AUBURN — Will they or won’t they?

Will six unemployed steelworkers in Buffalo, N.Y., have the nerve to go “The Full Monty” – full nudity – in an out-of-desperation striptease?

That’s the question for ticketholders to the hit musical’s performances on the Community Little Theatre stage beginning Oct. 2.
Fed up with slim unemployment checks and slimmer job prospects, the buddies come up with a bold plan to make some quick cash. They have seen their wives’ enthusiasm for a touring Chippendales male strip act on the “Girls’ Night Out,” and the men are convinced they can go the pros one step better by doing “The Full Monty.”

With self-esteem at rock bottom, the men plunge ahead with auditions and a first rehearsal. Things go seriously awry at a dress rehearsal when some of the strippers are caught with their pants down and they are hauled off to the police station. It wasn’t really a bad thing. Ticket sales spike as a result of the publicity.

It’s soon evident that lack of income is the least of the difficulties and challenges facing the men. They are faced with some deep-seated insecurities, fears, self-consciousness and anxieties, but they overcome their inner demons and find strength in their camaraderie.

“It’s not really about the physical. It’s about the trials and tribulations of their psychological challenges and how they triumph,” said director Ron Bouffard.

Bouffard said he was pleased to find a cast that fit the show’s requirements just right. At the end, he said, the audience “will know that the ‘Full Monty’ has been performed.”

Both the opening and closing segments of the show are designed to bring the audience right into the nightclub setting. “The finale number has a lot of creative theatrics,” noted Bouffard.

CLT veteran Roger Philippon plays Dave Bukatinsky and Matthew Ryder portrays Jerry Lukowski, Dave’s best friend.
Other men are Buddy “Keno” Walsh played by Adam Blais; Harold Nichols played by Jonathan Carr; Noah “Horse” T. Simmons played by Roland Davis; Reg Willoughby played by Paul Bell; Malcolm MacGregor played by Christopher Hodgkin; Nathan Lukowski played by Zachary Fisher; Tony Giordano played by Phil Vampatella; Ethan Girard played by James Kramlich; and Teddy Slaughter played by Kenneth Mansur. Bryan Robicheau also appears in the male ensemble.

Rhonda Trask portrays Dave’s wife, Georgie, and Angela Reed is Jerry’s ex-wife, Pam.

Patty Vieta is the outspoken accompanist Jeanette Burmeister.

Other female cast members are Tammy Fisher as Susan Hershey; Tracy Kapocius as Joanie Lish; Michelle Moreau as Estelle Genovese; Cheryl Reynolds as Vicki Nichols; and Linda Sherwood as Molly MacGregor.

In the female ensemble are Reinette Bryant, Bridget Fitzgerald and Debra Mansur.

Underneath all the naughtiness and hilarity is a show that affirms family values, friendship and commitment. In the process, the men find renewed self-esteem, the importance of friendships and the ability to have fun.

With less-than-perfect bodies, the men learn they can be accepted for who and what they are.

“It’s apparent to me that the story is a testament to the will of people who are down on their luck,” said Bouffard.

He noted that “The Full Monty” has a great jazzy score and that plenty of musicians wanted spots in the show’s orchestra.
Among the musical numbers in this 2001 Tony Award nominee for Best Musical are “Scrap,” “It’s a Woman’s World,” “You Rule My World,” “Jeannette’s Showbiz Number,” “The Goods” and “Let It Go.”

The Lewiston-Auburn Community Little Theatre will present “The Full Monty,” opening Friday, Oct. 2. The six down-and-out steelworkers who decide to do a striptease to get some cash are, from left, Roland Davis as Noah “Horse” Simmons; Christopher Hodgkin as Malcolm MacGregor; James Kramlich as Ethan Girard; Matthew Ryder as Jerry Lukowski; Jonathan Carr as Harold Nichols; and Roger Philippon as Dave Bukatinsky.
Go and do
WHAT: “The Full Monty”
WHO: Lewiston-Auburn Community Little Theatre
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct.2-3 and 9-10; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 and 11
WHERE: Great Falls Performing Arts Center, 30 Academy St., Auburn
* This show is for mature audiences 18 and up.