REVIEW
TITLE: The Full Monty by Lindley Church Amateur Operatic Society
VENUE: Lawrence Batley Theatre
REVIEW: David Heathcote
ABSOLUTELY brilliant. Martin Saxton’s production of the musical version of The Full Monty was a masterpiece, not least through his ability to draw out the real-life story of six desperate characters and take his audience on quite an emotional journey.
The six guys at the centre of the story were fantastic, each one creating strong and contrasting characters that gelled so well.
Ian Roberts maintained the leadership expected of Harold until he realised his vulnerability, particularly in the duet, You Rule My World.
Jonty Wilson (Malcolm) and Chris Comber (Ethan) were great comic characters; however, their duet, You Walk With Me was very moving. The show is full of such emotional dynamics.
Winston Robinson raised the roof in the song, Big Black Man and later showed his fear of the expectations of him.
Young Aden Carter was excellent as Jerry’s son, Nathan, and Elaine Thompson’s performance of Jeanette’s Showbiz Number is alone worth seeing!
Leading this fantastic cast were Robert Pogson (Dave) and Daniel Killeen (Jerry); two very talented performers. Pogson crafted a genuine character, full of self-awareness, which he captured perfectly.
Killeen owned this demanding role. His polished performance shone through, engaging the audience in his visionary, yet frustrated and vulnerable character.
But The Full Monty is about one famous moment and this was brilliantly staged and performed. The electricity in the audience was generated because of the journey before it and the courage of these characters in going The Full Monty was felt by everyone.
This will be remembered as one of the best shows of 2013.
