Martin Scattergood, Gina Townend & Ben Bason
NODA Review: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Reviewed by: Mary Titterton (Regional Representative)
A South Yorkshire Amateur Premiere! I have been very fortunate to see three newly released shows to amateurs - Priscilla (Croft House Theatre Company in March), Betty Blue Eyes (Ellesmere Musical Theatre Company in March) and now Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Southey in May. It is always interesting to see a successful play, film or novel being transferred to musical theatre, and Southey with Mark Feakins in the Director's chair certainly brought out the best of this particular transferral.
First I must congratulate the Set Design people who together with the Set Build team and Scenic Artist certainly gave us a simple set very much "a la South of France". Michael Moore's costumes and millinery were a delight and together with good and effective properties (Jill Beckett) and a good lighting design from Tom Dyson we were certainly transported to the South of France.
Both Martin Scattergood (Lawrence Jameson) and Mark Holmes (Andre Thibault) gave performances we have come to expect of them over the years, and new-comer Ben Bason (Freddy Benson) was amazing - a wonderful lesson in characterisation - he certainly had an excellent grasp of a cheeky young upstart/conman. Gina Townend as Christine Colgate gave an assured performance together with her excellent singing voice. It was good to see Joanne Ringrose back with Southey and I am sure she enjoyed playing the part of Muriel Eubanks. Congratulations to Rosie Choppin who made the most of her brief opportunity to excel in the cameo role of Jolene Oakes. Well done to the ensemble, and particularly in one of the show's best musical numbers - the hoedown.
Congratulations to Matthew Moore (Musical Director) and the orchestra, who gave excellent support to those on stage, but unfortunately the music in the show is not very memorable. Well Done!
Reviewed by: Mary Titterton (Regional Representative)
A South Yorkshire Amateur Premiere! I have been very fortunate to see three newly released shows to amateurs - Priscilla (Croft House Theatre Company in March), Betty Blue Eyes (Ellesmere Musical Theatre Company in March) and now Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Southey in May. It is always interesting to see a successful play, film or novel being transferred to musical theatre, and Southey with Mark Feakins in the Director's chair certainly brought out the best of this particular transferral.
First I must congratulate the Set Design people who together with the Set Build team and Scenic Artist certainly gave us a simple set very much "a la South of France". Michael Moore's costumes and millinery were a delight and together with good and effective properties (Jill Beckett) and a good lighting design from Tom Dyson we were certainly transported to the South of France.
Both Martin Scattergood (Lawrence Jameson) and Mark Holmes (Andre Thibault) gave performances we have come to expect of them over the years, and new-comer Ben Bason (Freddy Benson) was amazing - a wonderful lesson in characterisation - he certainly had an excellent grasp of a cheeky young upstart/conman. Gina Townend as Christine Colgate gave an assured performance together with her excellent singing voice. It was good to see Joanne Ringrose back with Southey and I am sure she enjoyed playing the part of Muriel Eubanks. Congratulations to Rosie Choppin who made the most of her brief opportunity to excel in the cameo role of Jolene Oakes. Well done to the ensemble, and particularly in one of the show's best musical numbers - the hoedown.
Congratulations to Matthew Moore (Musical Director) and the orchestra, who gave excellent support to those on stage, but unfortunately the music in the show is not very memorable. Well Done!
Full Company - The More We Dance
Review: Last Night I Dreamed Of (Claire Chapman)
As a fan of both musicals and stories of cons, I was delighted to be in the audience for the opening night of the South Yorkshire premier of a show that combines the two, Southey Musical Theatre’s production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, at the Montgomery Theatre, Sheffield.
Based on the classic film comedy starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, the musical promises a hilarious, all-singing, all-dancing romp of high-jinx and sophistication. Set on the French Rivera, the musical tells the story of what happens when the decadent world of suave conman Lawrence Jameson comes crashing down after the arrival of larger than life Freddy Benson, a conman of an entirely different order. The two find themselves going head to head in the con of their lives, pulling out all the stops in a bid for the affections of a millionaire soap heiress Christine Colgate.
