'The Full Monty:' They danced. They sang. They stripped.

Wednesday night's production of the Broadway musical "The Full Monty" left the enthusiastic audience members with grins on their faces and tunes in their heads.\nThe show was a hit, and it wasn't just because of the (ahem) minimal costumes of the six main male characters in the last scene of the show. The quirky characters, catchy music and overall fun atmosphere of the production kept the audience engaged and laughing throughout the three-hour performance.\n"The Full Monty" tells the story of Jerry and Dave, both of whom have been laid off from their jobs at a Buffalo, N.Y., steel mill, and four of their friends, also down on their luck, who plan to strip to make some quick cash. It is based on the 1997 film of the same name, which won the Academy Award for Original Musical or Comedy Score and was nominated for Best Picture and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, among others. \nAlthough I was a bit skeptical at the change of setting from England in the film to Buffalo in the musical, I was pleasantly surprised to find that nothing was lost in the American presentation of the musical. \nIn both cases, and aside from any preconceptions one might have about a story detailing the lives of male strippers, this is a tale of six men's redemption of their "manhood" through unconventional means. \nJerry and Dave, especially, felt emasculated by the fact that they could not earn money to support their families. Although stripping was not necessarily seen as the manliest of occupations, it allowed them to at least win their own bread again.\nWhile many of the musical numbers, such as "It's a Woman's World" or "Big-Ass Rock" were catchy and fun, the character acting and singing of Horse in "Big Black Man" really stole the show. Horse, an aging black man with a hip problem, really showed Jerry and the other guys that he had the moves to be a part of Hot Metal, the group of male strippers, by whipping out such tried and true dance steps as the Mashed Potato, the Robot and the Jerk. \nThe big number "Michael Jordan's Ball," in which the six men learn to dance by imitating Michael Jordan's moves on the court, was also full of physical comedy and a catchy beat.\nThese and other pop culture references to people like Frank Sinatra, Carole King and Jim Croce, added to the show's well-rounded and witty dialogue. \nAside from the slapstick comedy and fun soundtrack, the musical brings up several issues of gender. Jerry ridicules Dave for doing dishes, what he calls "women's work," and complains about not being able to support his son like a man should. \nIt was ironic, then, that the source of their hope was a situation in which all the men ended up in red leather thongs, being ogled by hundreds of women (and men). \nWhether Jerry and his friends learned a lesson about what truly is a man's place in the world, they did gain some hope and pride back from this experience, and the audience cheered right along with them.