It's DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS Time at Community Players

Community Players is ready for a trip to the Riviera with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the Broadway musical that focuses on two con men plying their trade among wealthy women in the south of France. Their Scoundrels take the stage tonight for a Pay-What-You-Can preview, followed by performances through March 29.

So what is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels? Just how dirty rotten are those scoundrels? Well, pretty rotten, anyway. Not exactly dirty. In fact, Lawrence, the sophisticated and charming one of the pair, depends on elegance to ply his trade. Lawrence is a master at his game, while Freddy is a bit of a mess, pretending to be hapless and lost as he angles for a few francs. When Lawrence becomes annoyed by Freddy's interference, the two start a game of their own -- they will both try to con a specific women and whoever wins gets to be "King of the Mountain" of their specific turf on the Riviera.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels the musical takes its story from two movies. First there was 1964's Bedtime Story, starring David Niven and Marlon Brando as the pair of con men with decidedly different styles. That was remade in 1988 as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, with Michael Caine and Steve Martin in the roles.

The musical version, with music and lyrics by David Yazbeck and book by Jeffrey Lane, hews more closely to that 1988 film, which only seems fair given that they share a title. Let's just say that if you've seen Bedtime Story, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will start to seem different about 3/4 of the way through.

Stories have circulated that the 1980's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was originally intended as a vehicle for David Bowie and Mick Jagger, who were fresh off a popular "Dancin' in the Streets" video, but it didn't come off. Still, it's amusing to imagine those two as Lothario con men trying to outdo each other. 

The musical previewed on Broadway in January of 2005, making it to 627 performances before it closed. The original stars were John Lithgow as Lawrence, the dapper, sophisticated seducer played by Niven and Caine, with Norbert Leo Butz as Freddy, who uses pity to prey on women's sympathies, previously portrayed by Brando and Martin.

With its French Riviera setting, breezy plot and comedic hijinks, not to mention top-level stars in Butz and Lithgow, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels the musical was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical as well as Best Score for Yazbeck, Best Book for Lane, Best Actor for Lithgow, Best Actress for Sherie Renee Scott as their primary mark and Best Supporting Actress for Joanna Gleason. The only winner was Norbert Leo Butz, who beat out his costar for that Best Actor trophy.

For Community Players, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels stars Dave Montague and Nick Benson as Lawrence and Freddy, with Vicky Snyder as the mark they're both aiming for. The rest of the cast includes Rosie Hauck, Joe McDonald, Wendy Baugh, Samm Bettis, Jennifer Maloy, Missy Montefalco, Julie Strunk, Wendi Fleming, Joshua McCauley, Opal Virtue, Jason Strunk, Brenton Ways, Jake Rathman, Chris Terven and Aimee Kerber, all under the direction of Alan Wilson.Allen Popowski is musical director, while Bridgette Richard and Alex Lovel are choreographers.

For information on this production, including a link to buy tickets, click here.

"Hairspray" Opens Tomorrow at Community Players

John Waters, the creative mind behind the 1988 film "Hairspray," is a fairly twisted individual. Not in a bad way. Unless the "bad" refers to "bad taste," which is pretty much a John Waters trademark. And Waters' way is more of a "he marches to his own drummer and the majorette is probably in drag and smoking a cigarette" kind of way.

The movie "Hairspray" was a cult classic, with the divine Divine (real name: Harris Glen Milstead) as frumpy, middle-aged Edna Turnblad, mother of Tracy Turnblad, who may be a little chubby, but is just as good a dancer as any teen around her in 1960s Baltimore. Tracy yearns to dance on the Corny Collins Show, a sort of American Bandstand for Baltimore. She has the right beehive hairdo, laden down with hairspray from the show's sponsor, but she doesn't look like a skinny blonde beauty queen, and some of her friends are black. The black kids are even less welcome on TV than Tracy is. Well, they do get to dance once day a week. On "Negro Day." Charming, huh?

Before you can say "civil disobedience," Tracy and her friends are pushing the Corny Collins Show to the limit, trying to get equal access for anybody of any race, color, creed or waist size, shoving aside pretty, spoiled princess Amber van Tussle and her evil mother Velma, for the spotlight.

The movie version was more cynical and edgy than the 2002 Broadway musical version, which added more bright, danceable pop tunes from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and an updated, more mainstream book from Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Harvey Fierstein led the cast as Edna Turnblad, with Marissa Jaret Winokur as Tracy, Dick Latessa as Edna's sweet, loyal husband Wilbur, and Matthew Morrison (now the teacher on "Glee') as heartthrob Link Larkin.

"Hairspray," the Broadway musical, took home eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor (for Fierstein), Best Actress (Winokur) and Best Featured Actor (Latessa).

A movie version of the stage musical followed with John Travolta as Edna.

Community Players brings "Hairspray," the Broadway musical, to its Robinhood Lane theater tomorrow night, with Alan Wilson directing a cast that includes Scott Myers as Edna, Kelly Slater as Tracy, Mark Robinson as Wilbur, Jeremy Pease as Link Larkin, Melissa Mullin as Tracy's friend Penny, Gerald Price as Penny's beau Seaweed, Wendy Fleming and Mary Francis Leake as Mother and Daughter van Tussle, and Jennifer Rusk as Motormouth Maybelle, who brings the house down with an anthem called "I Know Where I've Been."

If you'd like to see video of an interview with director Alan Wilson and his Tracy, Kelly Slater, on WEEK's "Good Company," click here.

After tomorrow's preview, performances continue May 11-12, 17-20 and 24-27, 2012.  Ticket prices range from $15 for adults to $13 for seniors and students and $6 for children. Click here to by tickets online.