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Bits & Bytes

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels delights Seattle, Seattle Opera plans Wagner competition, Megan Cole charms at Intiman series
by Milton W. Hamlin - SGN A&E Writer As usual, Emerald City entertainment fans have a wide variety of choices for new and intriguing events this week. Bits&Bytes likes to find a connecting element for each week's column-and this week we look at double booking at major and minor theatrical venues. Esoteric?-probably. Interesting?-we hope. Read on: MEGAN COLE CHARMS AT INTIMAN'S POPULAR ON BEING AN ACTOR Intiman Theatre, offering a stylish new production of Shaw's Heartbreak House on its thrust stage, often uses the theater on dark nights. The theater's popular Monday night series, On Being An Actor, welcomed Megan Cole back to the stage she once ruled-and a delighted group of her fans gathered together to go down memory lane in her frank discussion of acting in general and her career in specific details. The intimate audience-intimate at Intiman, so to speak-were often mesmerized by Cole's summary of her early career and the transition that so many women in acting face as they grow older. "I started playing leading roles," she laughed about her early career. "My first year at Ashland, I played the title role in Mother Courage as my first part. Intiman hired me to play Electra as my first role here." Indeed, the majority of the audience clearly had fond memories of her series of Greek tragedies at the then-new Intiman Theatre. Cole talked a great deal-all of it fascinating-about creating the role of the cancer-ridden college professor in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit. She has played the role a total of four times-the Seattle Rep production remains a major memory for many Seattle theater fans. She charmed the audience about the performance which ends with the totally naked character standing open armed facing the audience. "I am terribly shy&I could never do that," she confessed to the crowd. "But, of course, I didn't-Vivian Bearing (the character) did." She had the audience in hysterics when she described her most recent production of Wit in Austin, Texas. "The play ended with me standing totally naked, and then the stage lights went down. I tried to find my way off-stage to get my robe for the curtain call, but I couldn't find the door in the darkness. So the stage lights came up for the curtain call to find me groping for the door. I was so embarrassed." From then on, the curtain call did not start until Cole was off-stage donning her terrycloth robe. Cole most recently appeared at Intiman as the mother of Richard III, one of three queens that director Bart Sher wisely emphasized in his approach to the Shakespeare classic. All in all, it was a great Monday outing at Intiman. The next On Being An Actor event, scheduled for Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m., features Patti Cohenour. Now based in Seattle, the talented actress has major New York premiere credits-mainly in musicals-and numerous Seattle-area performances at Intiman, the 5th Avenue Musical Theatre and other major theaters. Should be another winner in the popular series. Stephanie Coen, the theater's director of communications, hosts the series and provides insightful questions to the guest artist. Ticket information on all Intiman events is available at 269-1900. Shaw's Heartbreak House continues through Aug. 26 (look for a detailed review in this week's SGN). Intiman's next production, Moonlight And Magnolias, is a recent off-Broadway hit that looks at the story behind the filming of Hollywood's beloved Gone With The Wind. A special screening of the Hollywood classic is planned at Intiman-another great booking event to prepare Intiman's loyal subscription audience for the relatively unknown Moonlight And Magnolias, which runs Sept. 8-Oct. 7. Check with the box office for full details. WAGNER COMPETITION BRINGS 8 FINALISTS TO SEATTLE OPERA Seattle Opera takes a break in the middle of its eight performances of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier for an incredible night featuring eight finalists in Seattle Opera's first International Wagner Competition on Sunday, Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Auditioned throughout the United States and Europe, the 16 finalists include three tenors, one baritone, one bass and three sopranos. The high number of men in the finalist list is unusual. "It's a mix that no one could possibly have imagined when one considers the rarity both of male voices in Wagner generally and of tenors in particular," Speight Jenkins notes in his illuminating essay in the current Der Rosenkavalier program. The eight young singers come from throughout the U.S. and Ireland, England, New Zealand and Germany. They will compete for two $15,000 prizes plus other options. The Competition will feature selections 16 selections from nine Wagner operas. The singers will be accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. Tickets are on sale now-389-7676 or (800) 426-1619 for out-of-area music fans. Tickets start at $42. The Opera's stylish revival of Der Rosenkavalier opened last weekend and continues with six more performances through Aug. 26. Look for an in depth review in SGN. The one matinee, Sunday, Aug. 20, is likely to be a sure sellout-"plan ahead" is the rule for the popular 2 p.m. matinee. Tickets are available in all price rangers for all performances-at least at SGN's press time. Students-of all ages-should be sure to check out the $20 student rush tickets available two hours before curtain time (subject to availability). DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS CHARMS SEATTLE Bad jokes, tasteless comments, fun-but-forgettable songs, generic dance routines and two outstanding performances blend together to produce great, old-fashioned musical comedy fun in Broadway's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, opening it national tour in Seattle. The funny, funny show continues with just three more performances at the Paramount Theatre through tomorrow evening. The biggest draw for the show for serious Broadway fans is the rare touring performance of its leading man, Norbert Leo Butz, the unlikely named unknown who came (seemingly) out of nowhere to win the 2005 Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical. His high energy, low comedy performance is simply incredible and will draw many Emerald City theater fans to the show just to see him. Broadway, touring and regional theater veteran Tom Hewitt teams with Butz as the sophisticated con man who agrees to mentor the klutzy con artist. Hewitt's suave con seeks a minimum of $50,000 from wealthy women vacationing on the French Riviera. Butz is ecstatic when a woman buys him a $20 lunch. The snappy musical is based on the recent MGM film of the same name which featured Steve Martin and Michael Caine. That film is a remake of the 1960's Bedtime Story with David Niven as the sophisticate and a miscast Marlon Brando as the klutz. While Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a surprise hit on Broadway, where it received 11 Tony Award nominations, the show works best for the old fashioned "tired businessman" crowd of tourists who are out for light entertainment. The show has some surprise depth-the smooth con man turns into Henry Higgins for a quick minute when he describes Butz's character, "he's so deliciously dirty," a direct quote from Shaw's Pygmalion. But, for the most part, the show could be described as "comedy tonight." Sample dialog, sample lyrics: "If music is the food of love, he ate my smorgasbord," "Not a tree/not a Jew/will ever block your view/in Oklahoma," "Buy him a castle/but he's still an asshole." Bad rhymes flourish-"confidence" and "picket fence," "The Bushes of Tex/Were nervous wrecks" and so on. But you gotta love a show that has so many throwaway jokes-a passing reference to a woman who was a famous "Gregorian chanteuse" broke me up. Butz won this reviewer in a minute with his showstopping "Great Big Stuff" early in Act One. And the scene where he gets new clothing to give him some class-he opens a box from the tailor and exclaims "Pleats&I have pleats. And underwear&.I forgot about underwear." The Jerry Lewis-like clowning at that moment was worth the price of admission. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels continues for its final three performances through Saturday night. Tickets start at just $18.75. Budget-minded musical fans should remember that tickets purchased in person at the Paramount box office (with its great and helpful staff) have no added service fees-a considerable savings for those watching their pennies. Alas, the show was not sold out on its opening night and good seats should be available for the three final performances. Check it out-and, go ahead, tell 'em Bits&Bytes sent ya.