Book by Terrence McNally. Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek. Gerry McIntyre, Director and Choreography, Milton Granger, Music Director. Kyle Dixon, Scenic Design. Kelly Baker, Costume Coordination. Travis McHale, Lighting Design. Alex Berg, Sound Design. Rachel Padula-Shufelt, Wig & Hair Design. At NSMT, Beverly, MA through October 8, 2023.
By Linda Chin
Hats off – literally – to North Shore Music Theatre, for putting on a rousing, crowd-pleasing production of The Full Monty and the sizzling ‘Hot Metal’ steel-workers-turned-strippers and for pulling off the fabulous final scene with total finesse. Donning full police uniforms over sparkly red thongs, the sextet executed energetic choreography (inspired by Michael Jordan’s smooth basketball moves) and did a full Monty, stripping naked from head to toe, their officer caps covering their cajónes. David Yazbek’s (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) rock-pop score bursts with sass and sentimentality, and his lyrics are expository and clever – deserving of extra credit for a rhyming bonus with cajónes. Terrence McNally’s (Ragtime) fleshed-out book and strong character development also make The Full Monty an atypical musical.
Set in Buffalo, New York, the show’s main characters are two unemployed steel mill workers and best buds Jerry (Jared Zirilli, in a strong NSMT debut) and Dave (James Fairchild, who also sparkled as the thigh-high red boots-donning Don in last season’s Kinky Boots). Stripped of their daily routine and identity as workers and breadwinners, and seeing Don’s wife (Emily Koch as Georgie) and Jerry’s ex-wife (Sara Andreas as Pam) whooping it up at an after-work, women-only, Chippendales-like event makes them feel emasculated. Strapped for cash, hoping to avoid working at the mall, and determined not to lose custody of his son, Jerry persuades Dave to form a striptease show of their own that, à la Mike in A Chorus Line (‘I Can Do That’) is better than anything else Buffalo’s ever seen.
The plan to make big bucks from women who pay big bucks to watch men with big bucks has some hiccups. Some women, including his occasional hook-up Estelle (Merrill Peiffer), think Jerry has a “great ass,” but Dave is overweight and has body image issues, and frankly, both are ambivalent about being bare in public. They also need to recruit a few more men willing to pull their clothes off to pull this plan off. By chance, they run into a former co-worker, Malcolm (Brendan Jacob Smith, in an impressive debut), who is down and troubled and needs some love and care. After singing the lively number ‘Big Ass Rock’ together and learning how to do pelvic thrusts, Malcolm, à la Carole King, is jubilant that he’s “Got A Friend,” and the duet becomes a trio. Harold (Tim Connell, a terrific dancer), a former foreman from the mill who cost them their jobs and now runs a dance studio with his sexy, supportive wife (Sara Gettelfinger), joins the group as the show’s choreographer.
The foursome – Jerry, Dave, Malcolm, Harold – and Jerry’s son Nate (a charming Patrick Naughton, who was last seen in Sound of Music, shares the role with Quinn Murphy, last seen in A Christmas Carol) hold an audition to find two more men. Jeanette, a big-hearted, straight-shooting firecracker of a piano player and show biz pro (played by Broadway and Boston show-biz pro Kathy St. George), shows up to help cast the show and run rehearsals. Diminutive in size but huge in talent, St. George lights up the theater. Jeanette has no qualms about being the only woman in the room; she maintains an upbeat mood and safe environment, warmly welcoming the men who shuffle onstage to show their stuff. The first man to make the cut is “Horse” (triple-threat Bernardo Dotson), whose number “Big Black Man’ performed with the guys is a showstopper. The last person to audition, Ethan (a charismatic Christopher deProphetis) fails to impress the team with his dance skills (after running up the aisles and taking flying leaps à la Singin’ in the Rain that end with sounds of shattered glass) but after he strips down to his underwear, he’s hired to – uh – fill the role.
People may be familiar with the story of The Full Monty as a comedy about male strippers. While it is full of very funny bits, the show touches upon serious topics including marriage, divorce, parenting, sexuality, suicide, mental health, and people’s identities as women, men, workers, parents, spouses. “It’s a Woman’s World,” Georgie, Estelle, Susan (Rachel Gubow) and Joanie (Namisa Owethu Mdlalose) is an energetic anthem about women’s power, juice, money, freedom, and combined strengths. Besides the aforementioned “ Big Ass Rock” (Jerry, Dave, Malcolm) there are also wonderful portrayals of male friendship in numbers such as the aforementioned “, “Michael Jordan’s Ball” (the Guys) and budding romance between Malcolm and Ethan in “You Walk With Me” And “You Rule My World,” (Dave and Harold) which is reprised in Act 2 by Georgie and Vicki, reveals the inner feelings spouses share with, and hide from, one another.
A la 42nd Street, shuffle off to Buffalo – by way of Beverly’s North Shore Music Theatre for a girls’ and/or boy’s night out at this upbeat, uplifting and uproariously funny show. A Full Monty plays through October 8. For tickets and information, go to: https://www.nsmt.org/
