We believe in miracles, you sexy thangs.
Jason Danieley and Patrick Wilson bare more than their acting talent in the world premiere of Dave Yazbek-Terrence McNally's musical, The Full Monty, opening June 1 at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre. Previews began May 23 for a run through July 2.
Danieley stars as Malcom Macgregor, the suicidal man who finds the love of his life in Ethan Girard (Romain Fruge of Floyd Collins). Real-life husband to Kiss Me, Kate diva Marin Mazzie, Danieley starred in the most recent Broadway revival of Candide, as well as appearing in Floyd Collins.
Wilson plays Jerry Lukowski (the Robert Carlyle role) -- the brains behind the amateur strippers -- who desperately wants to impress his son. Wilson made his Broadway debut in The Gershwins’ Fascinating Rhythm, after making a splash in NYC in Paul Scott Goodman's Bright Lights, Big City. Other credits include Terrence Mann's Romeo and Juliet (Romeo) and Harmony at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Among the ladies supporting these bare boys are Annie Golden, Emily Skinner and Lisa Datz. Golden will play Georgie Bukatinski, wife to Dave Bukatinski (John Ellison Conlee), the overweight man who feels his body and general unattractiveness are eating away at his marriage. Best known for her stint in Hair, Golden recently appeared Off-Broadway in An Empty Plate at the Cafe du Grand Boeuf and Saturn Returns. Skinner (Vicki Nichols), a Tony nominee for Side Show, comes directly from the Broadway production of James Joyce's The Dead. She plays the wife of Harold Nichols, the former mill supervisor who is unable to tell his wife that he's lost his job. Datz appeared on Broadway in Titanic and played Ytzak Off-Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. She plays Pam Lukowski, Jerry's estranged wife. Also in the cast are Andre De Shields ( The Wiz, Ain't Misbehavin') as Noah "Horse" T. Simmons, Jay Douglas (Goodspeed's Glimmerglass) as Minister, Laura Marie Duncan as Susan Hershey, Angelo Fraboni as Teddy Slaughter, Pam's live in boyfriend, Denis Jones (Finian's Rainbow) as Buddy "Keno" Walsh, Jannie Jones as Joanie Lish, Marcus Neville as Harold Nichols, Patti Perkins as Molly Macgregor, Jimmy Smagula as Tony Giordano, C.E. Smith as Police Sergeant/Moving Man, Kathleen Freeman as Jeanette Burmeister and Todd Weeks as Carol Crosby.
Two boys, Michael Fiss and Adam Covalt, will alternate in the role of Jerry Lukowski's son, Nathan.
"The Full Monty" 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 economical depressed mill town ("Full Monty" refers to a British term meaning to get completely naked). Ironically, the movie ended just as the gents braved the full monty to a club filled with the town's populace.
McNally and Yazbek, however, have opted to change the locale of the piece, moving it to America from Sheffield, England.
McNally is, of course, well known for the books to Ragtime and Kiss of the Spider Woman as well as his plays Corpus Christi, The Lisbon Traviata and the oft-naked Love! Valor! Compassion!. Yazbek, on the other hand, is a pop songwriter who is best known for co writing the theme to "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" with Sean Altman of Rockapella. He has produced for XTZ, Space Hog and Tito Puente, while opening as a singer-songwriter for the acts Verve Pipe, the Samples and Ben Folds Five. His albums include "The Laughing Man," named Pop Album of the Year by NAIRD/AFIM, and 1998's "Tock."
Old Globe artistic director Jack O'Brien will direct. A Tony Award winner for Porgy and Bess and nominated for Damn Yankees, O'Brien recently directed the Globe's productions of The Seagull, The Magic Fire and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
Jerry Mitchell is the choreographer. Mitchell has experience with movies and nudity -- his credits include "In & Out" and the yearly BC/EFA charity event Broadway Bares. Mitchell's also gave Hedwig and the Angry Inch their musical staging, as he did with Captains Courageous and the Paper Mill Playhouse's recent revival of Follies.
Harold Wheeler will do the orchestrations with Ted Sperling as musical director. Wheeler orchestrated The Wiz, Dreamgirls, Little Me, A Chorus Line, Fame, The Life, and Side Show. Musical director Sperling last filled that post at the Old Globe with Floyd Collins.
Designing The Full Monty are John Arnone (sets), Howell Binkley (lighting), Robert Morgan (costumes) and Jeff Ladman (sound).
Tickets are $42-$23. The Old Globe is located in Balboa Park. For tickets, call (619) 239-2255. The Old Globe is on the web at http://www.oldglobe.org.
