DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS Review- Page 2

[renthead2005z]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 10:14pm

I cannot wait to see it!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 10:17pm

After Nick & Nora, Gleason needs a whole score full of great songs. We see it on 3/27

On Theater Talk, the panel was discussing the similarities between Full Monty & what happened @ the Tonys ( being beaten by a tornado The Producers) & DRS possibly suffering the same fate @ the hands of Spamalot

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/12/05 at 10:17pm

I think DRS just might be the little show that could...and will!

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 11:20am

Agreed Melissa Erico Fan!

And thanks CurtainUp for your kind words.

Folks - GO SEE THIS SHOW!

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 11:24am

I still DON'T think Spamalot will be "this years Producers" like everyone is hailing it. I just don't think it's going to sweep the Tonys. If you ask me, DRS is going to sweep the acting awards.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 11:40am

Agreed again! I think the Tonys learned their lesson after that PRODUCERS Sweep. There is pleanty of other talent out there this year amongst the revivals and other new musicals (okay not much, but some) that will spread the wealth pretty evenly again. The TONYS are always so much more fun when every show gets a piece of the pie insetad of one big ol' hog of a show. Not having seen SPAMALOT yet, I cant say for sure - But here's to hoping EVERYONE gets their just rewards!

[Derek]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 11:53am

I am so excited. I am seeing it next weekend also for my birthday. I have heard nothing but great things about it. I think this is the kind of show (along with Wicked, The Producers, Avenue Q...) that will be remembered 20-30 years from now!

[billygoatgirl300]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 12:04pm

Seeing DRS in two weeks and I can't wait.

[complaintdept.]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 9:13pm

Thanks for posting the excellent review. I'm greatly looking forward to this show!

[shlamdiddly]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 9:33pm

37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days 37 days!

[andyf]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 9:47pm

And now for something inarticulate...

daisy and I saw the Saturday matinee. So good. SOOOOO funny. The score was SO much fun and the sets were awesome.

Norbs was completely out of control. John was great, but his character doesn't get to have nearly as much as fun.

Sherie was SO good. When I realized her entrance was coming up I peed a little. So funny, and her first song is priceless. She does an amazing job. Sooooo funny. And the last scene...priceless. When she jumps in on the finale, SO good. Are we getting that I love Sherie?

Joanna was really funny. Her part was surprisingly not that small. Anyway each of her lines was GOLDEN and her delivery was FLAWLESS.

Can we talk about Sara Gettelfinger??? Soooooo funny. A little too similar to someone I was sitting next to, but hysterical nonetheless.

And if the show itself wasn't good enough, they have lottery (21.25, front row) AND student rush (36, back of the mezz). How sexy is that?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 9:47pm

I can't wait!!!!

COME ON AND GET HERE MARCH!

[broadway betty]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 9:53pm

I saw DRS a week ago and will be seeing it again on March 15th. I'm so excited about seeing it again! I'm gonna have to see it many many times. Yes, it's THAT good! It's so nice to go to a show and laugh so much that your pants are a little looser by the end of the night! Keep the DRS love comin'!

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 9:54pm

I can't wait to see this show again. Really, it was great.

Posted: 2/13/05 at 10:21pm

Just came back from an unexpected trip to NYC and we were able to get tickets to see the Sat. night show- it was great! We needed humor and this show gave it to us. I was so impressed w/ Norbert- he was fabulous. I thought the show was far superior to the movie.

As far as seating, since this was a last minute thing, we sat in the lower mezzanine- all the way to the right (partial view). We're pretty spoiled and generally have great seats, but we were able to see fine. I was just happy to be there and see the show.

[Taryn]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 11:26pm

Andyf, I saw that same matinee!

HILARIOUS show. Seriously INCREDIBLE. Norb is positively on FIRE. I'm only sad that Sherie didn't come out to complete the signing of my Last 5 Years CD. (I'm from out of town, so I can't just stop by the stage door again.) And, ah! Joanna Gleason! Could you be more wonderful? I loved everything about this show. It went by so quickly and I felt like I was scrambling to try and keep it going forever. Didn't want it to end!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/13/05 at 11:37pm

I saw DRS Thursday and enjoyed it for the most part. The second act is MUCH stronger than the first (a frequent problem with farce -- the set up is rarely as interesting as the pay-off in Act Two in all but the GREATEST of farces..... the Act Two pay-off here is really terrific).

Too much schtick and lame jokes in Act One, like they brought in some Borscht Belt joke writer with the tiredest old jokes in the world to punch up the script. LOTS of real groaners. The plot felt uninspired and there was too much cribbing from other, better shows at points (Lithgow taking on Norbert as a pupil in the conman game was right out of "My Fair Lady" and Joanna Gleason's museum scene is a less-funny rip-off of Maggie Smith in "Lettice and Lovage" -- if you're gonna steal, as they did in "Urinetown" and "The Producers," make sure your version is at least as funny/interesting as the original ..... they weren't even close here).

Norbert is very good throughout, but pushes the comedy too hard in Act One and at times was so over-the-top that he nearly turned into Jerry Lewis. He settled down a bit in Act Two, finding the proper balance and ultimately, overall he gives the performance to beat at the Tonys this year -- simply fantastic. Lithgow is smooth and effortless and the pro's pro throughout -- he makes it all look so easy, and he's giving a great performance as well. Sherie Renee Scott is really beautiful and enchanting with a lovely voice -- I guess she'll be up for lead even though she doesn't even show up until the last 15 minutes of Act One.

Joanna Gleason does her best, but I think she's miscast here -- she's playing a character who's supposed to be completely clueless and gullible and a little ditzy and, I'm sorry, there's just something about Gleason that gives off a sort of no-nonsense intelligence and strength and common sense that made me not buy that she would have been so taken in by Lithgow...... she's fine, but it just doesn't quite work IMO (someone like Faith Prince would have been much better).

Yazbeck's score is first rate (lots of clever, funny lyrics with a very inventive latin-inflected score). Jerry Mitchell's choreography looks like leftovers from La Cage. A great set design. Jack O'Brien's direction holds the evening together well. I was very underwhelmed at intermission, but the show eventually won me over -- a B or B+ maybe (though if Spamalot is half as good as advance reports indicate, DRS is doomed at the Tonys).

[thirdrowcenter]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:04am

Don't worry about hype. This show is fabulous!!

[andyf]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:14am

I was just talking to MoG...speaking of the score, "My Love is My Legs": INSANITY.

[MadeofGold]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:17am

"My Love is My Legs" is perhaps the funniest song I have ever seen performed on a stage. The earnestness in which SRS and Norbert deliver it is brilliant!

Updated On: 2/14/05 at 12:17 AM

[andyf]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:21am

And who doesn't love an extended metaphor??

[MadeofGold]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:22am

You know how I love an extended metaphor, AndyF....:)

[andyf]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:47am

to whom

[MadeofGold]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:48am

You had me at ergo, Andrew, you had me at ergo.

Now, I'm really off to tae bo!

[andyf]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:54am

Suuuuuuuuure.

You say that now, but just wait until I break into the generative semantics...