Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Tour

[azeller]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 7:13pm

Anybody know what's going on with the DRS tour? I just got a message on my answering machine that they've cancelled the entire first week of performances for the Hippodrome in Baltimore (Thanksgiving Week.)

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 7:14pm

Oy, what's going on?

[Broadwayluva]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 8:49pm

i don't know if this helps, but on www.jsonline.com there is this article . . . FRIDAY, Nov. 10, 2006, 2:25 p.m.
By Damien Jaques

'Scoundrels' performances postponed
The national touring company production of the Broadway hit musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" has postponed its Milwaukee engagement at the Marcus Center. Originally scheduled to run here Jan. 2-7, "Scoundrels" will delay its performances until Aug. 14-19.

Marcus Center Executive Vice President Tom Gergerich said the "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" tour is being temporarily suspended while modifications are made in the production.

Ticketholders to the scheduled January performances will be contacted with detailed ticket information.

hope they start up again soon!

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 8:51pm

Maybe they're changing that crappy "Only Game In Town" song back to "Give Them What They Want"

meh, one can only dream.

[Broadway Dancer]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 9:12pm

Aren't they scaling the production back? I've heard talk of that, due to poor sales.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 10:18pm

uh-oh.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:04pm

God, that sucks.

Well, I guess its true, with out Norbert, SCOUNDRELS is nothing.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:41pm

"with out Norbert, SCOUNDRELS is nothing"

Bull****. I mean no offense to Norbert in saying this, he was incredibly talented and brought so much to that role, but it's a total degradation to say DRS is nothing without him. I've seen the show with 3 other actors as Freddy aside from Norbert, and thoroughly enjoyed myself while seeing them. Even without Norbert, the show is still hilarious, the songs clever (especially Love is your legs), the show enticing, etc. I mean, do a search for reviews of DRS when Norbert had an understudy, and the overwhelming view was that people loved the show and thought the non-Norbert Freddy was fantastic.

It's incredibly unfortunate that the tour isn't selling well (if that is in fact the case). Living in NY, I have no clue how the advertising or anything is going, but I really can't imagine Norbert had such a huge effect on audiences around the country. Sure, there are people who have seen the show in NY or heard about how great he was, and some are happy to see the tony-winner, but I would bet over 50% of the audiences who saw him with the tour had no clue who he was (unfortunate of course).

It's just disappointing that this show cannot fully find the audience it deserves. I hope the changes are for the best. And I hope no more in Baltimore is postponed, I was hoping to go the last weekend.

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 12:51am

Very well said, WRQ. Both times I saw DRS on B'way, I missed out on seeing Norbert. Initially, I felt disappointed - until the understudies, Joe Cassidy and Jason Gilman, took the stage and won me over completely.

But it wasn't just Freddy who captivated me. I thought the entire show was a riot - and very tender in places, too. When Jonathan Pryce as Lawrence sang Love Sneaks In, I thought it was one of the prettiest ballads I had heard in a long time. It was really touching because you felt the love he had for Christine, and you really didn't want to see her leave him. Her innocent charms had managed to melt his cold and calculating heart.

I do think that DRS requires an incredibly tight cast. All six major characters need to be expert comics in their own ways, and they need to have great chemistry. Such was indeed the case both times I saw the show - first with Pryce, Cassidy, Rachel York, Rachel DeBenedet, Greg Jbara and Mylinda Hull; then with Pryce, Gilman, York, Lucie Arnaz, Jbara and Sara Gettelfinger. From the reviews I've read for the touring production, the cast seems to be equally strong. Tom Hewitt and Laura Marie Duncan, in particular, are getting raves.

So maybe people just aren't getting excited about the show from the advertising. Maybe there isn't any sizzle for it because it's no longer running on B'way. I must admit, at first I wasn't all that keen on seeing it. I think I was expecting some cheeseball Steve Martin movie knockoff and not the sophisticated (yes, it really is sophisticated) 1960s style comedy romp that I discovered. Thank goodness Jonathan Pryce and Rachel York were cast as replacements. They were the reasons I decided to give it a chance. I'm so glad I did. It wasn't at all the sophomoric level of humor that I expected. It was smart, funny, clever, musically entertaining, and utterly appealing.

I sure hope the tour manages to recover. I'd like to see it again when it comes through Boston. It deserves much more praise than it got. IMO, both DRS and Dessa Rose were shortchanged in the season of Spamalot, Spelling Bee, and Light in the Piazza. Go figure.

lc

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 12:55am

I know the Columbus stop sold very poorly. They were running a 2 for 1 ticket sale the entire engagement. (I found out a day too late to take advantage and go. AAARRGH!) I also can't find tickets to the Dec. Cincinnati stop on ticketmaster. Is it cancelled?!?!?!

[cudramacat]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 6:54am

Well, I don't know why it has poor ticket sales or why it would be scaled back but I saw it in Atlanta and it was HILARIOUS!!! I thought the cast was great so I hope that everything pickys up for it.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 10:46am

I have seen two other Freddy's and honestly, one was very good (Gillman), and was, just a big ol' copier of Norbert, and didn't come off so well (d'arcy James)

He was also matched up with a very 'interesting' Lawrence.

