The Full Monty – Updated with 2016/17 tour dates

With a new national tour of The Full Monty announced, I have republished my review from last year’s tour plus the 2016-2017 dates and venues. Hope you enjoy both the review and the show.

The new tour, which continues to feature everyone’s favourite “Hollyoaks” and “The Bill” heart throb Gary Lucy alongside “Torchwood’s” Kai Owen and soap fans dream foursome “Brookside’s” Louis Emerick, “Hollyoaks” and “Coronation Street’s” Chris Fountain, “Eastenders” Joe Absolom and “Coronation Street’s” Andrew Dunn, is kicking off at Bournemouth Pavilion from 21 to 24 September before heading to Nottingham Theatre Royal from 26 September to 1 October, Milton Keynes Theatre 3 to 8 October, Norwich Theatre Royal 10 to 15 October, Inverness Eden Court Theatre 17 to 22 October, Edinburgh King’s Theatre 24 to 29 October, Liverpool Empire 7 to 12 November, Birmingham Hippodrome 14 to 19 November, Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre 21 to 26 November, Leeds Grand Theatre 28 November to 3 December and in the New Year, Canterbury Marlowe 20 to 24 February and Leicester De Montfort Hall (two years after I first enjoyed the show there) 6 to 11 March.

Also check out the show’s website, which guarantees to get audience members in the mood with links to all your favourite songs from the show from Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” to Tom Jones “You Can Leave Your Hat On”.

“18 years ago on a Wednesday two days before it was released nationwide, I was one of the first to see the film of The Full Monty (thanks to an offer in Cosmopolitan) at The Odeon in Leicester and immediately fell in love with the feel good Brit flick about a bunch of unemployed steel workers in Sheffield who decide to become strippers (even buying the soundtrack CD on the morning of the film’s general cinema release).

18 years later on another Wednesday in Leicester (in fact last March at De Montfort Hall) I took my mum (rather than a fellow A-Level Media Studies student) to see the live version of the same show and a day later (today) instead of telling everyone I know about the film I’m blogging about the theatre show.

On the negative side the stage show didn’t have quite the same subtlety as the film and Gary Lucy (who took over Robert Carlisle’s role) doesn’t do anything for me even with the cheeky bum flash after the encore.

It also felt like fans had been asked to list their top 20 scenes and lines from the film, which were all welcomely included in the play despite the slighty amendments to the story to make use of the limited set), but this was a great thing as not including the scene in the dole queue, the woman urinating against the wall, the gnome fight outside the job interview window or classic scripting such as “That sign says no smoking…Well that sign says job club and when did you last see one of those in here” or “There’s nowt as queer as folk” would have been a travesty.

But there was only one scene we were all in there for, matching the film entirely but with the added encouragement of a packed venue adding to the atmosphere, along with six well placed lights and boos from the audience when they were informed they couldn’t take photographs of the cast who absolutely did the full monty.

So for Full Monty fans everywhere (including men as 20 percent of the audience were not of the female variety) I recommend a visit to your local theatre (tour dates can be found at http://fullmontytheplay.com).

P.S. To prove how much of a fan I was I didn’t buy the t-shirt but I did buy the “Hot Stuff” mug for next time I want to drink some hot stuff.”