DRS Tour Review - Houston 9/26/06 *Possible Spoilers

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:36am

I just returned home after seeing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for the first time. I was so excited when I heard that Norbert Leo Butz would be performing in Houston that I had to see it. I was a little worried that I was not going to like the Touring cast, mainly for the reason that I grew to love the OBC through the cast recording. I was not disappointed, totally.

Freddy Benson was played by the originator of this role, Mr. Norbert Leo Butz. I absolutely love this man. His comedic timing was perfect, his voice was great and he totally stole the show IMO. He had my friends and I cracking up throughout the entire show and afterwards on the way home. It was kind of sad that after his performance of "Great Big Stuff," I was the only person who woohoo'd! him. I thought that it was fantastic. My favorite scene with him was "All About Ruprecht." His poise, character traits, and facial expressions that he provided for Ruprecht were hiliarious. Second fav. scene was "Love is my Legs." That scene was so fantastic. NLB really truly made my evening.

Tom Hewitt played Lawrence Jameson. He was good in this role. He had some pretty funny lines and did a great job in the first act. His "The More we Dance" was just ok, kind of slow IMO. Overall the partnership that he shares with NLB is great.

Laura Marie Duncan portrayed Christine Colgate. I love her. Her voice is so similiar to Sherie Rene Scott, I was blown away by how much so. She really helped NLB steal the second Act for me. They were great together.

Hollis Resnik played Muriel Eubanks, she was just alright. The only song that I liked by her was "What Was a Woman to Do?"

Drew McVety was just ok as Andre Thibault. His "french" accent was not that great. At times he sounded like the IKEA man. His singing was good and his time spent with Muriel was fun to watch. "Like Zis/Like Zat" is a very cute song and he did that well.

We had the understudy playing Jolene Oaks, her name was Beth Curry. She was fantastic as Jolene. Her facial expressions had me cracking up in "All About Ruprecht."

The ensemble was great. The women in this cast are stunningly beautiful. The men have great bodies and they all worked well together.

All in all, I had a great time seeing DRS for the first time. I was worried when I walked into a not so full house, that the audience was not going to be too receptive. And at the end of Act 1, I still felt that same way. They really got into it more during the second act and made the night so much more enjoyable.
Sorry that this is so long, I just wanted to say what I felt after seeing this. Thanks for reading.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 12:00pm

Glad you enjoyed the show!

[Dre2387]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:23pm

glad to see that people still enjoy the show, although, not a full hous worries me. a little.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 3:45pm

Sounds great. I picked up some tickets for next June when its in Hartford yesterday

[greeneyed_one]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 4:00pm

Great review! Thanks!

By the by- what date is Norbert leaving?

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 4:01pm

Honestly what worries me is who they are going to get to replace NLB after the Dallas performances. He truly, IMO, owns that show.

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 5:44pm

Glad you enjoyed the show and thanks for the review!

They already have a replacement, though his name escapes me. Anyone remember?

Edit: Norbert leaves the tour on October 22nd in Dallas. Updated On: 9/27/06 at 05:44 PM

[Alejandra925]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 6:18pm

I can only imagine how insanely wonderful/brilliant Norbert's last DRS is going to be! I'm sure his replacement (whom I will end up seeing) will be great, but Norbert is so unique. And freakin' incredible.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 6:20pm

The replacement is Timothy Gulan, who is apparently excellent since hes gone on a few times.

[think_of_me2007]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 6:35pm

I saw it on saturday, in houston, a matinee, and full cast.
i absolutely loved it. i felt the same about Laura Marie Duncan, but i loved her. my fav scenes were "the reckoning" and "love is my legs"

but i had the same "full house" problem too. i thought it was because it was a matinee, but i guess not. i wish more people would go see it. for the most part the orch, was pretty full, but the gallery (where i was) was pretty empty, we ended up moving closer to the center after Act 1.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 6:53pm

Denver gets the tour next October. I saw the OBC and while the show is not one of my all time favorites, it is a fun evening at the theatre.

[Actinggbugg474]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 9:08pm

Hey all ..

I just saw the tour in Atlanta on Saturday and I have to say that even though I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the OBC, the show was still very good. I just had a question though. I don't know if it is just me, but it seemed that "Love is My Legs" and "Dirty Rotten Number" were both transposed down (possibly to fit Timothy Gulan's range?) I read that some people felt the "Dirty Rotten Number" lacked the "wow" factor, and this could be because of the transposition. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else noticed this.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/5/06 at 9:19pm

my sister's class at school just went to Atlanta to see the tour. i am anxious to hear how they enjoyed it!
glad you enjoyed the show, though, broadwayrandy!