By Jarom Loch
“There are two kinds of people in this world. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig,” quoth The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. As Dirty Rotten Scoundrels would have it, however, there are three: Those with loaded guns, those who dig, and those with carrots.
My experience with Spanish Fork High School’s Theatre Company has been, well, zero. As a matter of fact, I spent about twenty minutes wandering around the campus searching for the venue before I discovered it, much to my relief, in the main building. After a moment of confusion at the door, I found myself dead front and center, one of the best seats in the house, familiarizing myself with the intimate setting like an Amish lost in Best Buy. The set was great, the lighting exceptional, a LIVE band was setting the vibe from the orchestra pit below stage right, and in no time at all our energetic usher(ette), played by Marty Sperry, was inviting us to sit back, relax, and enjoy ourselves.
The stage lit up with smooth jazz as we were introduced to the silky ladykiller, Lawrence Jameson (Steven Russell). A heartbreaker perfected, Jameson makes his living off of seducing women that stay at the hotel out of their money with his charm and looks.
Not two numbers later, however, Freddy Benson (Bridger Palfryman) bumbles into the lobby with a story about his sick grandmother that gets him twenty dollars and a nasty look from a lady’s husband. After some banter, Jameson shows off his luxurious apartments to Freddy, who becomes envious of the obvious success, and asks for Jameson’s help in the art of swindling. Jameson initially refuses, but when a woman he’d seduced in the past informs him at gunpoint that she is going to marry him and drag him off to Oklahoma, he employs Freddy’s help in scaring her off. Freddy takes the role of Ruprecht, Lawrence’s disgusting brother, and together they frighten her into calling off the wedding.
It isn’t long before Jameson decides the hotel is too small for both him and as a result they make a bet: the first to get $50,000 out of a woman stays. At that moment, of course, the richest woman in America, the ‘Soap Queen’ Chirstine Coalgate (Brooklyn Young) saunters into the lobby.
After a second act of scrambling to get the money from Christine in hilarious endeavors that left the me and the audience in various states of laughing our heads off, the play came to a close with a drastic reveal that would be impolite to spoil.
As a whole, I completely enjoyed myself. The cast was responsive and interactive with the audience members, which I thought was great, and they all demonstrated a caliber of acting that I found impressive. This is the lineup:
Steven Russell (Lawrence Jameson): Russell gave his character all the chic, charm, and overall cunning that it needed. His Jameson was hugely enjoyable, and played well off of the quirky Palfryman. The duo had great chemistry that kept the production moving forward. The English accent faltered every once in a while, which is an altogether easy mistake, but not so much that it kept the character from coming out.
Bridger Palfryman (Freddy Benson): It’s a rare occurrence for me to find a high school actor with the unbridled commitment to character that Palfryamn threw into the role of Benson. His zany facials and magnetic stage presence (“I’ll be able to afford to see ‘Les Mis’ in theaters!’ priceless moment…) were fabulous, but not so much that it stole from his companion, Russell. Very well done, however, I would have liked to see some more levels in the character– once again, a minor thing.
Brooklyn Young (Christine Coalgate, AKA ‘The Jackal’): As high as Palfryman and Russell set the standard, Coalgate did not let her character be overshadowed. Christine was the perfect airhead at her introduction to the musical, and although the trickster is there, you don’t see it coming until the twist. Impressive work.
Kodei Spresser (Andre): Great French accent, I loved the ‘Chimp’ number. Aloof, yet relatable, and a wonderful voice, too. I applaud Spresser for his portrayal of the European vs. American kind of thinking.
Kudos to the ensemble – they worked well together and highlighted the goings-on very well. Everyone made the number Oklahoma hilarious, by the way. I have relatives out there and I thought that number was downright hilarious.
To Meg Grierson and Haley Hoover, directors: I tip my hat to you. Marvelous job.
To everyone else: Get out here and see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for a theatre experience you’ll never forget!
Spanish Fork High School
99 N 300 West, Spanish Fork, UT 84660
Four shows: May 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th. Curtain at 7:00, house opens at 6:30. $7.00
Buy tickets online at www.showtix4u.com
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