NAKED BOYS SINGING to 30th August.

London.

NAKED BOYS SINGING
conceived by Robert Schrock.

Arts Theatre, 6 – 7 Great Newport Street, London, WC2H 7JB to 30 August 2009.
Tue - Sat 9.30pm. Combined ticket with F**king Men @7:30pm.
Runs 1hr 10min. No interval.

TICKETS: 0845 017 5584.
www.seetickets.com
www.nakedboyssinging.com/london.html
Review: Geoff Ambler 9 July 2009.

It does, with aplomb, what is says on the marquee.
Opening in repertory with F**king Men at the Arts Theatre, Naked Boys Singing promises to “celebrate the splendours of male nudity”. Transferring from the States, via The Kings Head has resulted in a different show; one with, surprisingly, much less nudity than billed. The nakedness when it arrives is complete and unabashed but it takes a good hour before the Boys disrobe fully. The aim of the delayed strip is to allow an audience to discover the characters before shocking them with their exposed bottom halves, but the show’s loose story in which a group of singers audition for a naked males show, rehearse then strip and open, hardly builds much empathy between audience and performers.

The programme promises sixteen original songs, most of which are certainly perky and upbeat, much like the cast; opening with Gratuitous Nudity the show comes clean about the purpose of the evening’s entertainment. It is quickly followed by the hilarious Naked Maid and The Bliss of a Briss and by then the tone is quite firmly set. There is the expected song about masturbation; I was surprised that there was only the one, although thankfully it was delivered fully clothed.

When the strip eventually arrives the embarrassed giggling is drowned out by the raucous laughter, as, after all, the male form is basically funny. While the choreography from this point seems to include a lot more bouncing than I noticed in the preceding hour, the cast are completely unfazed by the mirthful reception, even those enjoying a West End debut, although I’d love to know if they celebrated it by inviting their families along.

Naked Boys Singing certainly adds a different twist to the cabaret evening. While failing to shock, it resolutely remains hilarious, brave and quite gratuitous.

Cast: Stephen Butler, Joe Van Haeften, Conleth Kane, Duncan Leighton, David Lucas, Adam Mendlesohn, Matthew Russell-Jones, Nathan Taylor.

Director: Phil Willmott.
Designer: Nigel Hook.
Lighting: Peter Bragg.
Musical Director: Leigh Thompson.
Musical Supervisor: Elliot Davis.
Choreographer: Andrew Wright.

2009-07-16 11:09:55