Hot August Nights return with hilarious ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ at the PAC

WENATCHEE — Every year, the theater mavens who make the Numerica Performing Arts Center the entertainment go-to in Wenatchee seem to outdo themselves with another spectacular show.

This year, director Christina Capehart and producer Jaime Donegan have teamed up for a production of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: The Musical,” and it promises to be every bit what you’d expect from Hot August Nights at the PAC.

Based on the popular 1988 MGM film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, this hysterical comedy transports you to the French Riviera for a mix of hijinks and hilarity. The jazzy score by David Yazbek (of “The Full Monty”) accompanies a sophisticated, smooth-talking and side-splitting show that garnered an impressive eleven Tony Award nominations.

The story centers on two con artists, Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson, who employ vastly different methods to swindle wealthy women. Jameson lives a luxurious life by charming rich ladies out of their money, while Benson evokes compassion with fabricated tales of his grandmother's failing health. After a chance encounter on a train, they initially attempt to collaborate. However, they soon realize that the small French town isn't big enough for both of them.

They agree on a wager: the first to extract $50,000 from their young target, heiress Christine Colgate, wins, and the loser must leave town. What unfolds is a hilarious battle of cons that will keep audiences laughing and guessing until the very end.

This production stars local favorites John Merritt (who you remember from the Apple Blossom Musical “Catch Me if You Can”) as Lawrence Jameson and Adam Eagle (from Wenatchee: LIVE) as Freddy Benson, with Sarah Melissa Daniels (from last year’s Hot August Nights show “Rock of Ages”) as the object of their attention, Christine Colgate. Capehart and Donegan even somehow magically procured the ever-charming Matthew Pippin to play French police chief Andre Thibault.

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: The Musical” is playing August 1–2, 6–9 and 13–16 at 7:30 p.m. with matinees on August 9 & 16 at 1:30 p.m. at the Numerica Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available at the box office, at the NumericaPAC website, or by calling (509) 663-ARTS.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media