The Full Monty - The Broadway Musical

Well it’s not every Friday evening you get to watch a group of talented guys doing The Full Monty!!  Daniel and I were very excited to see our first KAOS show and with warm welcomes from club Secretary Robin and Director Liz, it was a lovely visit.  This musical comedy was true to its word, with lovely poignant moments scattered throughout. The show starts with the ladies ensemble out celebrating ladies night to see professional stripper Keno (Gary Fyfe).  Gary gave a confident performance, showcasing his dance moves, as well as a few other things, during his strip tease which left the audience desperate for more.  This set the level of high energy for the show and was the perfect way to start our story.  The rest of the story, similar to the hit film, follows a group of unemployed steel mill workers, and their families, as they try their hand at becoming Buffalo’s very own Chippendales.  The first two characters we meet, who start the idea of a self-made strip group ‘Hot Metal’, are the cheeky-chappy, confident Jerry (Colin McDonald) and lovable, comedic Dave (Graeme Strawthorn).  Jerry and Dave’s friendship was captured well by Colin and Graeme, allowing the audience to will their plan to fruition.  The opposite characters to Jerry and Dave are Jerry’s ex-wife Pam and Dave’s wife Georgie.  The calm and self-assured Pam was captured well by Rachel Howat, who’s scenes with Colin as Jerry and Callum Grant as their son Nathan were poised and well delivered.  In contrast to the calmness of Pam is the colourful Georgie (Cassidy Murray).  Cassidy’s performance was strong and it was lovely to see the change in her flamboyant character around the girls and Pam, to the softer side in the scenes with Dave.  As the story progresses we are introduced to the remaining members of ‘Hot Metal’ and get a glimpse into their back stories.  First is the nervous and introverted Malcolm (Calum Peter).  His featured solo ‘You Walk with Me’ was lovely and showed another level to the comedy character he committed to throughout.  Calum taking his top off was also well received by the audience!  Next we meet Harold (David Fyfe) who spends his time looking for work whilst pretending everything is fine to his glamourous wife Vicki (Pauline Ferguson).  The development of David and Pauline’s relationship was lovely to watch and both delivered great performances.  The introduction scene of Ethan (Alan Ward) left many of the audience around us quite excited and flustered with him standing, back to the audience and baring all to showcase his contribution to the group.  Alan used his comic timing to build Ethan’s character and the scenes with him and Calum as Malcolm were lovely.  Horse (Douglas Wardrop) is the last addition to the group and Douglas’ take on ‘A Big Scottish Man’ was hilarious, especially watching him highland flinging all over the stage, kilt on, in his solo number.  The constant light relief was provided by hippy piano player Jeanette (Colette Dunsmore).  Colette delivered a comical characterisation especially in her solo ‘Jeanette’s Showbiz Number’ which made a wonderful opening to Act 2.  The cast was completed with lots of minor principal characters played by a talented ensemble with highlight performances from Megan Pattie as Estelle and Mark McLaughlin as Teddy.  The show climaxes with a very well-choreographed final number ‘Let It Go’, which the guys certainly did as Colin, Graeme, David, Calum, Alan and Douglas bravely thrilled the entire sold out Friday night audience by going ‘The Full Monty’!  Well done to the whole club on a very lively show, we have the charity calendar hung in the study so will remember you all until the next show visit!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.