Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
Anyone walking past Central Hall last night would have heard the sound of hysterically screaming females as the University’s much-anticipated production of The Full Monty opened to a rapturous reception. Everyone knows the film, and the musical is the Americanized version of that 1997 British comedy.
The Full Monty gives us the story of six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, broke and without prospects, who decide to form a male striptease at a local club after seeing their wives' enthusiasm for a touring company of Chippendales. The men confront their self-consciousness and anxieties, find strength in their camaraderie, and, most importantly, bear all…
It is hard to think of a musical where overweight, unemployed steel workers sing to their beer bellies, or where guys sing and dance an anxious song about the size of their manhood. This wonderfully good-humoured production with a catchy pop score was certainly a crowd-pleaser.
The energy and exhilaration of the show was high right from the beginning when the female cast members infiltrated the audience to scream, shout, and lust after Nihad Gomez-Ćehić’s hilariously camp Chippendale. The emasculated out-of-work and out-of-shape men venting their angst in song, was, for the most part, performed brilliantly. There were, however, the occasional painfully high and shouty notes from some of the male cast. Nonetheless, this was compensated by the powerful and assured vocals of the female cast members.
With a great dance routine, audience participation, and clever lighting, which gave us just a tantalising flash of the guys’ ‘full monty’, the atmosphere was electric.
Chi-San Howard as Georgie gave a commanding performance in ‘It’s A Woman’s World’ and Serena Manteghi was delightful in her role as Vicki Nichols, especially during her performance of ‘Life with Harold’. The choreography was, for the most part, sharp and effective. The boys’ attempts at the ‘pelvic thrust’ were a particularly humorous highlight, as well as Dami Tanimowo’s performance of ‘Big Black Man’.
When the show was all fired-up with the male wannabe strippers it was at its best. The comradeship between these men was believable. The scenes between Ollie Tilney’s Dave Bukatinsky and Michael Slater’s Jerry Lukowski were a perfect example, underlining the ‘crisis of masculinity’ that is at the heart of The Full Monty.
The show does have lovely, tender moments. Nevertheless, I did feel that these were not portrayed convincingly. The moving and emotive scenes between Dave Bukatinsky and his wife Georgie and those between James Duckworth’s Harold Nichols and his wife were an exception to this. Yet, the sequence when Michael Slater’s hitherto superb Jerry Lukowski sings a song to his sleeping son was slightly awkward, perhaps not helped by the fact that Dylan de Buitléar as the child Nathan was not convincing enough.
However, all of these very minor flaws were completely forgotten by the time we reached the final scene, an absolute tour de force. With a great dance routine, audience participation, and clever lighting, which gave us just a tantalising flash of the guys’ ‘full monty’, the atmosphere was electric. This much anticipated final scene certainly didn’t disappoint. Here Charlie Kirkbride, Sarah Waite and Alex Wright gave us everything we expected from this musical.
‘The Full Monty’ is showing at Central Hall from Thurs 12- Sat 14 Feb. Tickets are available Your:Shop, priced £9/£5 concessions.
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