Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Edmonds
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Edmonds Saturday night, I was part of a discussion about writing a story as a straight play versus writing it as a musical and the possibilities that each medium might open up. Sunday afternoon provided an illustration of the difference in the form of the Edmond’s Driftwood Players ’s production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels . I saw (part of) the 1988 film recently. Steve Martin, Michael Caine, what’s not to love, right? The movie, sadly. There is a scene where Steve Martin (as Freddy) is pretending to have no feeling in his legs. Michael Caine (as Lawrence) whacks Freddy repeatedly in order to get him to react and reveal the scam. It came across as predictable, plodding and sadistic. The same scene, done by Driftwood in the musical number, Ruffhousin' Mit Shüffhausen, complete with yodeling and choreography highlighted the zaniness, not the pain. It was hilarious. Instead of waiting for the scene to be over, I wanted more. Google describes th