NMST’s ‘The Full Monty’: Stripping down and lifting up

By Rich Fahey

BEVERLY – Working people in many occupations across the country are restless and doing something about it.

While white-collar workers such as writers and actors led the way, there are many working blue-collar jobs who feel they are being left behind when it comes to the American Dream, and the only solution is to strike to get what they want.

In the economically depressed city of Buffalo, N.Y., a group of workers are left jobless by the closing of a once-bustling steel mill.

 “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose,” wrote Kris Kristofferson in his song “Me and Bobby MeGee,”

But they do have something left to lose, and losing it  it could raise a lot of money – and their self-esteem. They can become male strippers,

The North Shore Music Theatre’s production of “The Full Monty” is about a group of men who believe the solution to their problems involves lowering their pants – and for that matter, everything else they’re wearing, aka The Full Monty.

When the workers in Buffalo see the crowds that the Chippendale dancers are drawing – including their wives and girlfriends – they are sure they will shell out even more money to see “Real Men” up on stage.

Being jobless is not only wrecking their finances, but their relationships, too.

Jerry Lukowski (Jared Zirilli) is divorced but still trying to stay in the life of his son Nathan (Patrick Naughton at this performance) but he is behind in child support and ex-wife Pam (Sara Andreas) says it could affect his right to regular visits.

Big Dave Butakinsky (James Fairchild) still loves his wife Georgie (Emily Koch) but their sex lives have taken a tumble while Dave feels the weight of being jobless and trying to decide if he’ll settle for the lowest of jobs or wait it out

Even white-collar workers like Harold Nichols (Dave Connell) got the ax, but Nichols can’t even muster the courage to tell his wife Vicki (Sara Gettelfinger) the truth, covering it up until the repo men started showing up.

Once Jerry sells the idea of a one-night-only show, the group decides to hold auditions for other members to fill out the troupe.

Into the breech steps Noah “Horse” T. Simmons (Bernard Dotson), still able to bust some James Brown type moves when he performs “Big Black Man,”

A distraught Malcolm McGregor (Brendan Jacob Smith), who still lives with his mother and is a security guard at the closed plant, is rescued by the boys from an untimely end and eventually joins up. Ethan Girard (Christopher deProphetis) tries to impress the others by channeling Donald O’Connor dancing on the walls and ceiling in “Singing in the Rain” but eventually reveals one large physical identifying characteristic which proves just right for this type of show.

They are six truly Average Joes, hoping against hope they can throw themselves a lifeline and along the way regain their manhood in the eyes of their loved ones.

Those members of the cast working with the scene-stealing Kathy St. George for the first time are finding out what everyone in the Greater Boston theater has known for decades – she is a unique comedic talent. The role of the wisecracking accompanist Jeanette Burmeister seems to have been written with her in mind, and she knocks if out of the park in “Jeanette’s Showbiz Number” to get Act II off to a rousing start.

David Yazbeck’s score softens from hard-driving numbers in Act I to softer ballads in Acct II as it explores the men’s deeper feelings for wives, girlfriends and children. One by one they show us how they care about family or their fellow man, such as Butakinsky’s “You Are My World” ode to his loving wife.

It’s always darkest before the dawn, so when both Jerry and Dave start to have second thoughts, everything’s up in the air until the joyous finale, “Let it Go.”

The book by Terrence McNally is a bit thin, but the energy and enthusiasm of the cast, and the spirited choreography and direction by Gerry McIntyre are more than enough to cover up any …  bare spots.

In this case, stripping down means lifting up. “The Full Monty” is a show that wears its heart on its sleeve … until it’s wearing nothing at all.

The North Shore Music Theatre production of “The Full Monty.” Book by Terrence McNally. Score by David Yazbeck. Based on the Fox Searchlight Picture. Directed and choreographed by Gerry McIntyre. At the North Shore Music Theatre through Oct. 8. Nsmt.org.