On Friday, October 11th, the MTI office will close early at 1 PM ET and remain closed through Monday, October 14th in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day and Columbus Day. Office operations will resume on Tuesday, October 15th.
Great Big Stuff: DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS in Australia and SWEENEY TODD in Oklahoma
Great Big Stuff: DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS in Australia and SWEENEY TODD in Oklahoma
Con men Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson may be the scourge of the French Riviera, but in Australia, their antics are met with thunderous applause. The Production Company has ended their season with the David Yazbek (THE FULL MONTY)/Jeffrey Lane Broadway musical DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. The Production Company's cast includes Bille Brown as Lawrence, Matt Hetherington as Freddy, and Amy Lehpamer as Christine Colgate, their target. DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS has received rave reviews, particularly from the Sunday Herald Sun, which attributes the show with "an infectious sense of fun" and "witty and risqué" dialogue.
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is based on the 1988 film centering on Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson, two con artists whose paths cross in the French Riviera. When they become too competitive to work together, however, Lawrence and Freddy decide on a bet to determine who should stay and who should leave. As each embarks on his plan to con fifty thousand dollars out of a newly-arrived American heiress, they battle for control of not just the con, but of the show itself. But in the end, Lawrence and Freddy discover that the person who's truly controlling the con is someone they least expect. Recently made available to license, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is a joy for actors, designers, and audiences
The Production Company's DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS ended its limited run on October 4.
For more information about The Production Company's DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, check out the production's website. To license DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, visit its MTI show page. Discuss this and any other production of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS on its MTI ShowSpace page.
Attending The Tale In Oklahoma
Oklahoma, meanwhile, is experiencing a different kind of con. From October 22 to November 1, The Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma begins its performances of SWEENEY TODD, Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Tony Award-winning dark comedy. 1997 Tony nominee Emily Skinner (SIDE SHOW, THE FULL MONTY) stars as the down-on-her-luck Mrs. Lovett, with former SIDE SHOW castmate Jeff McCarthy as the brooding, bloodthirsty Sweeney.
The creative team behind A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, Sondheim and Wheeler won eight Tonys for SWEENEY TODD, including Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Musical. The show is an adaptation of the 1973 Christopher Bond play about a wrongfully exiled Victorian era barber. After more than a decade doing time in Australia, Sweeney Todd is back in London and eager to inflict revenge on Judge Turpin, who is directly responsible for his wife's death and is now raising Sweeney's teenage daughter, Johanna, as his own. With the help of his neighbor, Mrs. Lovett--whose love for the barber has only grown in the intervening years--Sweeney's quest for revenge turns deadly...yet disturbingly delicious.
For more information on The Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma's production of SWEENEY TODD, check out The Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma's website. To license SWEENEY TODD, visit its MTI show page. Share your thoughts on this or any production of SWEENEY TODD on the show's MTI ShowSpace page.