The show combined crisp direction (thanks to director Mark Feakins) and choreography (thanks to choreographers Mark Harris and Carla Jane Wade) with perfect accents, stylish wardrobes, incredible singing voices, great stage props and brilliant comic timing throughout, even when things intentionally went wrong, with great performances from everyone from the main characters to the smallest ensemble parts. The laugh out loud cheesy and physical humour (including the classic pretending to walk down stairs), misunderstandings and innuendos that packed the brilliant script were made even funnier with high class accents. It is also the only musical I have seen that mentions my favourite chocolate, the Toblerone.
The breast adjustment by one of the glamorous maids opening the curtain on the show and the stylish black and gold theme of the opening scene gave the audience a great idea of the style of classy comedy they were in for, especially when it was all upstaged two minutes later by two nuns, a moving plant and a stagehand appearing from back stage to rescue the situation.
The moments of speaking directly to the audience and the opening song “Give Them What They Want” outlining the rules of a good con, reminded me of one of my favourite ever television dramas 'Hustle' and continued to provide an excellent introduction to the con artist scene where charming men can be forgiven for anything.
In 'What Was a Woman To Do', Joanne Ringrose as Muriel showed off a stunning jazz voice (in a song that showed even the theatre usherette had been a victim of a con man), and later showed that she could pull off a classic Del Boy move when she fell through the bar.
Martin Scattergood as Lawrence showed that he was such a good con man that he even had power over the lighting, exuding taste, charm and the classic good looks his character required and whose relationship with Freddy, played by Ben Bason, was almost a 'My Fair Lady' bromance.
'Great Big Stuff' was a great introduction to new con man on the scene Freddy, sung and danced with American crassness and on the verge of breaking into Will Smith, Fresh Prince style rap, made even funnier when he continued to sing with his mouth stuffed with marshmallows.
Lawrence’s companion Andre (Mark Holmes) was played brilliantly with European cynicism that would make you pleased to have him by your side but more nervous if he arrested you in his role as chief of police.
Rosie Coppin in her role as Jolene brought out her inner Dolly Parton in her looks and speaking voice and in her singing voice in 'Oklahoma' her inner Doris Day, followed by a lesson in line dancing and a conga accompanied by the ensemble.
The versatility of Ben’s acting skills continued to show when he pretended to be Lawrence’s younger brother Ruprecht who became more and more weird and unnerving in the song 'All About Ruprecht' that started off as a sweet lesson in DNA.
Gina Townend as Christine from her first appearance in 'Here I Am' had bubbly confidence and sweetness oozing out of her and giving 'Legally Blonde’s' Elle a run for her money with inner klutz, innocent, naivety and accident prone-ness, before in 'Nothing is to Wonderful to be True' displaying a Disney princess worthy singing voice.
Like any good two part story, Act 2 started with a repeat of the Act 1 cliffhanger. Don’t want to give this away and the rest of the story, but proving that you should never place a bet with a fellow con artist, everything is never quite what it seems and love always comes when you least expect it.
In 'Ruffhousin’ Mit Shuffhasuen' and the tango style 'The More We Dance' Martin mastered a singing voice that is a cross between the Muppets’ Swedish Chef, the recent television 'Hannibal'' and yodeling.
If I was a Shirley Valentine style singleton I would have easily fallen for Mark’s charming seduction technique lesson in his duet with Joanie 'Like Zis, Like Zat' that turned into a romantic Fred and Ginger style dance routine.
'Love is in my Legs' was a brilliantly bad boy band style song just in time for this weekend’s Eurovision competition in contrast with 'Love Sneaks In' that showed Martin had a Michael Ball West End worthy voice when it comes to big love songs. Ben in 'Son of a Great Big Thing' was almost straight out of the 'Witches of Eastwick' musical, and almost brought the devil out of him.
The final number 'Dirty Rotten Number' and its lyrics was the perfect swing ending to a brilliantly hilarious and exceptionally presented musical, providing an outstanding duet between Martin and Ben, with Ben’s singing voice being at its strongest all evening and the bromance chemistry and respect between them being obvious.
As a fan of both musicals and stories of cons, I was delighted to be in the audience for the opening night of the South Yorkshire premier of a show that combines the two, Southey Musical Theatre’s production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, at the Montgomery Theatre, Sheffield.
Based on the classic film comedy starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, the musical promises a hilarious, all-singing, all-dancing romp of high-jinx and sophistication. Set on the French Rivera, the musical tells the story of what happens when the decadent world of suave conman Lawrence Jameson comes crashing down after the arrival of larger than life Freddy Benson, a conman of an entirely different order. The two find themselves going head to head in the con of their lives, pulling out all the stops in a bid for the affections of a millionaire soap heiress Christine Colgate.
