Con Men, copious wealth and a few dancing French maids — just part of the outlandish Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

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Max Bell Theatre

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is meant, not only to cap off Theatre Calgary’s season with a bang, but also to usher in the spring with bold colours and flamboyant music, according to director Dennis Garnhum. The lighthearted musical achieves its aim easily, from the wonderful score to the play’s two mischievous main characters, Lawrence Jameson (a.k.a. “The Prince”) and Freddy Benson. Both characters are like two young boys horsing around in summer before the hard days of school begin again.

The musical starts by introducing us to “The Prince” (Geordie Johnson), a middle-aged bachelor who uses good looks and charisma to charm women, then swindle them for large sums of money. On the train, he meets Freddy Benson (Mike Ross), a small-time crook who preys on women’s compassion. Feeling threatened and not wanting another con artist in town, Jameson convinces Benson to continue on to the new hot spot, “Isla de la Muerte,” where, he says, there will be plenty of wealthy young ladies.

Still on the train, Benson meets Muriel Eubanks (Nora MClellan), a wealthy American who Jameson had seduced. Benson discovers that he has been played and shows up unannounced at Jameson’s impressive villa — blackmailing him to take him on as a pupil. After one of “the Prince’s” swindles goes awry and he winds up unwittingly betrothed to Oklahoma heiress Jolene Oaks (Jennifer Stewart), Jameson pairs with Benson to frighten Oaks and send her packing. Jameson leads Oaks into a dungeon-like basement to meet his monstrous little brother, Ruprecht. Played by an imaginative Benson, Ruprecht greets the heiress with a quick hump, a mouthful of wriggling fish and a jar stuffed with his stinkiest farts. Completely horrified, the flamboyant Oaks escapes, never to be heard from again.

That’s when the two meet the American “soap queen” Christine Colgate (Tamara Bernier Evans). The two make a bet to see who can be the first to swindle Colgate of $50,000, with the loser forced to leave town. Over time, however, the rivalry between the pair develops into a brotherly bond.

“They really are a dazzling duo,” says Garnhum of Jameson and Benson. “It’s their story — how they play off each other and inspire the other to up the con and outdo each other.”

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is based on the 1988 movie of the same name, starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. It was later adapted into a Broadway musical and was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including best musical and best original score.

Theatre Calgary’s version of the Broadway production is modernized, with hard-hitting, gut-busting references to George W. Bush (“The Bushes of Tex were nervous wrecks, because their son was dim”), Diddy and Donald Trump. There’s even a parody of a gangster music video, complete with scantily clad ladies in French maid outfits.

Theatre Calgary wraps up the season with a fun, endearing and sometimes outrageous musical. The characters are well developed and completely entertaining, the music is both fun and beautifully written and there’s a surprising twist at the end. Well, surprising, at least, for those who haven’t already seen the movie.