'The Full Monty' isn't just about male strippers
While many people get stuck with the idea of male strippers in the hit Broadway musical, “The Full Monty,” director Paul Pierce says it’s much, much more.
It’s about relationships between men and women, between male friends, between parents and children. It’s about how jobs define you as a person. It’s about body image. It’s all that with a great musical score and choreography.
While Pierce isn’t recommending the show for anyone younger than 16, it’s really more about adult issues discussed in the show rather than nudity.
“The Full Monty” is about out-of-work steelworkers who discover their wives are going out to see the Chippendale dancers. After sneaking in a show to find out what really goes on during a show, they meet one of the dancers and decide to start their own revue, Hot Metal.
Michael Stiggers plays the Chippendale dancer, who offers advice to Jerry, played by Daniel E.K. Stargel. Jerry is about two months behind on his child support and is afraid his wife won’t let him see their son, Nathan (Joseph Goldman). He thinks becoming a male stripper will help with his bills.
Jerry begins recruiting the five other men who make up Hot Metal. There’s Dave (Jim Pharr), who is Jerry’s best friend. There’s Harold (Steve Valentini), who was in management and pretends he’s still going to work every day. There’s Malcolm (Casey Ross), who lives with his mother and is on the verge of suicide when Jerry approaches him. There’s the good-natured Ethan (Cameron Bean), who has a surprising talent, and Horse (Eugene Russell IV) is the older black man.
Because Malcolm is the only one who still has a job as a night security guard, the men can rehearse in the plant.
So the story begins.
They’ve got the dancers, but no choreography. Harold, who competes in ballroom dancing with his wife, Vicki (Courtney Loving), is pressed into service as the choreographer.
“And you see how well I do,” Valentini said as he laughed.
Each of them learn something during the process of rehearsing and the performance.
“The show is about how we all come together,” Pharr said. “I, well, Dave has a low-esteem problem. But he learns that it’s OK to be who you are.” For Dave, it’s being a little overweight.
Valentini said Harold learns that Vicki loves him no matter what.
Malcolm finds a reason to live through his friendship with Jerry and Dave.
‘A story about victory’
Katie Deal, who was last seen on the Springer stage as Patsy Cline in “A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline,” plays Georgie, Dave’s wife. She says this show is a perfect one during this economic downturn.
People will be able to identify with the men, who struggle because they’ve lost their jobs, and their wives who love them, Deal said.
“It’s a perfect show for right now,” Deal said. “It hits home in so many ways.
“And I like it that they (gesturing to the actors) are all real guys who are comfortable with who they are.”
Stargel agreed, saying the show goes so much deeper than stripping.
“There’s the issue of manhood,” Stargel said. “We identify with what we do. We lose a sense of yourself when you lose your job.”
Stiggers thinks men who may be reluctant to come see “The Full Monty” will soon discover that they’ll get the sense of what people will do when they’re desperate and trying to survive to provide for their families.
Besides, the actors (minus Stiggers) are all “regular guys.”
“It really ends up being a story about victory,” Pierce said. “Their marriages are in trouble; their relationships are in trouble. They face major obstacles. We don’t know what happens to them next, but we have these guys on stage and they’re men again.”
He’s noticed that in recent years, men are portrayed as bumbling, clueless fathers in movies and television shows.
“Fathers are now a figure of fun,” Pierce said. “Yet, he’s struggling to do what people expect him to do. They know full well that their relationships with their wives are different than their fathers and grandfathers before them. What is the alternative? Women don’t want to be less educated and have fewer opportunities. They want to be considered as equals. Most men do accept that.
“But there’s still that, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ ”
On top of these very serious issues, Valentini said it’s still a very fun show.
The music is great. Pierce is positive that the score would have won the Tony Award in 2000 had there not been another show, “The Producers,” that season. The music includes a lot of pop, but also barbershop quartet, funk, ’80s ballads.
Taking it off
Then there’s the nudity.
“We play a bunch of guys who do a stripper show,” Stargel said. “As actors, we all started to do our research. We have to stand in front of our peers and have to take our shirts off.”
