Presented by Hills Musical Company Production
Reviewed 6 May 2022
I am a big fan of David Yazbek. He has written the music and lyrics for one or two very good musicals which are on rotation in my car! I have been singing along to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for a while now and it never ceases to bring a smile to my face and make me aware of just how amazing good writing for music theatre is.
Tonight, I was treated to an excellent interpretation of Yazbek’s music and lyrics for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with the book written by Jeffrey Lane for the musical version, based on the famous 1998 movie of the same name starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. It is refreshing to see such an iconic story treated to such a vibrant and enjoyable staging by such a talented bunch of local music theatre performers.
It is always difficult if you know, and have seen, earlier productions of a piece of work not to make comparisons. But when you have a benchmark to work from and an expectation of how much fun a show is, it’s sometimes hard to leave your prejudices at the door. Tonight, I experienced a real treat. From the moment the overture started I was engaged and treated to a thoroughly enjoyable night in the theatre. Michael Butler (Director) and Ben Stefanoff (Musical Director) have assembled an array of performers and musicians that make two and a half hours in the theatre seem like ten minutes and they leave you wanting more. Always the sign of a good piece of theatre that has been well rehearsed, carefully developed and brought to life with care for the product, care for the cast, and a really healthy focus towards having a good night out with a good laugh and quality product.
Rod Schultz is excellently suave as Lawrence Jameson and Sebastian Cooper brilliantly funny as Freddy Benson. They head up this amazing cast of local performers, aided and abetted by Megan Davidson who shines in her debut role as a principal, playing Christine Colgate; Kristin Stefanoff is perfect as the matrimonially predatory Muriel Eubanks; Callum Byrne comically brilliant as Andre Thibault and Tammy Shields strident and funny as Jolene Oaks. You can’t put a credit card between the performances; they were excellent and worthy to grace any stage. I’ve seen professional shows that couldn’t hold a candle to some of the work on show tonight at The Stirling Community Theatre.
The hard working and talented ensemble Matt Barnett, Maggie Cooper, Nicolas Equid, Shane Huang, Kimberly Jones, Kelsey McCormack, Sarah Middleton, Genevieve Mohacsy, Dylan Rufus, Kiera Turner, Scott Whellum and Sean Wright, bring more than just support to the show. They are an intrinsic part of the journey and the requirement is more than just set dressing in this one. There was a vast array of wonderfully talented young people acting, singing and dancing and bringing to life this enjoyable romp of a story. There is not a single person in the cast who isn’t working their little tush off to bring this show to life.
The show is a continuous stream of very funny lyrics and dialogue which at times got overwhelmed by the clever staging and choreography. Ah, the choreography; excellent job Ashleigh Rathjen. You made really great use of every moment at your disposal and there wasn’t a moment that I saw one of the performers outside their comfort zone and they all showed us how much they were enjoying themselves.
The band brilliantly led by Ben Stefanoff were lively and vibrant (sometimes a little too vibrant at the expense of a lyric or two), but hey, as whole it was an amazing job well done to support such a lively and engaging cast. Though at times we were held to ransom by an over enthusiastic trumpeter and a very loud Euphonium (electronically reproduced, if my ears aren’t lying to me).
Small criticisms of a great show. It’s worth every penny of the ticket price. A really high standard, very funny, beautifully realised piece of music theatre in the safe hands of a very good director, a very talented musical director and a very clever choreographer.
Kristin Stefanoff has designed a simple, effective and very friendly space to work in, Matt Ralph’s lighting design is inventive and fun, Jayden Gladigau’s sound design was excellent, but some of the ensemble numbers lost a bit of clarity on opening night – but there’s never enough time to get everything right when you have to do a day job as well. Anna Grosser and her team have put together a very effective costume plot. All in all, the technical side of things was first rate which helped the show run smoothly with no effort.
Another excellent production from The Hills Musical Company and well worth a night out in the theatre. Book your seats soon, this one could sell out.
Reviewed by Adrian Barnes
Venue: Stirling Community Theatre
Season: May 6th – May 21st at 8pm Matinee Sun May 15th 2pm
Duration: 2 hours 40 mins, approx (including interval)
Tickets: $26 – $34
Bookings: http://hillsmusical.org.au/DRS
Disclaimer: Ben Stefanoff, Kristin Stefanoff and Ashleigh Rathjen are reviewers for Glam Adelaide’s Arts team
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