The show combined crisp direction (thanks to director Mark Feakins) and choreography (thanks to choreographers Mark Harris and Carla Jane Wade) with perfect accents, stylish wardrobes, incredible singing voices, great stage props and brilliant comic timing throughout, even when things intentionally went wrong, with great performances from everyone from the main characters to the smallest ensemble parts. The laugh out loud cheesy and physical humour (including the classic pretending to walk down stairs), misunderstandings and innuendos that packed the brilliant script were made even funnier with high class accents. It is also the only musical I have seen that mentions my favourite chocolate, the Toblerone.
The breast adjustment by one of the glamorous maids opening the curtain on the show and the stylish black and gold theme of the opening scene gave the audience a great idea of the style of classy comedy they were in for, especially when it was all upstaged two minutes later by two nuns, a moving plant and a stagehand appearing from back stage to rescue the situation.
The moments of speaking directly to the audience and the opening song “Give Them What They Want” outlining the rules of a good con, reminded me of one of my favourite ever television dramas 'Hustle' and continued to provide an excellent introduction to the con artist scene where charming men can be forgiven for anything.
In 'What Was a Woman To Do', Joanne Ringrose as Muriel showed off a stunning jazz voice (in a song that showed even the theatre usherette had been a victim of a con man), and later showed that she could pull off a classic Del Boy move when she fell through the bar.
Martin Scattergood as Lawrence showed that he was such a good con man that he even had power over the lighting, exuding taste, charm and the classic good looks his character required and whose relationship with Freddy, played by Ben Bason, was almost a 'My Fair Lady' bromance.
'Great Big Stuff' was a great introduction to new con man on the scene Freddy, sung and danced with American crassness and on the verge of breaking into Will Smith, Fresh Prince style rap, made even funnier when he continued to sing with his mouth stuffed with marshmallows.
Lawrence’s companion Andre (Mark Holmes) was played brilliantly with European cynicism that would make you pleased to have him by your side but more nervous if he arrested you in his role as chief of police.
Rosie Coppin in her role as Jolene brought out her inner Dolly Parton in her looks and speaking voice and in her singing voice in 'Oklahoma' her inner Doris Day, followed by a lesson in line dancing and a conga accompanied by the ensemble.
The versatility of Ben’s acting skills continued to show when he pretended to be Lawrence’s younger brother Ruprecht who became more and more weird and unnerving in the song 'All About Ruprecht' that started off as a sweet lesson in DNA.
Gina Townend as Christine from her first appearance in 'Here I Am' had bubbly confidence and sweetness oozing out of her and giving 'Legally Blonde’s' Elle a run for her money with inner klutz, innocent, naivety and accident prone-ness, before in 'Nothing is to Wonderful to be True' displaying a Disney princess worthy singing voice.
Like any good two part story, Act 2 started with a repeat of the Act 1 cliffhanger. Don’t want to give this away and the rest of the story, but proving that you should never place a bet with a fellow con artist, everything is never quite what it seems and love always comes when you least expect it.
In 'Ruffhousin’ Mit Shuffhasuen' and the tango style 'The More We Dance' Martin mastered a singing voice that is a cross between the Muppets’ Swedish Chef, the recent television 'Hannibal'' and yodeling.
If I was a Shirley Valentine style singleton I would have easily fallen for Mark’s charming seduction technique lesson in his duet with Joanie 'Like Zis, Like Zat' that turned into a romantic Fred and Ginger style dance routine.
'Love is in my Legs' was a brilliantly bad boy band style song just in time for this weekend’s Eurovision competition in contrast with 'Love Sneaks In' that showed Martin had a Michael Ball West End worthy voice when it comes to big love songs. Ben in 'Son of a Great Big Thing' was almost straight out of the 'Witches of Eastwick' musical, and almost brought the devil out of him.
The final number 'Dirty Rotten Number' and its lyrics was the perfect swing ending to a brilliantly hilarious and exceptionally presented musical, providing an outstanding duet between Martin and Ben, with Ben’s singing voice being at its strongest all evening and the bromance chemistry and respect between them being obvious.
