Opening night patrons at “The Full Monty”, excitedly gathered
around in small groups wondering aloud, “Will they really strip?” and “How will
they do it?” The answers are yes they do, and wait and see. This is theatre
after all, where illusion, reality and imagination get fuzzy and blend into our
own truth.
As impatience and near frenzy followed the crowd into the
theatre, anticipation mounted and by the time the curtain went up, some were already
buzzing out loud. Unfortunately, those in the audience hootin’ and howlin’ before
anything actually happened, caused many patrons sitting around them difficulty
hearing the dialogue coming from the actors. Sorry folks, that’s not good
theatre karma.
San Diego
Musical Theatre is reviving its 2007 production of “The Full Monty” at the Horton grand Theatre
downtown through Feb. 25th. According to producers Erin Lewis and
hubby Gary “It was a perfect musical to start off our 2018 Broadway season of
musicals at Horton Grand Theatre.”
 |
| Danny Stiles and Steven Freitas |
The ‘musical’ “The Full Monty” is based
on the 1997 Oscar nominated film of the same name. Briefly, it is the story of
six average; some past prime, some overweight, some uncoordinated, and
unemployed factory workers struggling to support their families; they are laid off
without their full wages or no wages.
After noticing that their wives are
agog and a glee clamoring to see Chippendale
dancer, Buddy “Keno” Walsh, (Scott Arnold) when he came to town for a one-night stand
Jerry Lukowski gets an idea to some raise money by doing the same thing.
The 1997 movie version takes place in
Sheffield, England where the men are steelworkers. Terrence McNally wrote the
book, and David Yazbek, music and lyrics. It’s a fun romp that will have you
leaving with a smile and a chuckle.
An updated incarnation that premiered
at the Old Globe in 2000 before going to Broadway, moved the location to a new setting
where the men now laid off, are mill workers and ergo, Buffalo, N.Y seemed the
perfect place.
No accents required and minimalist
sets (originally designed by Circa 21) plus some pretty bright ‘back atcha
lights’ (Michelle Miles) that just about blind before the curtain drops and
voilà the guys are gone, but the memory of what might have been lingers.
Of course that didn’t stop those
curious voyeurs from peeking around corners after the G-strings were released,
but the old hat trick holding the goods keeps everything in tact. Listening to
the screams coming from the audience, though, one might have thought…oh well.
 |
| Danny Stiles, Jonathan Sangster and Steven Freitas |
When hard
hit and out of work down on his luck Jerry Lukowski (Steven Freitas is as appealing as he is effective) and his
overweight best friend Dave (Danny Stiles) can’t seem to land a decent job and gain their
self-respect back, they come up with a plan to raise some money on their own.
Coincidentally
that’s when the “Chippendale”
the dancers arrived in his home- town. Price
didn’t seem to be an obstacle for their wives, who jam fistfuls of cash in
their G-strings with money from their jobs. (“It’s A Woman’s World”)
Jerry gets
the idea to put ‘real Buffalo’ men in a strip ‘n show of their own. Jerry is in
a big bind in a big way. In order to make sure that there is enough money in
the pot he ticks the entrance fee up a bit and announces that not only will
they perform a la Chippendale, he promises to bare it all, Yup, The Full Monty.
Now that takes chutzpah!
Pay
attention. These are your average overweight, small, tall, uncoordinated,
black, white, gay, self conscious, past prime time guys who need cash, not only
for them, but for their friend Jerry who will lose custody of his son Nathan (a sweet and persuasive Owen
Schmutz) because of back child support. It’s a hoot to watch.
 |
| DSteven Freitas and Amy Perkins |
Adding to
the pressure, Jerry’s ex wife Pam (Amy Perkins) isn’t making it any easier by
threatening to take away his visitation rights if there’s no child support
money coming in.
The men convince their old boss, Harold (Richard Van Slyke)
to give them dancing lessons, over his better judgment. (“Life With Harold”) Harold lives above his
means and his wife Vicky (Karyn Overstreet ~’Vicki’s Cha Cha’) spends like they
have it, but concedes anyway.
In the end when they formally ‘come out’, they are an accepted
couple by all the guys. The writers had some pretty progressive thinking for
the nineties. For macho mill workers to accept a gay couple yes, progressive
indeed.
Ron Christopher Jones, as Noah “Horse” T Simmons enters
rehearsals looking like a street person. After a few non-starters, he amazes as
the best and most experienced dancer of the lot.
As the token black in the ensemble Jones gives an outstanding
performance in “Big Black Man”. He also shows the group that by imitating
Michael Jordan’s moves in “Michael Jordan’s Ball”, dancing is a nothing but a
series of basketball moves.
 |
| Ron Ghristopher Jones and Cas |
Dave's character is one of the most developed and she is most convincing. “It’s like Davie’s given up on everything, including me. I come home to this zombie.”
I loved the give and take between Yandell’s Georgie and Dave
as he lets his weight and body image get in the way of any intimacy she so
longs for. Coming from the male perspective it is one of the beautiful outcomes
of this particular story.
Georgie: “It’s making me nuts. Months and months not
even a hug. I’ve tried everything from Victoria’s Secret to losing 15 pounds.
The girls at work are pushing Prozac on me. I don’t need a pill. I need my
husband back.
 |
| Joy Yandell |
Not to be outdone by any of the adults in the company, Owen
Schmultz is perfectly comfortable on stage and has as much poise as any of the
seasoned veterans. As the only child in a field of adults, Owen’s Nathan is one
of turnabout is fair play as he guides his father, Jerry, to start acting like
an adult and get on with the business of being a parent.
Veteran
actress, Devlin (just Devlin) is, once again, in rare form as Jeanette Burmeister,
the piano playing, tough talking, old hand who doesn’t mind sharing a swig or
two from her little er, pocket flask. She comes on, the stage lights up. It’s
just that simple.
 |
| Steven Freitas and Devlin |
Neil Dale deserves credit for breathing life into his
versatile cast and dealing with, sensitive issues and giving them heart. The
talented ensemble including Luke Harvey Jacobs, Sydney Joyner, Stella Kim,
Shayne Mims, Paul Morgavo and Alex Nemirosky add to the overall look filling in
where needed.
The industrial background look works just fine with Michelle
Miles lighting and Kevin Anthenill’s sound design. Musical director from the
get-go Don LeMaster works his magic once again,
Janet Pitcher’s ninety’s tie dye frocks for the women looked
right; the show is more about the guys; work uniforms, Jeans, T-shirts and
plaids are standard for them until they got down to the nitty-gritty and then
there was an array of boxers and jockey’s. For the show, they wear uniforms
with hats for protection in more ways than one.
The play is fun and somewhat
tantalizing especially if you’ve not seen it before. The story goes on a bit
too long leading up to the finality and no tunes will escape your lips as you
leave the theatre even though there are about fifteen musical (albeit small)
numbers tat oft highlight the action.
But by the time the guys, who are
spot on terrific, work up the nerve
to go ‘full Monty’, everyone in the
audience (and that includes the actors playing the spouses lining the side
isles) are rooting for a hootenanny ending. (“Let It Go”)
Note: lighting designer Michael Miles
is the one responsible for the blinding lights in the background. Just sayin’.
See you at the theatre.
Dates: Through Feb. 25th
Organization: San Diego Musical Theatre
Phone: 858-560-5740
Production Type: Musical
Where: 444 Fourth Ave., San Diego, CA 92101
Ticket Prices: Start at $30.00
Web: sdmt.org
Venue: Horton Grand Theatre
Photo: Ken Jacques
No comments:
Post a Comment