The Full Monty

A “daring” inaugural production put up by Pangdemonium Productions (Adrian & Tracie Pang’s company), the first thought when I knew of this production was “How far will they go?”.
Well, even though it’s called “The Full Monty”, given Singapore and also the advisory rating (i.e. plays with consumer advice) of “Some Nudity (16 years and above)”, I wasn’t expecting a “show-all”…maybe the most, some bare bottoms. I hadn’t watched the film, which was set in Britain, so I went, not really knowing what the story was about. The musical was set in America, Buffalo, New York.

It was hilarious. Starting like a “show within a show”, full of laughs, but yet heartwarming at times. The audience were quite participative, cheering the ‘strippers’ on. I was warned by a friend that it might be a tad raunchy (for me), but it didn’t turned out as bad as I thought it would be (or they could have cut some of those parts by the time I watched it on the last 2nd day). Even though it was a tale of a group of amateur male strippers trying to do a once-off earning venture, it was a reflection of the tough reality of recession (although I find Jerry a bit too picky in finding a job). I was moved nevertheless by the close bond between father and son (played by Adrian Pang’s own son), and surprised as it actually taught some good values of friendship and true love, like how the wives of Dave and Harold stood by their husbands during the whole time, despite the hard times. So understandably, one of the songs I liked was “You Rule My World”, which sings of the love they have for each other.

Of course, at the end, they did go full monty…but covered with a hat.

It’s a good start for the company!