The Full Monty

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Genius.

It is a well-known fact genius lies in the soul of Rod Lansbury, the Arvada Center’s artistic producer and director of the explosion running wild on stage right now. This time his eye for the right person for the right part takes him to ten degrees above genius with a vibrant burst of shimmering energy of David Yazbek’s The Full Monty. Stunning, absorbent, brilliant. No half-hearted thrust, here. It’s damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

From L to R: Scott McLean as Ethan, Milton Craig Nealy as Horse, Jim Newman as Jerry, Eric Leviton as Dave, Alan Swadener as Malcolm and Brian Kelly as Harold in The Full Monty. Photo: P. Switzer

A simple musical, an unlikely, presupposition, then again, maybe not. A wondrous tale of six desperate unemployed men forced to face their vulnerabilities, insecurities, failures, fears, inadequacies, plunge through the middle of them, take a stance, in more than one way, to accomplish their goals. Even in desperation, it takes courage to stick out one’s neck, or anything else for that matter. Courage they find in the most unlikely places.

Jerry (Jim Newman) has two weeks to come up with child support money or he loses all contact with his son, the son, Nathan, he dearly loves. Kyle Hanson and Jason Short share the role of Nathan.

Jerry and his best friend, rotund Dave, (Eric Leviton) have just been laid off from their steelworker’s jobs. Dave doesn’t have the nerve to tell his wife, Georgie, (Anita Boland). Malcolm, (Alan Swadener) considers himself a loser, lives at home caring for his ill elderly mother.

Their frustration is only fed negative vibrations when the women go wild over Buddy “Keno” Walsh (Scott Ahearn) who blows into town slick as the Chippendale boys. “Real guys don’t look like that,” they complain. The thunderbolt hits. They could be strippers. They could show what real guys can do. Additions are held. Noah “Horse” Simmons (Milton Craig Nealy) attempting to cover his creaking bones, but theatre and dance flows through his system. “Horse” begins to fly. Reg Willoughby (Alan Osburn) admits he can’t dance, and he can’t sing, but he has an asset that hires him on the spot.

Harold Nichols (Brian Kelly) was a wheel with the steelworkers, but he too lost his job, still living the high life because he doesn’t have the nerve to tell his wife, Vicky (Sharon Kay White) who loves flaunting her high financial status. Harold agrees to teach the boys to dance, which is one of many hysterical moments.

The draw for some is the expectation of nudity, but The Full Monty isn’t about nudity. It’s about gumption, and courage; it’s about not wanting to be afraid to be real. It’s about going for broke, when being broke is all that’s left.

The simple set designed by Jean Cimyotte was designed deliberately. The highly successful Oscar-winning movie could fill the set from ground to ceiling with trappings of all kinds. Lansbury wanted the guys to stand out. Stand out they do. These aren’t just actors playing with lines filled with despair and jokes. The entire cast has climbed snugly into their characters wearing heart and soul on their sleeves. They speak from the depth of their souls with bodies constantly in motion. Fluidity describes them best. They are alive with desperation, anticipation, letting their fears and anxieties hang out. They may not be Chippendales, but they have something the Chippendales don’t have: the gumption to follow through with the Full Monty.

In spite of the exceptional cast, Wendelin Harston nearly stops the show as Jeanette Burmeister who shows up to play the piano for the guys. She may be desperate and down on her luck, but she throws herself into boosting and encouraging them full force. She gives the guys the Full Monty with her huge voice, and encouragement. There’s more than one way to give the Full Monty, and Harston knows exactly how to manipulate Jeannette to do it.

Ethan (Scott McLean) thinks he can climb walls. He saw it in a movie once, and seems to be the only one who doesn’t know that technology had something to do with the success, but he never quits.

Dave gets cold feet over his flabby physique, and takes the security job Georgie wants him to take. Jerry who wants nothing more than for Nathan to be proud of him freezes in failure. They try their show out on a nursing home and get arrested for indecent exposure. They’re laughed at and tormented, while the jokes bounce off the walls. In the bare end, they all discover truth, that love and devotion really isn’t dependent upon money, that respect from children doesn’t come from being flashy and being at the right place at the right time, always being able to do what is expected.

In some ways, The Full Monty is a fun frivolous fairytale, with delicious songs and high energy. In other ways it speaks loudly to complacency, shaking the soul of human nature of what it means to be alive, going for broke, translating despair into hope and celebration.

Deanna L. Dye shapes the choreography to the height of elegance, even when the guys think they have nothing but all left feet.

Nealy knocks out the audience with his song “Big Black Man.” Harston takes the breath away with her Showbiz Number.

The direction pits Dave and Harold in two different places, both physically and emotionally as they sing “You Rule My World” to their wives.

The orchestra under the duel direction of David Noble and Susan Draus shake the rafters with the power of the music.

The Arvada Center’s The Full Monty is simply an exciting blockbuster smashing hit. For those who are squeamish over nudity, don’t be. The only thing naked to be seen is Reg’s backside, and a group of blue collar workers standing emotionally, psychologically, intellectually and spiritually, if you will, naked before themselves, discovering what is really important. Aside from that, the production is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Miss it and you’ll be sorry. Arvada Center has raised the bar on their already outstanding career, and it’s going to be the talk of the town for a long time to come.