The Full Monty

This show is not just about a strip routine, although I'm sure that helps to sell tickets. It's a moving story of people trying to survive in hard times and how their lives are tested to the full. From the opening when a lone stripper walked on stage it was screams and wolf whistles from the ladies in the cast who congregated up the front of the auditorium.  This encouraged the audience to get involved with this very exciting and very polished production which had attracted a younger audience who may not visit the theatre very often. The six main characters, guys who end up as strippers to earn some money, brought humour and pathos to their parts. These were played brilliantly by Dane Norris as Jerry, Ben Pritchard as Dave, Anthony Towers as Harold, Matt Bonner as Malcolm, Ryan Pellett as Ethan and Jay Massiah as Noah (The Horse). They were all perfect for their respective parts singing and dancing their way through the entire show. Some notable songs were sung by Jay with his rendition of 'Big Black Man' which had the audience wanting more and the very touching duet 'You Walk with Me', between Matt and Ryan during the funeral scene. I would imagine the majority of the audience felt moved by this song between two guys who ended up holding hands which did not go unnoticed by their fellow strippers. Supporting the six main characters was a strong cast and ensemble who sang and moved faultlessly. In fact there were too many good performances in this show to be able to mention them all but the production was certainly one which, although I suspect was a gamble, was one which paid off both in terms of society successes and also audience enjoyment. It moved at a good pace with swift scene changes that didn't intrude on the action on stage and the clever lighting along with a simple set created the right moods for each scene. Sadly I need to mention once again that the volume of the music drowned out the words of some of the songs.  This was confirmed to me by various people sitting in different parts of the auditorium. Luckily, in this particular show, it wasn’t that important. My final accolade goes to Tony for his superb direction and choreography which was outstanding.

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