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San Francisco Bay Area Theater Reviews

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

June 11, 2024 by Eddie Reynolds Leave a Comment

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Jeffrey Lane (Book); David Yazbek (Music & Lyrics)

San Jose Stage Company

Keith Pinto, Ashley Garlick & Jonathan Rhys Williams

Filled with more corn than an Iowa field in mid-summer, San Jose Stage Company’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is overflowing with groaner puns, slapstick silliness, sexual innuendos, and sophomoric vulgarity the likes of high-school boys making fart jokes.  Based on the 1988 film by the same name, the 2004 musical comedy by Jeffrey Lane (book) and David Yazbek (music and lyrics) is in many ways a Mel Brooks wanna-be that has many of the master’s touches of farce and parody but somehow never quite reaches his high (or is it low) standard.  But with more plot twists and turns than the windiest of Highway One roads and with some comedic stars that leave no physical, vocal, or expression antic untried to secure a roar of laughter, The Stage’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels certainly keeps its audience in stitches.  For those who have not seen the movie, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels also keeps them guessing until the final scene who will win among the conniving and clownish con artists cheating other equally deceiving and devilish ones.

There is only one major catch in both the musical’s book and in The Stage’s production: Women dressed to the hilt in high-heels and skin-tight dresses are overall portrayed as the not-too-smart and easy-pushover targets who quickly depart with their riches after hearing a ridiculously sad story from an amorous man with an accent.  In 2024, this portrayal seems a few decades out of date

For the rest of my review, please proceed to Talkin’Broadway.

Rating: 4 E

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels continues through June 30, 2024, in a two-hour, thirty-minute (plus intermission) production by San Jose Stage Company, 490 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA.  Tickets are available online at www.thestage.org or by email at boxoffice@thestage.org.

Photo Credits: Dave Lepori

Rating: 4 E Tags: Musical, 4 E, San Jose Stage Company

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Eddie is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.

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Theatre Critic for the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, writing 150+ reviews annually for Theatre Eddys and Talkin' Broadway (San Jose/Silicon Valley). Read More

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