When The Full Monty first announced their last weeks two weeks ago, there was no final performance date for the production. The musical comedy about six regular guys who take to stripping to earn some extra cash has now announced it will definitely close at the Eugene O'Neill on Sept. 1.
That is, if the show can keep breaking even at the box office. There is still a possibility the show will shutter earlier, according to show's press representative.
To stave off an early closing, The Full Monty has lowered its top box office price to $49, except on Saturday nights. Since the discount announcement, the grosses have remained in the $335,000-$350,000 range (before the discount, Monty was selling around $300,000).
Discounted Full Monty tickets are available over the phone by calling (212) 947-8844 and giving the code FMPBE49 or by taking the ad, appearing in the New York Times and other New York area newspapers, to the box office. Discount tickets can also be purchased online by clicking here. Ticket limit is eight per person. All sales are final.
Despite the impending close, The Full Monty is officially a hit. The show recouped its $7.5 million investment earlier in the year. The current Broadway cast includes Andrea Burns, Will Chase, Jane Connell, Chris Diamantopoulos, Jay Douglas, Annie Golden, Carol Linnea Johnson, Larry Marshall, Aaron Nutter, Connor Paolo, Jonah Pauloo, Daniel Stewart Sherman, Steven Skybell, Lori Chase, Angelo Fabroni, Denis Jones, Jannie Jones, Sloan Just, Patti Mariano, James Moye, Jason Opsahl, Patti Perkins, Jimmy Smagula, C.E. Smith, Matthew Stocke, Todd Weeks and Ronald Wyche.
The current cast includes members of the fall 2001 national tour that shuttered prematurely. A second tour produced by Jeffrey Seller and Kevin McCollum began earlier this year and continues. A London cast is going "the full monty" — taking it all off — as well.
Jack O'Brien directed and Jerry Mitchell choreographed; they are now helming the new Broadway musical Hairspray. Producers for The Full Monty are Fox Searchlight Pictures, Lindsay Law and Thomas Hall.
*
"The Full Monty" film was the surprise low-budget hit of 1997 with Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and wins with Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score. The movie told of six average-looking British men who decide to star in a strip show to raise money in their economically-depressed mill town.
Songs in the Broadway score include "Scrap," "It's a Woman's World," "Man," "Big Ass Rock," "Life With Harold," "Big Black Man," "You Rule My World," "Michael Jordan's Ball," "Breeze Off the River," "The Goods," "You Walk With Me" and "Let It Go."
Before opening on Broadway Oct. 26, 2000, The Full Monty began life at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre June 1 with good reviews and an Old Globe box office record. Performances extended there through July 9 before the show was remounted at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre Sept. 25, 2000, opening Oct. 26.