At that first rehearsal, Bean said they were all looking around the room, checking each other out.
“We loved it,” Deal said about the women in the room.
Then they got used to seeing each other shirtless.
But Ross said he’ll remember that first moment when he took off his shirt and use that during the show. He admits to being thin but he’s now “fluffy, a little soft. Being a redhead, I’m the guy at the pool with his shirt on. But I’m not as bad as I thought I was.
“I’m already more confident. This is a show I’m going to be proud of. I think the Springer Opera House will be proud of and the audience will be proud of.”
Deal said she fell in love with all the characters before they take off their shirts. She thinks the audience will be rooting for the guys.
“It’s not a show about stripping,” Stigger said. “It’s a show about relationships.”
And in the final scene, will we see it all?
“It’s part of the plot,” Pierce said. “Are they going to do it (be totally naked) or aren’t they?”
Here's the show's cast list:
Jerry: Daniel E.K. Stargel returns to the Springer Opera House after performing in “Footloose” last season. He’s been in”Dracula,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “The Miracle” since then. He met and fell in love with his wife on stage. He’s never been to a strip club, but is no stranger to dancing and singing in his underwear when by himself.
Dave: Jim Pharr is making his Springer debut. A senior theater major at Columbus State University, he has appeared in Columbus State University productions “Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business,” “Cloud 9,” “Machinal,” “Bat Boy: The Musical.” At the Chattahoochee Shakespeare Co., he performed in “The Rocky Horror Show” and “Reefer Madness.” This past summer, he was the improv teaching assistant in the Springer Theater Academy.
Harold: Steve Valentini was one of two featured singers in the premier of “Why, Baby, Why: The Music of George Jones and Tammy Wynette.” He has appeared in more than 47 Springer productions in 23 years as a resident guest artist. Shows include “A Christmas Carol,” “The King and I,” “Enchanted April,” “Crazy Love,” “Proof,” “The Man of La Mancha,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “The Drawer Boy,” “Camelot,” “Ragtime,” “My Fair Lady,” “A Doll’s House,” “The Crucible,” “Macbeth,” “Art,” “Peter Pan” and “Inherit the Wind.”
Malcolm: Casey Ross is a native of Dodge City, Kan., and was in the Springer’s touring show of “Route 66” last season. Credits include “Urinetown,” “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” “Personals,” “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” “Pippin,” “A Ne Brain,” “The Blues Brothers: The Musical,” “Anything Goes,” “Totally Gnarly 80s.” He recently played a variety of roles, from a singing clam named Glen to a villain mastermind named Dr. Evil at the Great American Melodrama in Oceano, Calif.
Ethan: Cameron Bean had his first theater experience in his hometown of Charleston, S.C., where at the age of 6, he performed in the Spoleto Festival. He received his bachelor’s degree in theater education from CSU. Some of his favorite roles have been in “Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Moustrap,” “Oklahoma!” and “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” He also appeared in “Crimes of the Heart” at the Springer. He has been teaching at the Springer Theater Academy since 2004.
Horse: Eugene Russell IV is a graduate of Tennessee State University with theater arts training under Freddie Hendricks’ Youth Ensemble of Atlanta and Stella Reed’s Blue Wave Productions. He made his Springer debut in “Fences,” then performed in “The Fantasticks,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Five Guys Named Moe.” He has also been in “Rockwell,” “Pageant,” “Psalm 13” and “Harlem Rent Party.”
Keno: Michael Stiggers appeared in “Footloose,” “Peter Pan,” “Charm School,” “Big River” and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” at the Springer. He graduated from CSU with a bachelor’s degree in theater education. He has worked as a teaching assistant in the Springer Theater Academy for the past three summers and as an actor/educator at C.L.I.M.B. Theatre in Minnesota. He appeared in “Dutchman,” “Gravedigger’s Tango” and “Once Upon a Mattress” at CSU.
Nathan: Joseph Goldman is a 10th grader at Columbus High School, and appeared in the HBO movie, “Warm Springs.” He was in “Sarah, Plain and Tall,” “Inherit the Wind,” “The Member of the Wedding” at the Springer. He was in his high school production of “Anatomy of Gray” and CSU’s “Pippin.” A Springer Theater Academy student, he has appeared in the Columbus Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.”
