Aristophanes is alive and well and living in New York City

Well, actually, I would be very surprised if he was. I'm not even sure what Sondheim's The Frogs is doing these days. But I took a day trip with my family into New York to see the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and it was fantastic—and rather reminded me of Aristophanes. Complicated plot, bawdy humor, sophisticated humor, literary and theatrical allusion, casual metatheater, much weirdness and hilarity, and the bit near the end where the characters ask for applause. Also, good music. Quite seriously, I think it was the best new piece of theater I've seen since The Producers (which I was lucky enough to see before it won the Tonys, so that we could actually get tickets that didn't cost several body parts and a firstborn child). John Lithgow, Joe Cassidy substituting very well indeed for Norbert Leo Butz, Gregory Jbara, Joanna Gleeson, and Sherie Rene Scott. Despite some very funny set-pieces and dialogue, it took a little while for the first act to cohere; but once the plot took off, wow. The very last scene was truly marvelous. And I shall stop praising the musical now, because otherwise I'll start talking about plot and character and spoilers will occur, and start longing for the original cast recording. (John Lithgow has even less of a singing voice than Rex Harrison, mind you. But he performs so well, you don't even notice.) There's con artistry, and reversal, and falling in love, and massive amounts of larceny. That's all you need to know. It was good.

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