Show Search  |  Theatres  |  Actors  |  Auditions  |  Reviews  |  News  |
Drama Resources  |  Related Links  |  Search Site  |  About Us  |

Theatre News

Fall For it Again and Again! DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

Cons Its Way Back into San Diego Civic Theatre ~ July 17-22, 2007  

The scamming, scheming, double-crossing hit Broadway musical, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, sneaks back to the city of its birth, where it had its world premiere at San Diego ’s Old Globe Theatre in 2004.  Tony®-nominated actor TOM HEWITT (Rocky Horror Show) plays suave and sophisticated con man Lawrence Jameson. He is joined on stage by D.B. BONDS, who plays Freddy Benson, the brash and vulgar swindler Lawrence takes under his wing.  

If you don't want to see this show because it's "One of the liveliest, funniest, best-performed musicals in years!" (New York Post), then see it because the money helps pay for our grandmother's cosmetic surgery.  Set on the glorious, glamorous Riviera, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is a delicious comedy that follows two con artists as they take on the lifestyles of the rich and shameless − and end up with a lot more than they bargain for.  

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS reunites David Yazbek (music and lyrics) with Tony Award® winners ~ our own Old Globe’s Jack O’Brien (direction; Hairspray, Damn Yankees) and Jerry Mitchell (choreography; La Cage aux Folles, Hairspray, Gypsy), the Tony®-nominated team behind The Full Monty. The raucous new musical comedy show features a book by Jeffrey Lane that keeps audiences laughing, humming and guessing to the very end.  

Based on the popular 1988 MGM film, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS centers on two con men living on the French Riviera – the suave and sophisticated Lawrence Jameson, who makes his lavish living by talking rich ladies out of their money; and a small-time crook named Freddy Benson, who, more humbly, swindles women by waking their compassion with fabricated stories about his grandmother’s failing health.  After meeting on a train, they unsuccessfully attempt to work together only to find that this small French town isn’t big enough for the two of them. So they make a bet: the first one to swindle $50,000 from a young heiress, triumphs and the other must leave town. What follows are a series of schemes, masquerades and double-crosses in which nothing may ever be exactly what it seems.  

TOM HEWITT (Lawrence Jameson) has appeared on Broadway as the title role in Dracula, The Musical, as Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show (for which he was nominated for Tony® and Drama Desk awards), and as Scar in The Lion King. Other Broadway credits include The Boys from Syracuse , School for Scandal, and The Sisters Rosenzweig. He has toured as Officer Lockstock in the National Tour of Urinetown. His Off-Broadway credits include Jeffrey, Beau Jest (Outer Critics nomination), Richard III, and Othello. Recent Regional Credits include Private Lives and Travesties at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven (CT Critics Circle Award), Compleat Female Stage Beauty at the Old Globe, Captain Hook in Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby at Casa Manana, Zhivago and Dracula, The Musical at the LaJolla Playhouse, Uncle Vanya at the Arena Stage, Racing Demon and Blithe Spirit at the Guthrie, and Antony and Cleopatra at the Shakespeare Theater. His television and film credits include roles on “Law and Order,” “Third Watch,” “Frasier,” “The George Carlin Show,” narration for The Discovery Channel, and Julie Taymor’s Fool’s Fire. Tom is a native of Montana .  

D.B. BONDS (Freddy Benson) appeared on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables; Off-Broadway in The Last Five Years (as standby to Norbert Leo Butz) and The Ark.   He appeared in National Tours of The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables; regional credits: Urinetown (Bobby Strong), john and jen (John) and Pippin (title role).   

Other casting includes Laura Marie Duncan as “American Soap Queen” Christine Colgate; Hollis Resnik as Muriel Eubanks; Drew McVety as Andre; and Paige Pardy as Jolene. The ensemble includes Todd Anderson, Tim Craskey, Jeremy Davis, Christopher DeAngelis, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Christopher Freeman, Brenda Hamilton, Derric Harris, Emily Loftiss, Natalie Nucci, Jim Osorno, Jennifer Rias, Tally Sessions, Kim Shriver, Nicole Van Giesen and Christian Whelan.  

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS opened on Broadway in March 2005 to rave reviews.  The New York Times’ Ben Brantley called it, “The most eagerly awaited new musical of the season.”  Clive Barnes (New York Post) raved, “A knockout punch to Broadway’s funnybone! One of the liveliest, funniest, best-performed musicals in years.  Super-smart and superior in every way.”  And Terry Teachout (The Wall Street Journal) proclaimed, “I know funny when I see it, and this show is a perfect hoot!  A big hit.” DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS was awarded 11 Tony Award® nominations, including Best Musical. The musical had its world premiere at San Diego ’s Old Globe Theatre in September 2004.  

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS design team includes David Rockwell (sets), Gregg Barnes (costumes), Kenneth Posner (lighting) and Acme Sound Partners (sound).  Ted Sperling serves as musical director and the orchestrations are by Harold Wheeler.  The DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS National Tour is produced by The Dirty Rotten Producers in association with MGM ON STAGE. The executive producers are Marty Bell and Aldo Scrofani.

For more information, visit www.dirtyrottentour.com  

WHEN:                                 July 17-22, 2007  

WHERE:                              San Diego Civic Theatre , 3rd and B Street , downtown San Diego  

PERFORMANCE               Tuesday & Thursday at 7:30PM

TIMES:                                 Wednesday at 7PM (actor chat-back following performance)

Friday at 8PM

                                                Saturday at 2PM & 8PM; ASL interpreted performance at 2PM

Sunday at 1PM & 6:30 PM note change in usual schedule  

TICKETS:                            $19--$77    

TICKET PURCHASE:      Civic Theatre Ticket Office, (619) 570-1100

                                                Ticketmaster            (619) 220-TIXS

                                                Group Discounts (619) 564-3001  

THEATRE ADDRESS:     3rd and B Street , 1100 Third Ave.  

PARKING:                           Paid parking available in the San Diego Concourse Parking structure.        

WEBSITE:                          www.broadwaysd.com