Lawrence (Paul Schoeffler) is a professional con man, using his charm, good looks, and European je ne sais quoi to wow naive American tourists - heiresses and divorcees with fortunes. Freddie (Ben Dibble), younger and cruder, arrives on the scene, singing "I'm tired of being a chump/I want to be like Trump." Lawrence decides to tutor him, and together they work the casinos and hotels.

Eventually they become rivals for the attention and money of a Soap Queen (Jessica Rush), which ratchets up the elaborate swindles and schemes - some funny, some just crass (taxidermy and KY jelly on a rubber glove?!?).

The first act is childishly vulgar, but the second is witty, with lots of wordplay in the lyrics and fewer fart and testicle jokes. In Act 1, everything seems to go on way too long. For example, we meet the crude Oklahoma oil heiress (Maggie Anderson), and OK, OK, we get it. Just when that scene and song seem to be over, suddenly the entire cast reappears in cowboy and Dairy Queen waitress costumes for a Big Dance Number. (The choreography by Richard Stafford, is, generally, preposterous throughout.)

Stafford, who also directed, shrewdly tricks us in amusing ways: A love song becomes comic instead of sentimental, or several little dramas are happening onstage while somebody is performing what should be a star turn. It's a clever way to show us that the show doesn't take itself too seriously.

Schoeffler is charming, and a whiz with accents and cravats. Dibble, on the other hand, is playing against type - crassness doesn't suit him and his comic bits are too broad.

Although these two leads, along with Rush, all have fine voices, the real stars of the show play two smaller roles: Mary Martello as Muriel, who falls for the police chief played by Fran Prisco. Their unlikely romance is full of irony, sexiness, and mischief.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Through Oct. 25 at the Walnut Street Theatre, Ninth and Walnut Streets. Tickets: $10-$70. 215-574-3550 or www.walnutstreettheatre.org.