The Full Monty

‘The Full Monty’ is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally and score by David Yazbek. In this Americanized musical stage version adapted from the 1997 British film of the same name, six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, low on both cash and prospects, decide to present a strip act at a local club after seeing their wives' enthusiasm for a touring company of Chippendales. The twist is they’ll do "The Full Monty"—to strip all the way. As they prepare for the show, working through their fears, self-consciousness, and anxieties, they overcome their inner demons and find strength in their camaraderie. Despite being a comedy, the show touches on serious subjects such as unemployment, fathers' rights, depression, impotence, homosexuality, body image, working class culture and suicide, making this a challenging show to get right – which the Masqueraders certainly did!

The staging was ambitious but worked well, with an extensive rig of scaffolding at the back of stage, with the keyboard-based conductor and band on the top level. The lighting provision was complex, but well cued and generally well-lit.  It really came to the fore in Act 2 for the funeral scene and the rig at the end for the ‘The Full Monty’ was excellently controlled and (fortunately!) created the right silhouette effect and at the right time. Sound was also generally very good. Though the radio mike packs were somewhat visible with the frequency of undressing, they were sensibly positioned.  The costume requirements in general are not the most difficult to track down, but were very good across the board. The ‘Hot Metal’ uniforms were very well done and performed exactly as they were expected to do and at the right time in the final scene.

Beth and Alicia’s choreography worked very well. They kept it relatively simple with a small space to use, but it was used very effectively for the chorus scenes. The choreography for the final ‘Hot Metal’ scene was very well-done – suitably complex to look very effective but within the capabilities of all involved – a fitting conclusion to the production. Musically, the show was very well performed. Musical Director Lauren Davies did an excellent job in keeping this all together. The band made a good and consistent sound together and only very occasionally overwhelming the vocals in-front of them.  The design of the show played to the strengths of the chorus. Their singing was generally of a very good standard and the on-stage performances really enhanced the production.

Jerry Lukowski is a very, very difficult role to play – he is the constant that we largely see events through, but Davey Evans did this all very well. He resisted the temptation to drop out of keeping the part as a real man’s man and maintained a great character. He had a good chemistry with Ben Griffith’s Dave Bukantinsky and they worked very well as a pair – a key relationship in the show. Ben also did an amazing job in directing the show in this second run, in addition to the demanding role of Dave. Ben Jenkins put-together a great Malcolm in a very controlled and not over-stated performance. Jules Porter worked very hard in creating the right Harold Nichols with determination and care. Ryan Widdows created a strong Ethan, keeping the running gag going and creating a believable relationship with Malcolm. Gary Robson built the character of Horse very well and had clearly worked on maintaining the mannerisms of an older character

There were numerous other supporting performances from a large number of additional cast members, which were all completed with energy and conviction.

In summary, this was an excellent presentation of ‘The Full Monty’, with a clever set, good characterisation, great music, excellent singing and some impressive dance moves. So much of the production worked well and there were some excellent performances overall. No wonder there was an enormous audience response on the Friday night that I attended.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.