Jeanette: Rebecca McGraw has appeared in “Carousel,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Enchanted April,” “Dinner with Friends,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Sarah, Plain and Tall” and “Hamlet” at the Springer. She has also appeared in “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Macbeth,” “Nine,” “Cabaret,” “See How They Run” and “Damn Yankees.” She will be in the Barter Theatre’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” in November. She spent three years performing with Spotlight Repertory in New York. She received her master’s degree in acting from Illinois State University.
Vicki: Courtney Loving’s last role in a musical was playing Jesus in an unorthodox production of “Godspell” in New York City. She has also been in “Into the Woods,” “Grease,” “Nunsense 3,” “The Most Happy Fella” and “Pippin.” She is working on her master’s degree in community counseling at CSU and works with CSU’s Birth to Five Institute to support and develop training for Early Head Start families and educators. She combines her passion for the theater and counseling in her business, www.basicstages.com
Georgie: Katie Deal returns to the Springer after playing Patsy Cline here and across the country in the Springer’s 2006 national tour of “A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline.” The Springer is a special place for Katie, who met her husband, Chris Wright, on stage. She appeared in “Crazy Love” and “A Christmas Carol” at the Springer. She has also been in “Dames at Sea,” “The Man of La Mancha” and “The Spitfire Grill.” Visit Katie at www.katiedeal.com
Pam: Kelli Franklin has worked as a production assistant on such movies as “Poseidon,” “Mission: Impossible III,” “Elizabethtown,” “American Soldier,” “Big Fish” and “The Fighting Temptations.” Her Springer credits include “Seussical the Musical” and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” She was also in “The Rocky Horror Show” in RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.
Joanie: Caroline Thrasher, a senior theater major at CSU, is making her Springer Mainstage debut. She is a frequent performer with the No Shame Theater. At CSU, she has appeared in “Steel Magnolias,” “Senora Tortuga,” “Once on This Island,” “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” “Bat Boy: The Musical,” “The Rocky Horror Show” and “Fly Over lnad.” She was the 2009 winner of the Region 4 American Collegiate Theater Festival.
Susan: Lizzie Schaffer appeared in “Footloose” and “Peter Pan” at the Springer and was the assistant stage manager for “Red, White & Tuna.” She graduated from the School of Music at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with a major in vocal performance, where she performed in “Guys & Dolls” and “Anything Goes.” She appeared in four episodes of the Lifetime series “Drop Dead Divas” and has worked on several projects for Tyler Perry.
Estelle/Molly: Kelli Isaac appeared in “Oklahoma!,” “Footloose,” “Big River,” “Why, Baby Why: The Music of George Jones and Tammy Wynette,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Guys & Dolls,” “A Christmas Carol” and “My Fair Lady.” She has performed at Georgia State University, Walt Disney World and in Vicenza, Italy.
Teddy: Ben Reed appeared in “Ramona Quimby,” “Winnie the Pooh” and “The Father of the Bride” at the Springer. At the Rose of Athens Theatre, he has been in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Holiday Memories,” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Macbeth.” He’s also been in “Troilus and Cressida,” “Triumph of the Underdog,” “The Little Dog Laughed” and “Dial ‘M’ for Murder.” He was assistant stage manager for “Inherit the Wind” at the Springer.”
Reg/Tony: Brian Pecci has performed in more than 100 productions in theaters throughout the country. He first appeared on the Springer stage 10 years ago in “Grease.” Other Springer shows include “Greetings,” “Phantom,” “Jekyll & Hyde,” “The Foreigner” and “Big River.” He has also been in “Annie,” “The Music Man,” “Lil Abner,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Not Now, Darling” and “Oklahoma!”
Marty: Gil Hunter has performed in four national tours for Springer Theatricals. He has performed in “Knight of the Burning Pestle,” “A Christmas Carol,” “The World Goes ‘Round,” “A Little Night Music,” “Othello” and “Big River.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "'The Full Monty' isn't just about male strippers."