Austinist Reviews The Full Monty

[This post comes from William Coombes, who'll soon be joining the Austinist staff!]

Looking for theatre, music and nudity? Arts on Real/Naughty Austin gives you the goods with their current production of The Full Monty.

Truly a rags-to-not-for-profit-riches story, Arts on Real is a glorious diamond in the rough for the local theatre scene. This home-grown venue is well used by Naughty Austin, who continue to provide the city's best "alternative" entertainment. Along with the promise of nudity, however, The Full Monty may also qualify as good old-fashioned family entertainment.

Based on the 1997 movie, this musical version moves the action from Yorkshire, England to Buffalo, New York. Unlike other movie-to-musical-to-stage attempts, Terrence McNally's book takes what sounds like a shaky concept (unemployed steelworkers looking to make a buck become strippers... as a musical?) and delivers a well crafted, taut story that is complemented nicely by relative theatrical newcomer David Yazbek's lively score and lyrics. Neither the book nor the score take themselves too seriously, which makes the show succeed. No life lessons intended, but you might just find yourself moved more than you expected to be. The show was a well-reviewed success on Broadway, with nine Tony award nominations. Had it not been up against Mel Brooks' juggernaut The Producers, it surely would have won them all.

We're always skeptical of big musicals being done in small spaces, but Director/Designer Blake Yelavich has made the most of his performance space, creating a rust-tinged industrial setting that evokes the blue-collar feel of Buffalo. Thankfully, Yelavich has chosen not to amplify the show with body-mics and, instead, relies on his cast to project over the music led by David Blackburn and his fine musicians. The hard working cast is smaller than the Broadway production, and everyone does his or her best to keep the show moving and the jokes coming. Particular standouts include Kirk Lansdon as the best buddy/sidekick Dave, who sings a hilarious duet with his ever-hungry belly, Alexander Slay-Tamkin as the "12 going on 40" kid, and the amazing Quincy Kuykendall as Horse, who stops the show with his performance of "Big Black Man" — about, well, you know ...

The show is far from perfect, but that's kind of the point. Just because these steelworkers aren't toned and buff doesn't mean they can't let it go and have fun shaking their naughty bits. And likewise, just because Arts on Real is a smaller venue with smaller budgets doesn't mean that it can't tackle bigger productions. The full house in attendance the night we saw it certainly didn't have problems stuffing money into the pants of Blake Yelavich's labor of love.

The Full Monty
Extended through July 14
Thu/Fri/Sat at 8pm
Arts on Real [map]
[tickets]