[NEohioPAL]The Times reviews "The Full Monty" at CVLT

Tue Aug 1 09:57:22 PDT 2006

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------040503000604000103080202
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

*"/THE FULL MONTY/"
* *Fridays & Saturdays @ 8:00 pm thru August 19th,
with Sunday matinees @ 2:00 pm on August 6th & 13th
at
CHAGRIN VALLEY LITTLE THEATRE
*

Complete details are available online at www.CVLT.org <http://www.cvlt.org/>
CVLT is located at 40 River St. in downtown Chagrin Falls 
<http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40+river+street,+chagrin+falls+OH&spn=0.015405,0.040443&iwloc=A&hl=en>

    *From The Chagrin Valley Times
    <http://www.chagrinvalleytimes.com/CVT.html>, July 27th '06 Issue*

    The pure innocence of "The Full Monty", the play adopted from the
    British film of the same name, is what made the Broadway stage
    version a surprise hit.

    At Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, the Terence McNally, David Yazbek
    musical is performed with such a natural ease and charm, you almost
    believe the performers to be living in the skins of the characters
    they are playing.  But more about the skin part later.

    We're in Buffalo, N.Y,, where the mill has shut down throwing
    several factory workers out onto the street.  With no jobs and
    nothing on the horizon, their lives begin to come apart.

    But wait, Jerry sees women flocking to a male strip show.  And after
    having a word with one of the strippers has come up with an idea. 
    He convinces a group of the other laid-off workers to join him and
    to put on their own strip show.  Since none of the workers can
    compare to the muscular Chippendale dancers, they decide to take
    their performance one step further.   They'll go all the way and do
    "the full monty."

    The women will come to see the show, lay down a few dollars, and the
    men will not only make some money but will gain some self-esteem
    which was somewhat lost along with their jobs.

    Mr. McNally has done much more with the plot.  One of the workers is
    desperate for money to cover child support payments.  Another
    worries about his weight so much that he wraps himself in Saran Wrap
    in order to look thinner.  The black hoofer is afraid when he takes
    it all off he won't measure up to what people expect.

    The plot skips around, throwing in a funeral and brings up the story
    of a couple of gay workers.

    The author lays it on a little thick, but can be forgiven simply by
    keeping things fairly light and pleasing.  Even though we'll never
    see what we're promised, the laughs keep on coming.

    Though David Yazbek's hard hitting score is a bit of a mess, his
    lyrics make all the songs work quite well.

    Director David Vosburgh somehow has been able to put together a cast
    of actors who appear not to be actors at all.  This makes the show
    far more interesting.

    Brian Diehl plays Jerry Lukowski, the brain-stormer who has
    convinced five other workers that this "take it all off" idea will
    work.  Mr. Diehl manages to make the songs fun by his very honest
    approach to the work.

    The rest of the men in the cast (Michael Rogan, Eric Oswald, Don
    Hunt, Jamie Carroll, and Jacob Schafer) are as daring as the
    characters they play.  Choreographer Pamela LaForce has them all up
    and dancing though they really can't dance at all.  This just adds
    more to the fun.

    The wives (Greta Rothman and Monique MacGregor) play off the men
    quite well,. but it's the six strippers who hold the show together.

    Mr. Vosburgh along with Edmund Wolff have created versatile sets
    that slide on and off stage.  The sets along with a dazzling rain
    curtain add to the delight.

    Not to be forgotten is Hester Lewellen, as the octogenarian who
    comes out of retirement to accompany this strip show.  She's a scream.

    "The Full Monty" is an intentionally unpolished show.  This alone
    makes it a joy to watch.  The audience on opening night enjoyed
    every minute, especially at the end when the six factory workers
    take it all off, or do they?

    /-- Herb Hammer
    The Chagrin Valley Times <http://www.chagrinvalleytimes.com/CVT.html>/

Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for youths under 18 or seniors over 60

Tickets are available by phone 1-6 PM, Monday - Saturday at 440-247-8955

Dinner packages with area restaurants are available, as well as group 
sale discounts for your company, party or organization! Ask about 77th 
season subscriptions!

