The Full Monty

I am always a little ambivalent about watching this show, the content is not to my taste and I do find that setting it in America when the original film was set in England, a little strange.  However, LTC did an excellent job with their production.

The six leading men were all extremely good, each bringing their own characterisation to the role.   Chris Lidgard (Jerry) did seem to find some of his songs a little difficult.  But many of them were set in almost impossible keys or required a wide vocal range, including falsetto which he did very well.  Julian Cottee (Dave) produced an excellent performance.  This part requires quite a lot of guts (in all senses!) and Julian gave it his all.  Chris Higginson (Malcolm) was very good, his facial expressions were very entertaining and expressive.  Jamie Redgate (Harold) is a seasoned performer and this was evident in his character.  He got just the right balance between the husband and the former boss.  Newcomer (to LTC) Scott Daniel Bourne (Horse) was excellent, his professional training and experience stood him in good stead and his performance was very entertaining.  Darren Harper (Ethan) is always entertaining to watch, his characterisation is effortless and thoroughly enjoyable to watch.

The remainder of the cast were all very strong, each bringing their own take on the character, I particularly enjoyed Sally Lightfoot as Jeanette.  All the ladies were good, Lianne Larth (Vicki) Sarah Pettican (Georgie) and Victoria Tewes (Pam) giving particularly strong performances.

I must give a special mention for Sebastian Poskitt-Richardson for his performance as Nathan.  This young man has a natural ability on stage and I hope to see more performances from him in the future.  And another mention for Danny Deacon for his strip, he didn’t even have the benefit of the blinders!

The set, professionally hired in, was effective and well done to director Bradley Green for his small vignettes to cover the scene changes.  Costumes were fine, mostly easy to do as the show is current period.  This show relies heavily on the blinders for the finale and I do wonder what would happen if they fail!  Thankfully, they didn’t, and the finish was as effective as it could be.

Overall an entertaining show and the audience were there to appreciate it, which they did.

My thanks for the hospitality from the front of house team, it is good to be able to chat with the creative team during the interval.

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