Michael-Lamont Lytle, Jay Davis, Ryan Rogerson, David Light & Brandon Michael Arrington
When the steel plant in Buffalo, New York closes in 1997 Jerry Lukowski and his friends are thrown into precarious economic futures, suddenly at the mercy of whatever security or cashier jobs they can get at the mall. As young men on the crux of Baby Boomers and Generation X they have been conditioned to equate their worth and their masculinity with their economic productivity, and capitalistic service to their families and greater community. Desperate for cash, Jerry wonders whether putting on their own “straight” steelworkers chippendale show might be the answer to their economic problems. But is there a market for a strip show made up of just regular guys from the neighbourhood? The Full Monty: The Broadway Musical, playing at Neptune Theatre until May 12, 2024, seeks to find out.
The musical was written by Terrance McNally with music by David Yazbeck and it’s adapted from the 1997 British film of the same name directed by Peter Cattaneo. It premiered on Broadway on October 26, 2000. There is a lot of heart in the book of the musical. It explores the relationship between Jerry (Jay Davis) and his twelve year old son Nathan, and the relationship between Jerry and his best friend Dave Bukatinsky (Ryan Rogerson), and it explores the bonding that happens between all six of the out-of-work men who come together to work on this chippendale show, as they help to rebuild each other’s confidence, and start to see themselves as maybe being more than just their job.
The music is a mixture of pop and jazz, with the last song of the evening, “Let it Go” (not to be confused with the mega-hit from Frozen of the same name) being an absolute ear worm. The most surprising of the songs for me was “Big Ass Rock,” a hilariously dark number that solidifies the friendship between Jerry and Dave and their new friend Malcolm (Brandon Michael Arrington), written as a love ballad buddy song with a twist. Overall, it’s not the most memorable of musical scores, but it is fun and serviceable, and there are a handful of standout numbers.
The biggest asset to Julie Tomaino’s production at Neptune is the cast. Right from the beginning of the show Stephane Gaudet, playing a gay chippendale dancer at a grungy Buffalo club, tired of getting shit from straight dudes about it, grounds us immediately in 1997 and in the hard steelworkers’ town of Buffalo (which could just as easily be Sydney or Glace Bay). Laura Caswell gives great depth to Dave’s wife Georgie, who is trying desperately to connect with her withdrawn husband. Cailin Stadnyk, as Vicki, the foreman’s wife, brings down the house with her hilarious rendition of “Life With Harold,” while Ian Gilmore, as the secretly also unemployed aforementioned Harold, does a beautiful job of portraying a man whose life is crumbling, and who is (quietly), but desperately trying to hold the disintegrating bits together. David Light and Brandon Michael Arrington play sweet misfits Ethan and Malcolm, and bring a much needed tenderness to each other and the story as a whole. As in the case of many musicals where the characters themselves don’t sing or dance, but within the world of the musical they do anyway, the audience has to suspend their disbelief a bit when David Light’s Ethan says he can’t dance. Michael-Lamont Lytle plays Horse and performs another one of the show’s absolute showstoppers, although you really have to remind yourself that the show is set in 1997, and thus there are premises within the plot that are now outdated and, at times, even cringey to current sensibilities.
Jay Davis wisely makes Jerry as likeable as possible, grounding him in his sweet rapport with his son, Nathan, played with a great mix of sweetness and teenaged flippancy by Paul Fawcett, and his love for his best friend Dave. Even in his interactions with his ex-wife, played by Becca Guilderson, Davis makes Jerry more dejected than angry, which helps secure the audience to his side, and ensures that they want his zany idea to succeed, despite the fact that his excuses for not finding a sustainable job are really bullshit. Dave, the one of the six in the chippendale act the most concerned about his weight seems to have been initially written as the stereotypical ‘fat sitcom husband’, but Ryan Rogerson does a really beautiful job of playing Dave as Dave, a three dimensional human who, yes, struggles with his weight as many of us do, but who also has a personality and life beyond that.
In the role of Jeanette, the rehearsal accompanist, where she channels Elaine Stritch, and as Malcolm’s complex and very ill mother (devastating), Nicola Lipman, fully clothed, is the show’s consummate comedic powerhouse and enthralling bundle of star power. I read a review of a production of this musical from 2001 in Toronto where the critic wrote that the woman in this role was “trotted out” for an awkward celebrity cameo, but in this production Jeanette is a fully realized member of the chippendale company, and Lipman nails her hilariously deadpan showbiz number.
To try to at least contextualize the inherent misogyny, homophobia, and racial stereotypes in the script director Julie Tomaino has set the play in 1997. She uses Paul Fawcett’s character Nathan as a vehicle to turn the musical into a sort of memory play. I was glad that I had read about this interpretation before I saw the play, because it’s not always clear when Nathan is actually physically in the scene, and when he is acting as an observational narrator. I know Tomaino is constrained here by how little she is able to actually change the play; it would have been perfect, I think, if Nathan had been able to narrate a bit at the very beginning of the show to clarify that we are seeing this unfold from his memories and interpretation. Davis and Rogerson are lucky to be able to widen the scope of their characters. Becca Guilderson and Stewart Adam McKensy are more constrained by McNally’s very stereotypically 1990s version of an ex-wife and a would-be stepfather. Their relationship with Jerry, and they way they all use Nathan, feels very akin to The Santa Clause (1994) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), where we don’t get very much of the real nuance of a blended family. Tomaino has done the best she possibly can to make this musical work in 2024.
All in all, this production of The Full Monty is a lot of fun, it has its moments of real, genuine heart, thanks to its excellent cast, and it does touch (very lightly) on themes pertinent to today. It also, of course, provides audiences with a little bit of real entirely escapist chippendale entertainment featuring real local talent, and celebrates real human bodies that come in all shapes and sizes.
The Full Monty: The Broadway Musical plays at Neptune Theatre’s Fountain Hall (1593 Argyle Street) until May 12th, 2024. Shows run Tuesday to Friday at 7:30pm and Saturday and Sunday at both 2:00pm and 7:30pm. Tickets range in price from $38.00 to $90.00 based on seating.
For tickets please call the Box Office at 902.429.7070 or visit in person at 1593 Argyle Street.
The musical The Full Monty is set in the 1990’s and follows a group of blue-collar steel workers. It contains strong language, adult themes, attempted self harm, and brief nudity.
Please note: the show contains fog and strobe.
This show is approximately 155 minutes, including an intermission.
Babes in arms & children under 4 are not permitted in the theatre.
TALK BACK NIGHT:
Tuesday, April 9 – 7:30 pm
MASKED PERFORMANCES:
Sunday, April 7 – 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm
AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE
Saturday, May 4 – 2:00pm
Neptune Theatre is fully accessible for wheelchair users. For more Accessibility Information Click Here.
