LOCAL THEATER 'The Full Monty' is more than its finale

Aug. 12—Little Theatre production exposes several universal themes

MANCHESTER — Little Theatre of Manchester's latest production, the David Yazbek musical "The Full Monty," with a book by Terrence McNally, is currently running at Cheney Hall through Aug. 21.

The musical, adapted from the 1997 film of the same name, moves the action from England to Buffalo, New York, and follows six unemployed steelworkers who decide to make money through stripping.

Director John Pike said the opening weekend was "very successful."

People going in familiar with "The Full Monty" know that the climax involves the six men coming on stage and baring all, and Pike knew that this was something that required an excellent production team.

"The Full Monty"

WHO: Little Theatre of Manchester.

WHERE: Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester.

WHEN: Through Sunday, Aug. 21. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.

TICKETS: $24-$32.

ONLINE: For more information and tickets, visit: www.cheneyhall.org

"This is the first show I've ever had nudity in it in all my directing years," he said. "That last moment, I said, 'We need the top lighting designer and operator.'"

The way the scene is staged is that while the men dance and begin their striptease, the lighting gets fairly dim, and then the audience is hit with a bright flash of light, blinding the audience before a full blackout, so the audience never actually sees the men on stage fully nude.

"One thing I made sure we did during the production was I told the six actors we will tech this portion of it before the rest of the show," Pike said. "We'll do it very quietly with only the people who absolutely need to be there and to step out and see what everybody else is seeing, so they had confidence."

This is the second time Ken Schroeder has been in a production of "The Full Monty." He plays Jerry, one of the steelworkers who conceives the plan of stripping. Schroeder said that he was not at all hesitant about going fully nude on stage.

"It's a very liberating experience," he said.

Brian Rucci, who plays Harold, the middle class foreman who gets pulled into stripping by Jerry and his friend Dave, said, "I was excited to get naked. My wife was like, 'Is this a mid-life crisis?'"

Aleksei Sandals, who plays the suicidal Malcolm, a security guard at the mill, said. "This is the first time I've got to bare it all on stage, which was an interesting experience. It was a great experience. I never felt uncomfortable every step of the way and I felt like I was in a safe place the whole time."

Though the last 15 seconds of the show is the proverbial climax of the show, it isn't what the heart of the play is about.

"It's a 2 hour-45 minute show," said Pike. "If you're there for those last 15 seconds, you're kind of wasting your time and money. These guys are terrific great characters, well-structured with real life problems."

"There's a whole other part of the show where you see these characters develop over the course of the strike and everything they're going through," said Schroeder. "Act 2 has a lot of powerful messages that connect with everybody.

"My character is very much a 'peaked in high school' kind of guy," he said. "Over the course, there's a lot of character development and serious issues that are dealt with. He starts out very homophobic and finishes in a much better, understanding place. He loves his son and his entire motivation is to make sure he can keep spending time with his son."

"My character was making a lot of money and had a trophy wife," said Rucci. "When he lost his job he really came to believe that she only loved him for the money. He lost his job and couldn't stop spending the money. A lot of funny things come out of that but it's very serious too. There's a lot of pain underneath that I wanted to get across."

"Malcolm's interesting in that he has a coming of age story," said Sandals. "He starts off so apprehensive, so uptight and insecure. I found it challenging at times to make him relatable. Where's the moment where he says I have friends, and because I have friends, I can feel more comfortable in my own skin."

Kim Aliczi, the music director, said "The Full Monty" is more of a musical that is a play with songs versus a musical that is loaded with songs requiring a cast whose acting is more important than their vocal abilities.

She commended her cast though for their diligence in working on their vocals.

"Rehearsals were pretty easy," she said. "(They) picked up the music really fast."

Schroeder said he hopes people who see "The Full Monty" will see the universal nature of the problems the characters face.

"These are all universal problems," he said. "The guy sitting next to you is probably going through some of the same stuff you're going through. I'm sure there's something in this show that someone will watch and relate to."

"You are more than what you do and more than what you have," Rucci said about the show's message. "In American culture that's hard for us to believe."

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