement on stage. Whether it's actors moving, dancing, or the sets moving on the turntable stage, things are always in motion.

Will it be as good a show with a different cast? I honestly don't know. I know that for me, it's hard to imagine other actors in those roles, and for me the experience could never be the same ... but I wouldn't say it can't be done and be done effectively.

Not sure this really answers the question, but there ya go. :)