Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tour) Review!

Just got back from the show at the Auditorium Theater. Going in there I had ixed feelings about the cast. In act 1, I was somewhat expecting WAY too much from the cast. Then I watched act 2 and I learned to settle with them as the charectors. Well, I found Tom Hewitt to be very funny and enjoyable as Lawance. D.B. Bonds was FANTASTIC as Freddy! Enough said. I hope I get the privlage to go back and see the show again sometime. Oh, and the box seats had NO obstruction (which was a great relief.)

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Oh, Rev, how I agree with you -- about the show itself, anyway. I thought the tour cast was excellent, but that was it. I felt badly for all of them.

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Yeah, there were sooooo many open seats! The audience was dead. So yeah but other then that I felt it was great!

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It was the least amount of fun I've ever had at a show. . and I saw LEGENDS!

~Jacob.

I didn't love the tour. I felt like the cast was trying very hard to imitate the broadway cast. ESPECIALLY Timothy Gulan as Freddy. It was like he was doing a Norbert impression the whole show. I do, however, think that Tom Hewitt is a MUCH better singer than John Lithgow.

I saw the evening performance yesterday. It felt like a Wednesday matinee. The audience was so dead and the show was weak because of it, or maybe vice versa. It definitely felt like the leads were hamming it up way to much. The ensemble wasn't too great either. They seemed underehearsed. I agree with spellingbeefan- I got used to it by the second act, but I expected better. I love the show- but this performance would have made me disdain it if I hadn't seen it already.

Anyone know why they replaced the opening number?

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It was replaced because David Yazbeck felt it gave better background info about Lawrence's life.

I feel like it did the opposite. GTWTW explained two other SPECIFIC people he encountered, and also allowed for dialog before the song and showed where the ring came from and why he uses that story.

Aaaand, the cut the overture by having the new song. BUT not only did the cut the overture, but they deleted the dancing during it, which was a favorite part of mine.

DRSislove, are you sure they cut the overture? I'm pretty sure I remember the overture being in place for the Boston run of the tour. Is it just shortened?

The original overture was longer and included dancing during all of it (minus the first 15 seconds).

I'm at a disadvantage because I saw the original production and adored it from top to bottom. I was disheartened to see so many awards it deserved go to SPAMALOT.

That having been said, I actually really enjoyed it here in Chicago. DB Bonds was to me, an absolute knockout! The cast as a whole I felt was uniformly strong, and the dancers were at the top of their game, especially in Act Two's "The More We Dance." The design, choroegraphy, direction, and book/score were every bit as wonderful as I remember them from New York.

My qualms? The new opening number (The Only Game in Town) doesn't get the show off to as energetic a start as the former one did (Givin' Them What They Want)--as we all learned from FOURM, an opening number really can make or break a show. I don't think it breaks it here, but I certainly don't think it's an improvment.

Tom Hewitt overplays a little too much and while entertaining, lessens the contrast between the two leading men. Hollis Resnik is solid, but there's just no beating Joanna Gleason for dry humor. There are minor quibbles though, that don't really detract from the evening as a whole.

What I think the real problem here is? The venue. For shows that aren't larger-than-life, especially those that rely on the subtle wink-nod that much of DRS does, the Auditorium is DEATH. I vividly remember sitting in the Balcony for PRODUCERS listening to everyone in the Orchestra section laugh, and none of us upstairs. It's as if you're the kid that gets picked last for dodgeball--you feel so. far. removed from all of the action.

The space is literally twice as big (4,200) as the largest broadway house (Gershwin-1,933). (The Imperial, which housed the show on B'way, seats 1,421.)

I honestly feel this affects the audience's enjoyment of the show--how can it not when the audience feels light years away from the show? I was in row R, and it was very enjoyable, but those farther back probably had a significantly different experience.

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