Full Monty Review

'Monty' slick, not quite full Theater review BY JACKIE DEMALINE JDEMALINE@ENQUIRER.COM Every once in a great while we're reminded that University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's stellar musical theater program is a training ground, not simply a machine that astonishingly churns out stage gem after stage gem. "The Full Monty," all about laid-off factory workers in Buffalo deciding to take it all off to pay the bills, is very much a show that's about training. While there's some star quality glittering here and there, when you stand "Full Monty" against the high bar that CCM musical theater has set for itself, as one of the best programs in the nation, the show misses, for a variety of reasons. "Full Monty" isn't a big enough show to impress you; it gets by on charm. This is a musical that wins you with sentiment as a bunch of regular lugs try to achieve self-worth, but this production comes off as slick. You've gotta care about this motley crew of guys, which includes divorced and bitter hero Jerry (Colt Prattes), his chubby sidekick Dave (Mitchell Walker), a buttoned-up efficiency expert (Sean Montgomery), Malcolm, a depressed gay guy who lives with his critical mom (Danny Visconti), flamboyant Ethan (Pearce Wegener) and old black guy "Horse" (Josh Breckenridge). You have to cringe for them as they build up the courage to take off their clothes and put on a show, but guess what? These shirts come off and you see the well-sculpted torsos of guys who spend plenty of time in the dance studio. Which isn't hard on the eyes, I'll grant you, but doesn't touch the heart. A handful of student performers stand out: Montgomery, looking like Clark Kent, is just right as the efficiency expert who efficiently eliminates his own job but who's afraid to tell his spendthrift wife. Jen Temen brightens the stage as his wife, who's a good person after all. Sara Sheperd is dandy as the blue collar gal married to Dave. Age is a real issue in "Full Monty," but, again, the priority at CCM is education. Breckenridge makes a fair run at playing a character decades older than he is and decrepit to boot. Jerry has a young son, and freshman Jake Bridges gives a good performance as the kid, without being remotely believable. There's no way he passes for the age he has to be for some more heart-tugging. The show's one ringer is alum Pam Myers, brought in to play the been-there-done-that showbiz vet,, a broad to her bones, who plays piano for the guys. Myers isn't old enough for the role but what she does have is the spark that you need to make it on stage. I hope most of the kids in the company are taking notes. Prattes isn't mature enough to act Jerry, and he doesn't have the vocal range for the role either. He wasn't helped by a poor sound balance that had the orchestra drowning out the singers for most of the show. Student costumer Jessica Arthur does a fine job of telling us who these people are, from union meetings to girls' night out. This is the first set design I've seen by Brian Ruggaber, relatively new to the faculty. Four-storied with a dirty tenement look, it didn't work at all for me. As a child of the Rust Belt, this is not where these folks would live. Obviously Ruggaber looking for a solution for many, many scene changes without moving set pieces on and off stage. A line-up of scenes at floor level work well, not only is it not Buffalo, it doesn't serve the story. The set doesn't reflect the situation of the upwardly mobile characters and there's an added problem of splitting focus occasionally as too many things go on in places too far from each other. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/ENT/702270303/-1/all