Buns of steelworkers

You'll grin, they'll bare it when The Full Monty comes to the Show Palace.

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN, Arts & Entertainment
Published December 28, 2007

The men of The Full Monty begin their strip show. From left are Ethan Girard (Tyler Fish), Harold Nichols (Vincent D'Elia), Jerry Lukowski (Larry Buzzeo), Noah "Horse" T. Simmons (Damron Russel Armstrong), Dave Bukatinsky (Todd M. Eskin) and Malcolm MacGregor (Aaron Wooten).
	[Bud Thacker]

The segment of U.S. 19 that runs through Hudson is famous for its many strip joints.

On Jan. 4, there will be a new and different addition - a male strip place - when the Show Palace Dinner Theatre opens the musical comedyThe Full Monty, the story of a bunch of unemployed steelworkers in Buffalo, N.Y., who decide to do a one-night strip show to raise some much-needed cash.

"Everybody is really excited about this show," said Matthew McGee, the musical's director. "Women really get into it, but so do men."

The box office has been busy since the show was announced.

"It's selling wonderfully," McGee said.

The Full Monty started out as a 1997 Academy Award-winning movie and was reworked by playwright Terrance McNally (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman) and composer David Yazbek (Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels) into a Drama Desk Award-winning Broadway show three years later, where it also picked up nominations for 10 Tony Awards and another 11 Drama Desk Awards.

In it, a couple of the steelworkers meet a male stripper, who tells them about the loads of cash he's bringing in by taking it all off. Of course, the stripper is young and buff, and the steelworkers are, um, not. Even so, they decide to recruit their pals to do one show and see what happens.

Chief organizers are Jerry Lukowski (Larry Buzzeo, who played the role at the Golden Apple in Sarasota), who is quarreling with his estranged wife over visiting rights with his son, and his chubby buddy, Dave Bukatinsky (Todd Eskin, director, Greater Tuna), whose wife is as frustrated about him as he is over his work situation.

The men recruit about a dozen fellow steelworkers, including the rather mature Noah T. Simmons (Damron Russel Armstrong), whose nickname is "Horse," for what becomes obvious reasons, and start putting together and publicizing their strip show.

e_SDLqThe Full Monty is sort of an anti-musical," McGee said. "It's about normal, ordinary folks - these guys have lost their jobs and are feeling pretty useless - and people can relate to that."

The movie had a terrific sound track of songs - You Sexy Thing, Flashdance, You Can Leave Your Hat On - but Yazbek's highly praised score is new and McNally moved the story's locale to the United States from England.

"I like what they've done with it; some of the songs are pretty, some funny," McGee said. "There's a huge romantic duet between two couples that is charming, You Rule My World."

Other songs move the action along: It's a Woman's World, Big-Ass Rock, Big Black Man and Let It Go.

The 23-member cast also has Regina Fernandez (Liat in South Pacific) as Georgie Bukatinsky, Dave's puzzled but supporting wife; Larry Jones Jr. as Nathan Lukowski, Jerry's young son, who is torn between his quarreling parents; and Amanda Carlisle (Katie in Swingtime Canteen) as Jerry's estranged spouse.

What happens when it comes time for the guys to do the Full Monty?

"We have a big finale, with a mylar curtain and bright lights," McGee said. "By the end of the show, the audience will want them to do it."

IF YOU GO:

'The Full Monty'

Where: Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 11628 U.S. 19, Hudson.

When: Jan. 4 through Feb. 24. Shows at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays (doors open two hours earlier for cash bar and buffet) and 1:15 p.m. some Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (doors open at 11:30 a.m. for cash bar and buffet).

Tickets: Dinner and show, $44; show only, $32.95; children 12 and younger, $26.45 and $21.45, all plus tax and tip. Call (727) 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free elsewhere, 1-888-655-7469.

[Last modified December 27, 2007, 20:07:05]