Theatre and Dance

The film The Full Monty told the story of out of work Sheffield steelworkers who decide to perform a daring striptease to earn some money. It became one of the biggest grossing films of the 90s at the box office. This story has now been transformed into a song and dance spectacular, which will raise quite a few eyebrows.

I must mention at the outset that the show contains on-stage nudity and the inclusion of four letter words.

The Potato Room Players has moved the location from Sheffield to Buffalo in upstate New York. This city had a similar fate to Sheffield with the closure of its steel mills and high unemployment. The musical has a catchy pop score, in this version the homophobia of one of the leading characters has now been emphasised and a gay relationship that was merely hinted at in the movie has now been made more explicit.

The women, just supporting roles in the film, become more prominent and have some strong scenes. One character brought into the stage production is Jeanette, the ageless rehearsal pianist, whereas in the film the dancing was done to a cassette player. I thought Mollie Williams played this part to perfection.

There are a large number of principals in the production with the six male dancers/strippers plus their respective partners, family members and friends.

However, I feel I must highlight one or two of these principals in particular for
their outstanding performances. Firstly there is David Kirk (Jerry Lukowski), whose singing and acting are both excellent. He is ably supported by Jonny Tate as Dave Buckatinsky, and by Joey Taylor as Nathan, Jerry’s son.

However, this is a show that gives every member of the company, 30 in all, a chance to shine. Every single person has either a funny one-liner, an attempted strip, or a cameo performance.

The music by David Yasbek takes a little getting used to at first but soon grows on you and there are some catchy numbers as the musical progresses. One humorous one, towards the end of the first half, is Big Black Man, when Noah (Horse) Simmons, played by Robin Reid, comes along to audition for the troupe. I particularly liked the ballad You Rule My World which is the penultimate song in the first half.

I felt that situating the orchestra above the actors at the back of the stage was a good move and under the direction of Jim Lunt, performed extremely well and allowed the performers to shine.

The final number, which brings the house down, Let It Go has the audience joining in the chorus, Hey, hey whadda ya say, Buffalo men go all the way!

But do they? That is the question. To find out you will have to get along to the show and find out for yourself!

This is an excellent show from the Potato Room Players, and is extremely well directed by Stuart Woolf. Considering the limitations with the size of the stage at City Varieties he has done a tremendous job with the various changes of scene. Also mention must be given to Jacqui Drake-Sweiss, choreographer of the show, for the dancing numbers and her ability to accommodate a large cast on the stage.

John Burland