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| Image provided by Theatre 55 |
Book by Terrance McNally, Music and Lyrics by David Yasbek
Review by Ernest Edwards
The Full Monty musical is based on the 1997 film of the same name that takes place in Sheffield a northern town in England. The Full Monty premiered on Broadway in 2000, and the location was changed to Buffalo, New York for the musical. I had seen the National Tour of the Broadway musical back in June 2003 at the Ordway. It’s been a while since I have seen this musical live on stage.
This is this first production I am seeing with Theatre 55. Theatre 55 creates shows that contain casts who are 55 years old and older. I thought the story of The Full Monty would be perfect for my first Theatre 55 production. And it was! What a treat to see this production with this company. The story of the musical is similar to the movie, you have these men who have been out of work ever since the factory closed 18 months ago. They get the idea to do a one night only strip tease for some fast cash. The guys in the musical are average, they are not built like those Chippendale’s models. There’s something about these average guys being played by men of a certain age that really works well for the story.
The musical takes you on a journey of acceptance and growth. These men are down on their luck. They have been unemployed for 18 months. Their moral is low. And they just want to feel like themselves again. They are hoping their luck will change. The men in this story have various sizes of body shapes, have no rhythm, can’t dance, but have a dream and a desire to do something different for one night only. Not only for the money, but for their dignity. There’s a strength in being vulnerable.
As for the big moment. The Full Monty per se. It’s stage very tastefully and in conjunction with the stage lighting the actors do The Full Monty, but we in the audience really don’t see anything. This is a family themed show after all. Don’t be surprised to see our six dancers appear in robes during the curtain call.
This is a such a fun musical. You can tell the whole cast was having a good time with this musical.
The Full Monty closes on Sunday 4/19/26, check out www.theatre55.org for tickets.
Theatre 55 did also announce that their next musical in the fall of 2026 will be Young Frankenstein. That should be another fun one to see.