Review: Reviewing The Stagey Situation (Jacob Bush)
Last night I had the honour of attending Southey Musical Theatre Company’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as a ‘critic’. I had a great night out. Southey did a great job of putting on this very funny musical and the audience clearly enjoyed themselves. The show had some amazing choreography from Mark Harris (Boogie Nights) and Carla Jane Wade (42nd Street, Our House), director Mark Feakins (The Pajama Game, Jekyll and Hyde) brought out every ounce of laughter from the show and there was a brilliant sounding band under the direction of Matthew Moore. The creatives had assembled a very strong cast!
There was a very strong ensemble, many of whom had their chances to shine in small featured roles. Rosie Choppin (Little Shop of Horrors) made the most of her short lived role Jolene Oakes. She was wonderfully over the top and bonkers! She also led some outstanding choreography in the song Oklahoma.
Joanne Ringrose (Jekyll and Hyde) played Muriel Eubanks perfectly. She had some wonderfully hilarious lines delivered very very well. She had a very believable chemistry with Mark Holmes (Oliver, Rock of Ages) as Andre. He was very well suited to his role and led his songs very well. Like Zis Like Zat was a particular musical highlight.
Martin Scattergood (Legally Blonde, Priscilla) showed off some beautiful vocals as Lawrence. He had the right amount of charm for the role and really nailed the characterisation. Gina Townend (Avenue Q, Made in Dagenham) was perfect in the role of Christine Colgate. Her vocals were stunning and she made for a wonderful stereotypically popular blonde American woman.
Stealing the show for me was Ben Bason as Freddy Benson. This was Ben’s musical theatre debut in Sheffield but you couldn’t tell at all! He could easily have come straight from the West End. He acted the role perfectly, blew the roof off with some killer vocals and had a gorgeous chemistry with Gina as Christine.
The show will slicken up over the run naturally. The show had an effective set even if some of it looked like it was about to topple straight over.
I would recommend this show to anyone wanting a fun night out and to laugh out loud a lot. It really is a funny show.
Last night I had the honour of attending Southey Musical Theatre Company’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as a ‘critic’. I had a great night out. Southey did a great job of putting on this very funny musical and the audience clearly enjoyed themselves. The show had some amazing choreography from Mark Harris (Boogie Nights) and Carla Jane Wade (42nd Street, Our House), director Mark Feakins (The Pajama Game, Jekyll and Hyde) brought out every ounce of laughter from the show and there was a brilliant sounding band under the direction of Matthew Moore. The creatives had assembled a very strong cast!
There was a very strong ensemble, many of whom had their chances to shine in small featured roles. Rosie Choppin (Little Shop of Horrors) made the most of her short lived role Jolene Oakes. She was wonderfully over the top and bonkers! She also led some outstanding choreography in the song Oklahoma.
Joanne Ringrose (Jekyll and Hyde) played Muriel Eubanks perfectly. She had some wonderfully hilarious lines delivered very very well. She had a very believable chemistry with Mark Holmes (Oliver, Rock of Ages) as Andre. He was very well suited to his role and led his songs very well. Like Zis Like Zat was a particular musical highlight.
Martin Scattergood (Legally Blonde, Priscilla) showed off some beautiful vocals as Lawrence. He had the right amount of charm for the role and really nailed the characterisation. Gina Townend (Avenue Q, Made in Dagenham) was perfect in the role of Christine Colgate. Her vocals were stunning and she made for a wonderful stereotypically popular blonde American woman.
Stealing the show for me was Ben Bason as Freddy Benson. This was Ben’s musical theatre debut in Sheffield but you couldn’t tell at all! He could easily have come straight from the West End. He acted the role perfectly, blew the roof off with some killer vocals and had a gorgeous chemistry with Gina as Christine.
The show will slicken up over the run naturally. The show had an effective set even if some of it looked like it was about to topple straight over.
I would recommend this show to anyone wanting a fun night out and to laugh out loud a lot. It really is a funny show.
Some of our promotional photographs - photo credit Mark Feakins (Marmalade Photography)
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Official Show Photographs (courtesy of Phoebe Roe-Parkin of Bumblephe Photography & Mark Feakins - all images are copyright).
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Ben Bason - curtain call
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Martin Scattergood - curtain call
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Full Company & Orchestra - curtain call
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