The Umbrella Stage Company presents THE FULL MONTY. Book by Terrence McNally. Music & Lyrics by David Yazbek. Leigh Barrett, Director. Luke Molloy, Music Director. Najee Brown, Choreographer. Jenna McFarland Lord, Scenic Designer. PJ Strachman, Lighting Designer. Rebecca Glick, Costume Designer. James Cannon, Sound Designer. Gabrielle Hatcher, Properties & Set Dressing. Kat Shanahan, Assistant Director/Wig Designer. At The Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, through May 19, 2024.
By Linda Chin
Five pre–pandemic years ago, The Umbrella Stage Company opened its first season in a new state–of–the–art facility – and as Greater Boston’s newest professional theater – with the uplifting classic musical 42nd Street, featuring iconic songs like “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” and iconic actors like Aimee Doherty (as starlet Dorothy Brock) making their Umbrella debuts. Fast forward to the Company’s 2023–24 season closer, The Full Monty, a musical set in a Buffalo that’s not a desirable honeymoon destination but instead is economically depressed. Best buds Jerry Lukowski (Michael Levesque) and Dave Bukatinsky (Tim Lawton) are unemployed steelworkers who are desperate to pay their mortgages, provide for their families, and regain their pride. To do so, they decide to form a troupe of six male strippers called “Hot Metal.” The Full Monty puts several of Boston’s favorite actors in the spotlight, including Doherty (donning her dancing shoes as Vicki Nichols), Will McGarrahan (as her husband turned hot rod Harold Nichols), and Shonna McEachern (as Joanie Lish). Rounding out the sextet of strippers are John Breen (Malcolm), Joshua Wolf Coleman (Horse), and Jacob Thomas Less (Ethan). Coleman, Lawton, Less, McGarrahan, and McEachern are making their debuts at Umbrella, as is Norton & IRNE award–winning theater artist Leigh Barrett, who directs.
Acclaimed author Terrence McNally (Ragtime) and David Yazbek (a musical theater newbie, now known for The Band’s Visit) are the powerhouse team behind The Full Monty. They have created a heartwarming story and characters endowed with well-developed character arcs and have written snappy dialogue and some irrepressibly funny lyrics. But The Full Monty is more than a cheeky comedy – aging, body shaming, custody battles, gender, racial and class stereotypes, and suicide are among the many serious topics covered. As a seasoned actor and singer herself, Barrett is adept at balancing – and pacing – this show’s comedic and dramatic moments, using dialogue, song, and movement to further the storytelling, and creating a culture of safety and respect, where actors can feel safe being in various states of emotional distress (and physical undress) and do their best work. Her direction shows remarkable skill and sensitivity, a terrific eye for detail and the big picture, and her colleagues’ trust.
I’ve seen The Full Monty several times before – on Broadway, in big regional theaters – and the focus has been on the final number, full of pageantry, fanfare, and yes, the full monty. For the Umbrella mainstage and its more intimate (344–seat) house, director Barrett, music director Luke Molloy, and choreographer Najee Brown present a show that ends with a sextet of steelworkers–turned–strippers dressed as policemen singing and dancing their socks off, and yes, pulling off a full monty. But the story the team tells is about friendship that never ends.
So whoever says that with The Full Monty bigger is better, I respectfully disagree. And for a show with so many moving parts, Umbrella’s production – with its terrific acting, singing, and dance, its seamless scenic, lighting, sound, props, and costume design and execution, and an incredible cast that includes swings and understudies at the ready when the show must go on, The Full Monty delivers the Full Package. Shuffle Off to Concord before May 19th. For more information and tickets, go to: https://theumbrellaarts.org/Monty
