Hit musical The Full Monty on stage April 12 and 13 at Eisenhower Auditorium
March 14, 2005
In order to raise cash for a friend in need, unemployed steelworkers plan a strip show in The Full Monty. A funny and life-affirming musical, performed to a pop-rock score, The Full Monty comes to Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium for performances at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, April 12 and 13.
Section one and two tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation at University Park are on sale now at $44 and $38 for an adult; $32 and $26 for a University Park student; and $39 and $33 for a person 18 years and younger. For tickets and information, log on to www.cpa.psu.edu or phone 863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at Eisenhower Auditorium, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; Penn State Tickets Downtown in the lobby of State College‚s Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays; and Bryce Jordan Center, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
"The Full Monty is a musical about men who don't usually go to musicals: rough guys in work boots and untucked flannel shirts, blue-collar stiffs who may not know from Richard Rodgers but can wail along with Bob Seger all night," writes a critic for the Washington Post. "And it's for these guys; it's plain-spoken, heartfelt and full of self-deprecating humor. Fellas, The Full Monty is your show. Of course, it's the ladies in the audience who whoop it up a bit."
When a strip show, in which male dancers go down to G-strings, is a hit with local women, the cash-strapped steelworkers decide they can raise money by dropping their drawers. But while the plot concerns men planning to take it all off, the musical isn't really about stripping. It's about six ordinary guys working as a team to overcome adversity and turn around their lives.
The Full Monty is based on a 1997 Oscar-nominated British film. The musical, which transplants the story from the north of England to Buffalo, tells essentially the same tale as the movie. But the stage show, with a cast of 22, adds characters. For instance, the musical introduces Jeanette, a jaded pianist who helps the men polish their act.
"What makes the musical work is how well it balances comedy with real issues," writes a Boston Herald reviewer. "From a father who may lose custody of his son to a man hiding his unemployment from his wife and another with a weight problem, this musical has a serious core beneath its gleefully funny exterior. Plus, there's a terrific score by David Yazbek, a rock musician making his musical theatre debut. His songs have an infectious pop feel, and his lyrics are wry and clever, complementing the emotional arc of [Terrence] McNally's book perfectly."
The Full Monty opened on Broadway in October 2000 and garnered ten Tony® nominations, including best musical and best score. The show includes mature themes and language.
Fred and Denise Wood sponsor the performance. WTAJ-TV 10 is the media partner. Hot 103 is the media sponsor. Artistic Viewpoints, sponsored by the Center for the Performing Arts Community Advisory Council, provides insight from an artist or expert perspective and is offered free to interested ticket holders in the Eisenhower Auditorium Conference Room one hour before each performance. Free audio description, which is especially helpful to patrons with sight loss, is available at no charge to ticket holders at the April 13 performance.
Contact: Laura Sullivan (814) 863-6379