THE FULL MONTY Musical in 2 Acts. Book by Terrence McNally; Music & lyrics by David Yazbek Based on the motion picture The Full Monty World Premiere - Old Globe Theater, San Diego June 1, 2000 Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York - October 26, 2000 Prince of Wales Theatre, London - 20 March, 2002 The Place: Buffalo, New York - The Time: The Present ACT ONE Georgie Bukatinsky bounds onto the stage of Tony Giordano's club and welcomes us to Girls' Night Out. "Let's hear it for gals who work!" While her husband is at home doing the dishes, she introduces us to the featured attraction of the evening-Buddy "Keno" Walsh - the personification of male physical perfection in an expensive business suit, though not for long. Soon enough, Keno is down to a G-string and accepting the cheers and screams (and dollar bills) from the women in the club. "Who says Buffalo doesn't rock?" While the women are having a night out, the guys are having a different kind of meeting. They're all out of work because the steel plant in town has closed, and they're at their union meeting house to pick up their weekly cheques. Their discontent is beginning to show, and Jerry Lukowski commiserates with his best friend, the hopelessly overweight Dave Bukatinsky, as well as the somewhat simple-minded but good-hearted Ethan Girard, and the sweet Malcolm MacGregor, who lives alone with his infirm mother - they all feel like so much scrap. After the meeting, Jerry, who shares custody of his 12-year-old son Nathan, takes him to the bus stop which is outside Tony Giordano's club. Nathan tells Jerry not to worry, that he will get a job. Jerry says that he knows he will, but he's "waiting for the right situation ... you don't want to see your old man bussing tables, do you?" Nathan's response is simply "I wouldn't mind." Nathan tells Jerry he loves him; Jerry responds in kind and tells Nathan to get on the bus. In the meantime, Dave has been admiring the pictures of Keno that are outside the club. Jerry dismisses Keno's physique as a choice "real guys don't look like that." When they overhear two women excitedly going into the club (and paying $50 to do so), Jerry asks the women what the strippers have that he doesn't have. "Just about everything" is their response. When Jerry finds out that Dave's wife is in the club watching, he insists that Dave go into the club and bring her out. Dave says he can't - he has to go home and do dishes, and besides it's ladies only, and Georgie organised the evening. But at Jerry's urging they sneak in through the window of the men's room. Once inside, the two hear the screams of the cheering women and then the sounds of Georgie and three friends entering the men's room because the line for the ladies' room is too long. Jerry and Dave take refuge in an empty stall while Georgie and her friends powder their noses. The three ladies are joined by Jerry's ex-wife Pam, and Jerry and Dave overhear revelations about each other from each of the ladies. The ladies leave, and Jerry and Dave soon find themselves confronted by Keno in a G-string making a quick change into a cowboy outfit. Keno mistakes Jerry for a new dancer for the evening, and Jerry acidly proclaims his heterosexuality. Keno bitchily dismisses him, and as Jerry takes a swing at Keno, he misses, and Keno slugs him, hard. After Keno leaves, Jerry begins brainstorming about the money Keno makes and that if he and Dave - "real men" - were to strip, they could clean up. Dave needs to be convinced, and Jerry does his best - after all, he's a man! The next day Jerry is served with papers threatening to take Nathan away from him because he is over two months behind in child support payments. Pam is now living in a nice neighbourhood with a more stable man, Teddy Slaughter, who has asked her to marry him. Pam tells Jerry that he should take any kind of job
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