Penn Hills High School students to stage 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'

Two men meet on a train.

One makes his lavish living by talking rich ladies out of their money. The other more humbly swindles women by waking their compassion with fabricated stories about his grandmother’s failing health.

The conmen make a short-lived alliance until they decide a small French town isn’t big enough for the two of them. They decide the first one to extract $50,000 from a young female target, Christine Colgate, gets to stay and the other must leave town.

Penn Hills High School students will carry out the musical high jinks of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” from April 3-6.

Maryah Bey, Ethan Herr and Zachary Burkovich, all 18 and seniors, along with junior Tionna Robshaw-Burrell, 17, will lead a 36-person cast in this year’s production. Herr is taking on the role of Freddy Benson, and Burkovich will portray Lawrence Jamison.

Bey and Robshaw-Burrell are sharing the role of Christine, meaning they had to learn the part in addition to all the dances and songs of the ensemble, said Briana York, the show’s vocal director.

This is Bey’s third time returning to the Penn Hills stage. She said she keeps coming back because she loves to sing and she’s good at it.

Bey said she was able to relate to Christine more than when she played Fiona in the school’s production of “Shrek” last year.

Robshaw-Burrell said it was easy to work with Bey to bring Christine to life.

“It’s been great working together. I feel like we’re both flexible, and it’s easy to share everything,” Robshaw-Burrell.

This will be the junior’s first time as a main lead. She said she had to build up Christine’s personality since the character is pretty mysterious compared to Robshaw-Burrell’s everyday personality.

While this will be Herr’s last show as a Penn Hills student, it will be his first time stepping on stage as a lead. He has been participating in the program for six years.

“I have many more songs than I have in the past,” Herr said. “As a supporting lead, the most songs I’ve ever had in a show was probably two. This year, I have about six to eight songs.”

But he’s not sweating the extra workload.

“I love it,” Herr said.

Burkovich is returning for his 11th performance with Penn Hills. He said this is the best cast he has worked with yet. York said the cast has been rehearsing together since the beginning of January.

“We wanted to give the kids a little extra time to research the show and their characters since this isn’t a show like ‘Shrek,’ where everybody is familiar with the show,” York said.

Burkovich said he was challenged this year with getting into the mindset of a con artist.

“It was hard at first, but once I got through it, it came easier,” he said.

The seniors agreed the upcoming show will be a bittersweet end to their Penn Hills musical careers.

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” will take the stage at 7 p.m. April 3-5 and 2 p.m. April 6.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and seniors. They can be purchased online at phhsmusical.com or at the door.