Live and in person at the Capitol Theatre, Port Hope, Ont. Playing until July 28, 2024.
Book by Terrance McNally
Music and lyrics by David Yazbeck
Directed and choreographed by Julie Tomaino
Music direction by Paul Moody.
Set by Scott Penner
Costumes by Joyce Padua
Lighting by Jareth Li
Sound by Emily Porter
Cast: Gaelan Beatty
Darren Burkett
Autumn-Joy Dames
August Fox
Donna Garner
Gavin Hope
Julia Juhas
Jacob MacInnis
Jamie McRoberts
Ian Simpson
Tahirih Vejdani
Alex Wierzbicki
Daniel Williston
Band: Paul Moody (Piano)
Tami Sorovaiski (Bass)
Matt Ray (Guitar)
David Schotzko (Percussion)
The Full Monty (the musical) is moving, lively and set in the late 1990s, a time that dwelt on what it was to be a “man” and a good father and the production is true to that notion. The cast is talented but I so wished the small band was not so over amplified that it drowned out the singers. Frustrating trying to make out the lyrics.
Background. This musical is based on the 1997 film that was set in Sheffield, England. For the purposes of the musical, the location was changed to Buffalo, New York
The Story. The musical is about six men who worked at the local steel mill but are now unemployed. It covers the trials and tribulations of being an unemployed man, trying to hold on to one’s self-respect; being a man, being a father and a good husband. Jerry is divorced and has joint custody of his son Nathan with his ex-wife Pam. But Jerry is behind in his child payments and might loose joint custody unless he gets the money quickly. Dave is Jerry’s best friend. He’s also unemployed, overweight and married to Georgie. Harold was in management and hides his unemployment from his hugely materialistic wife, Vickie.
When Jerry and Dave realize their working wives are eager to spend their hard earn money seeing a male strip show with the Chippendales, Jerry gets an idea. He decides to wrangle his friends and other men to do a strip show for money and go the ‘full monty’– fully naked. The money they will make will mean he can pay Pam his arears payments and still see Nathan regularly.
The Production and comment. Scott Penner has designed a simple set with a lazy-boy chair, some sports equipment at the back, two urinals on a wall stage left and pictures of buff men stage right. David Yazbeck, the composer-lyricist of the musical sets the tone and attitude at the get-go with the song “Scrap.” It is both a lament and a song of anger sung by the unemployed men about their lot in life; how their self-confidence is at an all-time-low and how they feel like ‘scrap’ that has been left behind.
Director/Choreographer, Julie Tomaino has deliberately set the musical at the time the film came out—late 1990s. She was unapologetic in focusing on the idea of masculinity and what is a man of the times. In our present day, very aware, dare one say, ‘woke’ world when the word ‘masculinity’ is always preceded by the word ‘toxic’, it’s fascinating and even touching watching these men go through such mood swings about their definition of a man, and they are failing because they are not making money and supporting their families. They turn down work such as working in a fast-food joint or stocking shelves in a supermarket because it’s ‘women’s work’. They feel inadequate sexually because they can’t financially provide for their family. Julie Tomaino has directed her cast to bring out the masculinity as well as the uncertainty of what that might mean at the time. The results are true. As Jerry, Gaelan Beatty is energetic, ‘macho’, irreverent, insecure and a loving father trying his best. Daniel Williston as Dave has sunk into a food-eating depression who has not had sex with his wife because he feels inadequate. Dave is also overweight and feels his caring wife Georgie (a lovely performance by Jamie McRoberts) could not possibly find him attractive.
David Yazbeck’s score runs the gamut from songs about self-worth (“Scrap”), a wife’s love of her husband (“Life with Harold), basketball (“Michael Jordan’s Ball”) so the would-be-strippers have some grace when disrobing, and a wonderful love song between two men (“You Walk with Me”). Yazbeck’s music is varied, melodic and evocative. The cast serve the music and ‘sell’ the songs with panache. As Jeanette, Donna Garner is sarcastic, laid-back, ironic and has seen it all. “Jeanette’s Showbiz Number” is just that—a litany of the woman’s experience dealing with difficult situations as she sings, “Things Could Be Better.” The show deals with the stereotypes of the times—men should be macho etc—and Black men are physically ideal. Gavin Hope plays Horse, a nickname that plays on a physical stereotype, and he sings “Big Black Man”—“There ain’t nothin in the world like a big Black Man.” Gavin Hope performs with enthusiasm and energy, but he really doesn’t have to work that hard to sell the song—the lyrics do it for him as do the assumptions and stereotype. Jacob MacInnis plays Malcolm, a man coming to grips with his sexuality, dealing with his suffocating, ill mother, and trying to cope with depression and feelings of inadequacy. But he finds his love with Ethan played well and with humour by Darren Burkett. Jacob MacInnis sings the achingly beautiful song “You Walk with Me” and it’s a poem of stillness, nuance and delicacy. Jacob MacInnis is one gifted actor.
Right from the beginning the covered band is so amplified that it’s drowning out the singers, and these folks singing the song are strong singers. I spend too much time thinking that if the volume on the band was lowered by a third, and lowered just a bit on the cast, one could actually hear the music and the lyrics clearly, and one’s ears wouldn’t hurt. Hmmmmm, all that time and money spent on building an original set, and good costumes (thanks Joyce Padua), and smart lighting (ditto Jareth Li), and what the audience has to listen to—the VOLUME—gets short shrift, if at all. Odd, that.
That aside, The Full Monty is an uplifting musical about men trying to cope in hard times; the women who love them; and the resilience of them all to find a way through. In this case it just happens to be stripping—going ‘the full monty.’
The Capitol Theatre Presents:
Plays until July 28 2024.
Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes. (1 intermission)