North Shore Music Theatre's 'Full Monty' Delivers the Goods

"The Full Monty"

Music and lyrics by David Yazbek; book by Terrence McNally; based on the motion picture released by Fox Searchlight Pictures and written by Simon Beaufoy; directed and choreographed by Barry Ivan; musical direction by Dale Rieling; scenic design by Dex Edwards; costume design by Susan E. Picinich; lighting design by David Neville; sound design by John A. Stone; wig and hair design by Gerard Kelly

Featured cast in order of appearance:

Georgie Bukatinsky, Susann Fletcher

Buddy "Keno" Walsh, Dan Puck

Jerry Lukowski, Darren Ritchie

Dave Bukatinsky, Craig Bennett

Malcolm MacGregor, Bill English

Ethan Girard, Sebastian Arcelus

Nathan Lukowski, Christian Johansen

Pam Lukowski, Beth Beyer

Harold Nichols, George Dvorsky

Vicki Nichols, Deborah Tranelli

Jeannette Burmeister, Merle Louise

Noah "Horse" T. Simmons, Milton Craig Nealy

Performances: Now through November 20

Box Office: 978-232-7200 or www.nsmt.org

The enthusiastic standing ovation at the end of "The Full Monty" at the North Shore Music Theatre earlier this month was as much for the company's triumphant return to its Beverly, Mass. theater-in-the-round as it was for the game performers on stage that night. Just two and a half months after a devastating fire destroyed the 50-year-old theater's stage, orchestra pit, interior - including all 1800 seats - and lighting and sound equipment, the acclaimed New England regional theater was back in business at its suburban home in the Dunham Woods. Its two previous shows, "Abyssinia" and "Camelot," had been staged at the Shubert Theatre in Boston through special arrangement with the Wang Center for the Performing Arts President and CEO Josiah Spaulding. Now, the subscription-heavy first night audience bristled with excitement as it awaited its beloved theater's grand re-opening. "The Full Monty" did not disappoint.

Set in the economically depressed city of Buffalo, NY, where the closing of a once bustling steel mill has rendered both blue-collar and white-collar employees out of work and out of sorts, "The Full Monty" hinges on the notion that proud men would rather lower their trousers than their self-esteem to make some fast - and hopefully sizeable amounts of - cold hard cash. Goaded on by Jerry, a divorced Peter Pan who is in danger of losing joint custody of his son Nathan if he doesn't start making his child support payments, a motley crew of six laid off factory workers decide to become male strippers rather than take demeaning "women's jobs" at the local mall. These burly, awkward, rough-around-the-edges guy's guys convince themselves that the ladies who pay good money to see the Chippendale dancers take it all off would actually pay even bigger bucks to see "real men" do the same thing if they only had the chance.

Okay, so the show's premise is as flimsy as the red G-strings these men eventually expose during the course of the evening, and both David Yazbek's score and Terrence McNally's book are a little crude and at times even contrived. Despite sudden plot twists and several abrupt transformations in character, however, "The Full Monty" does offer an undeniably engaging story of six tough-on-the-outside-tender-on-the-inside Average Joes who screw up the courage to bare it all in an attempt to regain their manhood in the eyes of their loved ones.

Yazbek's hard-driving masculine songs in the first act establish Jerry, Dave, Malcolm, Ethan, Harold and Noah (aka Horse) as basically nice guys down on their luck who, despite their differences, rally together to lift each other's spirits and do the impossible. The second act's surprisingly tender ballads give us a glimpse into the men's deeper feelings - their unshakable love for their wives, children, and each other. One by one each man steps into the spotlight, showing us what he is made of physically and emotionally, thereby tantalizing and touching us at the same time.

As Jerry, the divorced man-boy whose son is more mature than he is, Darren Ritchie is very appealing. His irresistible good-time guy is a loser more by chance than by choice, and his contrasting numbers "Man," rocked out with good buddy Dave in the first act, and "Breeze Off the River," crooned to his son Nathan in the second, show both the macho and sincere sides of his evolving personality. Craig Bennett as the beefy Dave is a delightfully droll foil for Jerry, supporting him as loyal friends do but also giving him dope slap reality checks when needed. When Dave is alone and feeling down, Bennett gives us a cleverly comic rendition of "You Rule My World," a bittersweet love song he dedicates to his stomach.

The rich voiced George Dvorsky, seen last season at NSMT as FrEd Graham in "Kiss Me, Kate," gets to show off his dancing skills in this production. As Harold, the long unemployed executive who maxes out his credit cards and still pretends to go to work every day in order to keep his wife in the lap of luxury, and in the dark, Dvorsky is the perfect befuddled stuffed shirt who is blackmailed into becoming the group's choreographer because of his star pupil status at the local ballroom studio. While he teaches his proteges all the right moves by equating dance to basketball in the vibrant act one finale "Michael Jordan's Ball," Harold loosens up, too, becoming just another one of the guys.

The single security guard Malcolm who still lives at home with his mother and the movie musical-loving Ethan who crashes into every wall imaginable in an effort to duplicate Donald O'Connor's magical flip from "Singing in the Rain" are played with unselfconscious ease by Bill English and Sebastian Arcelus. Primarily comic relief, these fine young actors nevertheless deliver the most poignant moment in the show when their beautiful tenor voices combine in the lovely ballad of self-discovery, "You Walk with Me." Arguably the biggest showstopper in "The Full Monty," though - next to the highly anticipated finale, of course - is Milton Craig Nealy's "Big Black Man." As the aging JAmes Brown wannabe Noah "Horse" T. Simmons, Nealy combines sensually fancy footwork with the occasional arthritic hitch, delivering a knockout punch that is as endearing as it is outrageous.

While most of the women in this show are relegated to unsympathetic supporting roles that are played as if conceived through the eyes of their men folk, one funny lady does stand out. The veteran Broadway actress Merle Louise gives us a wonderfully brash and bawdy performance as the piano accompanist Jeannette, whose bluesy vaudeville style send-up titled "Jeannette's Showbiz Number" creates a rousing opening for act two. By recounting her many tumultuous years in the business, she commiserates with the dispirited guys by telling them that, at this point in their rehearsals, things could be better.

As "The Full Monty" comes full circle and it's time for the men to "Let It Go," director and choreographer Barry Ivan takes full advantage of the North Shore Music Theatre's in-the-round design. He has the men unabashedly strut about the cleverly designed steel plated rectangular stage, teasing and playing with the audience as if they were in an intimate nightclub. Ringside "patrons" jump and cheer as each new piece of clothing is removed. When the guys finally get down to the bare essentials, they are relaxed and confident, having the time of their lives. The audience, not at all inhibited about showing its approval, is wildly happy, too.

"The Full Monty" may not be powerful brain food, but it is a box of tasty eye candy. In this NSMT production, the full package gets delivered with panache.

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