The Full Monty

¶ … Monty at Fisher

On October 31, the national tour of the musical "The Full Monty" was performed at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Fisher Auditorium. The musical is the story of six unemployed buddies who come up with a "foolproof" plan to make money and conquer their fears. The musical was a British film that was made into a musical.

First of all, this musical is funny. It is billed as a musical comedy, but sometimes that is not really the case. This musical is funny, and the lyrics to the songs are witty and sometimes caustic. "Michael Jordan's Ball" was especially funny, and the way it was written, in a bouncy, very masculine tone, made it really seem like the court action of a basketball game. "Big Black Man" had a jazz feel, and the brass and drums kept it light and yet very modern at the same time. The music was all easy to listen to, and the performances by the actors were funny and moving at the same time. They made the audience care about them, so that by the end of the show, you really wanted them to succeed, and you knew how hard it would be for them. I also enjoyed the ballads of the show, especially "Breeze off the River" and "You Walk With Me." These two songs helped make the characters more real, and showed that they were more than just dumb, out of work guys, they had feelings, needs, and wants, and they were desperate enough to do just about anything to make their dreams come true. These songs were a nice opposite to the jazzier and more raucous numbers, like "Michael Jordan's Ball," and they made the show more interesting and thought-provoking.