This show was a lot of fun. It’s a revival of the Americanised Tony award nominated Broadway production, book by Terrence McNally and score by David Yazbek, and is an adaptation of the 1997 British film of the same name.
This time it is six unemployed Buffalo workers desperate to make money who band together to present a strip show after seeing their wives enthusiasm for a touring company of ‘Chippendales’. One of the workers Jerry declares that the show will be better than the Chippendales because they will go ‘The Full Monty’ – strip all the way.
It’s not a straight forward journey to the big night as there are lots of twists and turns along the way.
The Company’s chief creative team director Adam Haynes, Music Director Callum Close and Choreographer Melissa Ayers have done a great job entertaining a full house.
The background music before the show and at interval got the audience in the mood with songs like ‘It’s Raining Men’ and Joe Cocker’s famous song ‘You can leave your hat on’.
The show started with a prologue by the Orchestra and then there was a striptease act put on by one of the performance to give us a taste of what’s to come. There was plenty of heckling from the audience and from women next to the wings of the stage.
This was first class entertainment. The score was very good with plenty of catchy numbers, some good ballads and some up-tempo dance numbers. The cast were good with the performers singing well.
Peter Meredith gave a good performance in the lead role. Luke Lamond played the ‘big fella’ character well, Brent Dolahenty played Harold, Guy Webster was Malcolm, Charlie Hollands was Ethan, Lindford Gilmour played Noah aka Horse,.Jessica Zamprogno played Pam, Sophy Carol was very vivacious as Georgie , Alexis O’Donnell played Vicki, Rob Thomson was Buddy/Teddy, Cian Dowd was Nathan, Kristy Hooper was Estelle, with Denzel Bruhn, Natalie Hung, Nussa Milligan and Aaron Pesic making up the Ensemble.
Julianne Horne as Jeanette, the group’s piano accompanist, had her time to shine with her number which begins Act 2.
There was plenty of one liners through the show. Lines like ‘I am going to tell my agent/He died ten years ago’. When they see the people in the audience for their show one of ‘the characters says, ‘Of-course they’re old, they are from a nursing homes!’
The set comprised scraps of scrap metal around the proscenium stage edges and there was also a piano on stage.
This was a good night out. A Theatre and Company production THE FULL MONTY is playing until Saturday 21 September at the Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatres, Parramatta.
https://riversideparramatta.com.au/show/the-full-monty/