/The Full Monty is not recommended for younger audiences due to language 
and adult situations and subject matter. /

--------------040503000604000103080202
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
 <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body style="text-align: center;" alink="#000099" bgcolor="#ffffff"
 link="#000099" text="#000000" vlink="#990099">
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
<div class="moz-text-html"
 style="margin: auto; width: 95%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"
 lang="x-western">
"THE FULL MONTY" 
 Fridays & Saturdays @ 8:00 pm thru August 19th, 
with Sunday matinees @ 2:00 pm on August 6th & 13th 
at 
CHAGRIN VALLEY LITTLE THEATRE 
 
Complete details are available online at <a
 href="http://www.cvlt.org/">www.CVLT.org</a> 
CVLT is located at <a
 href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40+river+street,+chagrin+falls+OH&spn=0.015405,0.040443&iwloc=A&hl=en">40
River St. in downtown Chagrin Falls</a>
<blockquote
 style="border: 1px dashed rgb(102, 102, 102); padding: 10px; background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; text-align: left;">
 From <a
 href="http://www.chagrinvalleytimes.com/CVT.html">The Chagrin Valley
Times</a>, July 27th '06 Issue 
 
 The pure innocence of “The Full Monty”, the play
adopted from the British film of the same name, is what made the
Broadway stage version a surprise hit. 
 
 At Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, the Terence
McNally, David Yazbek musical is performed with such a natural ease and
charm, you almost believe the performers to be living in the skins of
the characters they are playing.  But more about the skin part later. 
 
 We’re in Buffalo, N.Y,, where the mill has shut down
throwing several factory workers out onto the street.  With no jobs and
nothing on the horizon, their lives begin to come apart. 
 
 But wait, Jerry sees women flocking to a male strip
show.  And after having a word with one of the strippers has come up
with an idea.  He convinces a group of the other laid-off workers to
join him and to put on their own strip show.  Since none of the workers
can compare to the muscular Chippendale dancers, they decide to take
their performance one step further.   They’ll go all the way and do
“the full monty.” 
 
 The women will come to see the show, lay down a few
dollars, and the men will not only make some money but will gain some
self-esteem which was somewhat lost along with their jobs. 
 
 Mr. McNally has done much more with the plot.  One of
the workers is desperate for money to cover child support payments. 
Another worries about his weight so much that he wraps himself in Saran
Wrap in order to look thinner.  The black hoofer is afraid when he
takes it all off he won’t measure up to what people expect. 
 
 The plot skips around, throwing in a funeral and
brings up the story of a couple of gay workers. 
 
 The author lays it on a little thick, but can be
forgiven simply by keeping things fairly light and pleasing.  Even
though we’ll never see what we’re promised, the laughs keep on coming. 
 
 Though David Yazbek’s hard hitting score is a bit of
a mess, his lyrics make all the songs work quite well. 
 
 Director David Vosburgh somehow has been able to put
together a cast of actors who appear not to be actors at all.  This
makes the show far more interesting. 
 
 Brian Diehl plays Jerry Lukowski, the brain-stormer
who has convinced five other workers that this “take it all off” idea
will work.  Mr. Diehl manages to make the songs fun by his very honest
approach to the work. 
 
 The rest of the men in the cast (Michael Rogan, Eric
Oswald, Don Hunt, Jamie Carroll, and Jacob Schafer) are as daring as
the characters they play.  Choreographer Pamela LaForce has them all up
and dancing though they really can’t dance at all.  This just adds more
to the fun. 
 
 The wives (Greta Rothman and Monique MacGregor) play
off the men quite well,. but it’s the six strippers who hold the show
together. 
 
 Mr. Vosburgh along with Edmund Wolff have created
versatile sets that slide on and off stage.  The sets along with a
dazzling rain curtain add to the delight. 
 
 Not to be forgotten is Hester Lewellen, as the
octogenarian who comes out of retirement to accompany this strip show. 
She’s a scream. 
 
 “The Full Monty” is an intentionally unpolished
show.  This alone makes it a joy to watch.  The audience on opening
night enjoyed every minute, especially at the end when the six factory
workers take it all off, or do they?
 -- Herb Hammer 
 <a href="http://www.chagrinvalleytimes.com/CVT.html">The Chagrin
Valley Times</a>
</blockquote>
 
<div
 style="border: 1px solid rgb(102, 102, 102); margin: auto; background-color: rgb(236, 236, 236); font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; width: 75%;">
Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for youths under 18 or seniors
over 60
Tickets are available by phone 1-6 PM, Monday - Saturday at
440-247-8955
Dinner packages with area restaurants are available, as well as
group sale discounts for your company, party or organization! Ask about
77th season subscriptions!
The Full Monty is not recommended for
younger audiences due to language and adult situations and subject
matter. 
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

--------------040503000604000103080202--