[loveplays]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 11:37am

yes the Cincinnati stop has been postponed in its place we are going to be the first city for Chita Rivera the Dancers Life, same dates as DRS. Hopefully they get the problems workedout I really wanted to see this

[Parks]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 11:46am

What do you think they are changing?

This is very odd. DRS seems to be having horrible luck since July. Looks like it's just a very tired show. Perhaps it's time they let go.

I think a lot of the charm of the show was lost when original cast members started to depart the show. The show that I saw in July 2005 with John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz is not the same show I saw last month in Dallas.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 1:27pm

Who took over for Norbert when he left in Dallas? Who played Freddie in ATL?

[SirLiir]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 2:34pm

Very sad if it is not doing well However, I do believe, as someone said, that you need a very strong cast for the show to succeed. Even on days when Norbert was out, he had a fantastic cast around him to ensure no matter who his understudy was, they did just as good. Fortunately, Joe Cassidy (didn't see him but heard only good things) and Jason Gillman (twice) were excellent on their own. Still, even if Norbert was not a huge draw by name in the tour, the fact the original Tony winner was in the company no doubt sold some tickets.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 3:13pm

Some, yes. I don't think so many as to make such a big difference.

DRSislove, you saw Brian's 3rd performance. Sure, one should be great as soon as they start, but it's natural for actors to improve as they get more comfortable with a character. I saw Brian a couple times after, and he was much improved, while Keith was tremendously improved. Pryce wasn't exactly getting raves by the time of his third performance, and look what happened to him.

And I do agree a good cast is important for the show, but I think we all define good cast differently. For instance, I was fairly disappointed in Richard Kind's Andre...slightly biased but still in general, but I took my friend who never saw the show and she thought that he, Keith, Brian, everyone was great. There is such an immense talent pool of stage actors that I can't fathom only those couple of actors part of the OBC can make the show.

Again, it's important to remember the differences in perceptions between people like us who had the pleasure of seeing the Broadway cast multiple times, and someone who has never seen the Broadway cast and the touring cast will be the first cast they ever see perform this show.

[neilberl]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 4:02pm

It's possible that the first week in Baltimore was cancelled because of Thanksgiving. Subcribers were phoned yesterday to tell them about the first week being cancelled and offered tickets during the 2nd week.

Supposedly a lot of people were changing tickets anyway due to the holiday week.

[friedrichVT]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 12:34pm

Considering Brian d'arcy james did earlier incarnations of the show (workshops prior to Broadway) I can hardly think he'd be a carbon copy of ANYONE.

[Becky]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 2:54pm

Some, yes. I don't think so many as to make such a big difference.

I wouldn't underestimate the power of attaching a "Tony Award Winner" label to promotional advertising in cities across America where you have your average theater-goer. Scoundrels was here for 3 weeks and sold fine - and many shows here only a week don't always sell well. Here in Dallas/Ft. Worth area, I can't tell you how many comments I over-heard where people were mentioning Norbert winning the Tony Award. Because we liked him already, our ears would perk up when people would comment, and so many people walked by ushers asking if the guy that won the Tony was still with the show. When a show comes to cities like ours, some of the only reference a general theater audience might have to whether a show is worth seeing is based on advertising and the mention of awards.

**Sidenote - When Norbert had to be out for two days near the beginning of the run, we went to the show the day he returned. In the lobby, they hadn't changed the understudy board yet (from the previous night), and we panicked a little because it showed him to be out. The usher told us they hadn't set the board yet - but Norbert would be in when she heard us talking. She also went on to say that they had a lot of upset people the last few nights. We commented that it surprised us a little that people cared that much about him - and she said, "OH YEAH. Oh Yeah. We're all glad he's back." And, I believe it had a lot to do with how they marketed the show here - with all ads saying "Tony Award Winner...." etc. So, I'm not extremely surprised if his departure didn't affect future sales....

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 3:05pm

Hmm, well that's interesting Becky. Like I said, I have no clue how they were advertising the tour. I suppose since it is so rare for them to have the Tony winner with the tour, they wanted to capitalize on that with advertising, and maybe audiences felt the same. It's easier for me living in NY to say I don't think a Tony-winner with the tour is a big deal.

But still the show is so great with or without Norbert...maybe it's just really frustrating for me. It's easier for me to know that than for audiences across the country to know that.

Can anyone shed some light as to how audiences have embraced the show on tour since Norbert left?

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 3:15pm

Ahem Amanda, I saw his 4th.

But, it doesn't matter, Brian's gone from DRS forever now.
Keith is gone too.

[Buscee]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 3:23pm

I have a friend who is in the pit for the tour. My understanding is its closing indefinately. He is returning home Dec 18. I havent spoken to him, but his roomate told me its cancelled.

[Julian2]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 3:26pm

Well hopefully the tour will make it to Charlotte, where I'm hoping to go see it.

Looking at things in a hindsight/marketing perspective, I wish DRS had won Best Musical. I think LITP was the best show of the year, and Spamalot was the best production, but DRS was the one who could have used the sales boost the most.

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 4:03pm

Just thought I'd bump this thread. I'm seeing the show in Louisville, KY tonight. To be honest, I'm going for Yazbeck's score. I loved "The Fully Monty" and can't wait to see "Scoundrels," regardless of who is in the roles. I also love Tom Hewitt. I saw him on the "Urinetown" tour as Officer Lockstock and thought he was great.