The Full Monty

The Fox

The list of Broadway musicals based on popular films is long and getting longer by the minute, but the list of good Broadway musicals based on popular films is considerably shorter. Sturgeon's Law, which states that 90 percent of everything is crud, applies here with a vengeance.

Happily, The Full Monty, based on the hugely successful 1997 British film of the same name, can be put on that very short list of winners. In the film, six laid-off steel workers decide to solve their financial problems by putting together a Chippendales-style male strip act. Realizing that none of them will ever look like the buff hunks on the professional male ecdysiast circuit, they announce that in their one-night only appearance, they'll go all the way and deliver complete nudity - "the full Monty". Their attempts to rescue their financial and emotional lives by bearing it all provide laughs and pathos in ample measure.

The book for the musical, by noted playwright Terrence McNally, moves the action from Sheffield, England to Buffalo, New York, and adds a couple of new characters, but otherwise leaves the story and character relationships largely intact. Since these are what made the film work in the first place, the result is a funny, touching, and thoroughly entertaining piece of musical theatre.

David Yazbeck's music and lyrics are not especially memorable but they illuminate characters and situations beautifully and provide solid support for McNally's book. They also offer plenty of opportunities for the members of this uniformly strong cast to strut their stuff, which they do often and well.

Christian Anderson is a strong Jerry, who comes up with both the idea and the name for the act — Hot Metal. Divorced, depressed and afraid of losing his relationship with his son, Jerry is a complex character and Anderson's performance is nicely layered. Ditto for Michael J. Todaro as Jerry's friend Dave, whose unemployment has left him overweight, undersexed and slipping into depression. Todaro's slumped body language speaks volumes before he even opens his mouth; this is obviously a guy with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Leo Daignault is thoroughly convincing as the shy Malcom, as is Christopher J. Hanke as Ethan, who desperately wants to be Donald O'Connor but is better qualified to be John Holmes. McNally has retained their love story from the original film and Yazbeck has given them a tender duet, "You Walk With Me". Robert Westenberg is right on as Harold, the former plant manager who hasn't been able to tell his wife Vicki that he's been unemployed for six months.

Milton Craig Nealy — who was so impressive in Five Guys Named Moe several years ago — turns in another solid performance as Noah (a.k.a. "Horse"), the senior member of Hot Metal, whose bad hip doesn't stop him from doing The Swim, The Jerk and The Funky Chicken as required. His solo number, "Big Black Man", is the Act I showstopper. The Act II showstopper comes from Jane Connell as the crusty rehearsal pianist Jeanette — one of those new characters I mentioned earlier. In "Jeanette's Showbiz Number" she combines her own lively memories of a life in show business with salty commentary on the state of the act: "It's like a putz museum / A showbiz mausoleum". Connell's sardonic delivery is right on target.

And speaking of the women, there's also fine work here from Jennifer Naimo as Dave's long-suffering wife Georgie, Sarah Zimmerman as Jerry's ex-wife Pam and Christine Hudman as Vicki, who turns out to be not quite as shallow as she seems.

Any show that revolves around a dance act — even one as rudimentary as Hot Metal — needs a strong choreographer and Jerry Mitchell is fully up to the task. His Act I finale, "Michael Jordan's Ball", for example, cleverly mixes moves from the basketball court and the dance studio as the members of Hot Metal work out their own unique style of movement. The set on which that movement takes place, designed by John Arnone, evokes the decaying steel town while still remaining fluid enough to make the many set changes quick and seamless. Robert Morgan's costumes are equally fine, from Vicki's overpriced fashions to the blue-collar motley of the Hot Metal guys.

The Full Monty is, in short, one of the best new musicals to come through here in quite some time. It will be — you should pardon the expression — on display at the Fox through April 27th; call 314-534-1111 for tickets. It's well worth seeing, but leave the young ones at home; the language and overall content make this an "adults only" show.

Back to the index