Were New York Critics Taken with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels?

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a musical adaptation of the 1988 film of the same name, brings together The Full Monty team of composer/lyricist David Yazbek, director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell. Toss in a librettist, in this case Jeffrey Lane, and some stars Scoundrels features John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Sherie Rene Scott, Joanna Gleason and Gregory Jbara and you've got yourself a Broadway show! Dirty Rotten Scoundrels officially opened at the Imperial Theatre on March 3 after a San Diego tryout. Did critics think the tuner was a breath of fresh air?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Eric Grode in his Broadway.com Review: "Based on the solid 1988 Michael Caine-Steve Martin film, Scoundrels is a bouncy, slightly shameless musical packed with good songs and great performances. It's not perfect by any means, but it offers plenty of laughs and even a tiny bit of heart… Yazbek's score has a lot in common with his Full Monty efforts; he still favors a chugging, syncopated vamp under most of his uptempo songs, and he shows a continued flair for the sort of bawdy-but-still-OK-for-your-parents lyrics that Broadway has come to adore… Seeing an old pro like Lithgow and young turks like Butz and Scott sin their way through a meaty, tuneful new musical goes a long way toward excusing any flaws. If you're looking for good, unclean fun, sidle up to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and hand your wallet over."

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "Though shot through with bawdy jokes, smirky innuendoes and a rowdy spirit of self-parody, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels seems to believe in its own brazen agenda only when Mr. Butz, a criminally talented young performer, is allowed to command the stage… You can feel the strain behind Mr. Lithgow's performance, especially when he has to be extravagantly wicked or daring. Though he does fine by a Rex Harrison-style patter number, he is most at home in a wistful, wispy ballad Lawrence sings in the second act."

Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "W.C. Fields had a rule: Never work with children or ani mals. Were he still alive, he'd probably add Norbert Leo Butz to the list. As he showed once more in the super-smart new musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which opened last night, any scene Butz can't steal isn't worth stealing. Luckily for us, the rest of the fantastic cast--including Butz's co-stars, the ever-suave John Lithgow and the ever-effervescent Sherie Rene Scott--is up to his finger-pickin' ways and refuse to go along meekly with the heist. The result is one of the liveliest, best-performed musicals in years. And the musical itself ain't chopped liver, either!"

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "The talent involved in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is, as young people say, awesome, but I'm afraid it doesn't quite pay off. Even in 1937, Yazbek's devilishly, relentlessly clever lyrics would have been balanced by some tender, memorable tunes. At some point, you want to see the characters as more than dazzling cartoons. But they never get beyond theatrical pizzazz… David Rockwell's sets are sleek and efficient, as if the needs of a road tour have already been taken into account. Gregg Barnes' costumes have a raffish charm. Jerry Mitchell's choreography is lively, and director Jack O'Brien keeps things moving handily. But after a while, the breezy lightheartedness of the show isn't enough."

David Rooney of Variety: "Near the end of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, John Lithgow says to co-star Norbert Leo Butz, 'What you lack in grace you certainly make up for in vulgarity.' He might have been reviewing the show. Despite its winning cast and occasional wit, this musical of the 1988 MGM comic film is a disharmonious jumble of sophisticated, urbane humor and frat-boy crassness… Yazbek's strength is in his cleverly constructed lyrics, not his pleasant but unremarkable pop- and jazz-inflected melodies. Here, he seems to be shopping around through most of the show for a musical style that fits, giving it a piecemeal feel that echoes the design. And while Monty had heart and grit, Scoundrels is charmless. The humor is often puerile, the incessant jokes about the French are tired, and the nudge-wink, out-of-character asides designed to break down the fourth wall by commenting on set changes, musical conventions, etc., have a whiff of desperation."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "This stage version has a stop-and-go personality, telling several different tales of deception that interrupt each other and don't build to a satisfying conclusion. That's not to say you won't have a good time, particularly when Butz is careering around the stage… Butz is a natural musical-comedy star, a genuine song-and-dance man, who knows how to fill the stage all by himself… Lithgow's Lawrence, a fussy, preening aristocrat, is equally accomplished. The actor is a debonair, commanding fellow, and if his singing voice is more serviceable than sweet, no matter. He has charm to spare… In the end, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a mixed bag of a musical, but there's enough to be savored especially that terrific cast, so you won't feel taken."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which opened last night at the Imperial Theatre, is a sweet-natured yet droll, dorky but gorgeous, wholesome yet raunchy and somehow sophisticated adaptation of the beloved Michael Caine-Steve Martin movie about con men in the south of France… David Yazbek's score is smart, endearing, often wildly amusing, and 'smooth and breezy,' as he says in the opening song, 'Give Them What They Want.' Beneath the Broadway and pop conventions, we sense him winking at giants all the way back to Cole Porter… Although the entire cast is beyond lovely--and Lithgow is a hoot - Butz ratchets up the stakes as a deceptively sloppy swindler."

Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "Yazbek's cleverly constructed songs nod to Burt Bacharach, Louis Prima and Weird Al Yankovic, revealing an equal flair for wry wordplay and gross-out humor. Jeffrey Lane's book is similarly deft in sending up the scampish subjects and their petty preoccupations. What the show lacks, for all its drollness, is a set of characters or situations worth caring about… Thanks to O'Brien and his cast, Scoundrels maintains a high entertainment quotient. In addition to Lithgow, who lends his usual effortless panache, it includes Norbert Leo Butz, turning in a game, giddy performance as Freddy Benson, the younger and rawer of the scoundrels. Sherie Rene Scott has less to work with as the seemingly guileless blonde whom Freddy and Lawrence vie for, but she contributes a sweet presence and a tangy voice. And the always excellent Joanna Gleason sails through the part of a desperately determined divorcee."