If you had to guess an out-of-towner’s first Broadway show in the early 2000s, you might immediately go for a long-running standard, such as “The Lion King” or “The Phantom of the Opera.”
For Denver native Andy Kelso, on spring break from his acting studies at the University of Northern Colorado, it was “The Full Monty.”
When: Friday through July 15. 7:30 p.m Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday (2 p.m. only July 15).
Tickets: $25.75-$65.75 (VIP $80.75); pittsburghclo.org or 412-456-6666.
The actor is best known for his three-year stint on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning “Kinky Boots” — for some of that time, he was factory owner Charlie Price to business partner Lola, played by Pittsburgh’s Billy Porter.
Now he is here to play the lead in “The Full Monty” for Pittsburgh CLO. He is a newcomer to the role of Jerry Ludkowski, an unemployed Buffalo steelworker who needs cash for child-support payments. A Chippendales tour ignites the idea of raising money by performing a striptease, and six men become comrades in the venture as they prepare for the show.
“The Full Monty,” with a book by Terrence McNally and music by David Yazbek (this year’s Tony winner for “The Band’s Visit”), was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and ran into the brick wall that in 2001 was “The Producers,” which took 12 categories.
Mr. Kelso is among those who think in any other year, “The Full Monty” would have, should have, had a bigger Broadway imprint.
“It’s really cool because this was my very first Broadway show, and I thought the music was fantastic and it was hilarious,” Mr. Kelso said. ”I really loved the show and went out and bought the soundtrack with Patrick Wilson,” who originated the role of Jerry.
This is the actor’s first time working in Pittsburgh, but he has a local connection (doesn’t everyone?). His father is from here, and he recalled visiting a couple of times as a youngster.
Mr. Kelso can’t yet pinpoint exactly where his father grew up, but he will be able to soon. “My parents are coming from Colorado to see the show, and I should have a better sense of where he was from — he always says ‘Pittsburgh’ when I ask.”
The plight of the unemployed steelworkers in the musical and the 1997 film, which was based in the UK, are relatable in this part of the country, certainly, but also universally.
Mr. Kelso said he was drawn to the music alone — “it’s such a cool sound that Yaz had created” — but also his character.
“Jerry is just this regular guy. So are all of these guys, and that’s a nice thing to see in a musical. I know I was impressed with it because it was my first Broadway show, but I’ve grown up, experienced struggles and I’ve had a kid, so the role itself is so much more grounded for me.”
His son, Jude, will turn 2 while he is working here, but “we will have the real party when I’m home,” he said.
Pittsburgh is familiar with the show that will keep Jude’s dad away for now — CLO first presented “The Full Monty” in 2007 and original Broadway star Patrick Wilson directed a Carnegie Mellon University production in 2016. And those of you who know the show are probably wondering what Mr. Kelso thinks of that final scene, when the men perform a striptease leading up to “the full Monty” — a split second of being naked onstage before the lights go out.
The actor has frolicked in a bathing suit in “Mamma Mia!” — his first Broadway show — and danced in thigh-high “kinky boots,” but this new twist, “oh, my gosh, it’s exciting and scary,” he said. He is getting to know his partners in that adventure during the whirlwind CLO rehearsal process.
The women in the cast include Anita Gillette of “Moonstruck,” who played Tina Fey’s mom in “30 Rock” among dozens of stage and screen roles. And Mr. Kelso knew Caroline Bowman, who plays his ex-wife in “The Full Monty” and played his fiancee in “Kinky Boots,” but “I didn’t know many of the guys.”
They spent an evening together seeing Pittsburgh CLO’s current production, “Titanic,” and hanging out on the rooftop of the building where they are being housed.
It helps that “The Full Monty” is about a group of men who mostly didn’t know each other and must not only bond but also learn choreography a la “Magic Mike” and then disrobe in front of up to 2,800 people at the Benedum Center.
“It’s a whole ’nother level,” he said of the “Full Monty” finish. “I’ve talked to people who have done it, and I hear it’s such a rock concert finale, fun and exciting. I am looking forward to it as much as I am terrified.”
Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg.
First Published: July 5, 2018, 1:00 p.m.
