Atlanta Lyric Theatre Trades in The Classics for One of Their Most Exposing Productions to Date

The Atlanta Lyric Theatre has had a loyal following of Atlanta and Marietta-based theatregoers for 36 seasons. Perhaps they're drawn to The Lyric because of the newfound artists featured in their productions, like Sarah Charles Lewis, who is now leading the cast of TUCK EVERLASTING on Broadway. Or maybe it's the classics that The Lyric continues to produce, like ANNIE (starring Lewis in 2014), PETER PAN, and CATS, which sold out the Cobb Energy Center last season. One thing is for sure. Once you see your first Lyric show you are bound to become a loyal patron, something that is greatly treasured by the family-oriented production staff of the theatre. And this staff never fails to give audiences a well-rounded and entertaining season. The Lyric pushed the envelope by exposing audiences to more than usual in their current production of the 10-time Tony Winning pop-rock musical THE FULL MONTY. Based on the cult hit film of the same name, THE FULL MONTY addresses the topics of masculinity, sexuality, morality, and body image in the lives of six diverse men. And we thought that women were the emotional ones. I sat down for a virtual coffee date with Atlanta Lyric Associate Artistic Director Alan Kilpatrick to discuss his experience directing one of the most risque productions to grace the Jennie T. Anderson stage.

BWW: How did you decide on THE FULL MONTY this season?

Alan: Our Lyric audience for the most part is older, they love Rodgers and Hammerstein and their old school musicals. Every now and then we need to work at developing a younger audience. We need to do something that is a little more contemporary, more...shall we say, edgy? For everyone of those edgier shows there's probably 8-10 more conservative shows to make those folks happy. Then we throw in a RENT or PRODUCERS or YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN just to really test the waters. And I have to say, of the 3 performances that we've done so far of THE FULL MONTY, most of our older people have really grooved on the show. It's funny when you wrap a social issue in comedy. It goes down easier. And the whole issue with the men taking their clothes off- it's not a play about that. It's about those issues. Body issues, race, sexuality, it's really about that. It's just sort of hung on a hanger that happens to be...at the end of the show they drop their trousers.

Which brings up my next question. How difficult was it to tackle the aspect of nudity in this show?

I said to the cast early on, "It's about people learning to love themselves so they can let somebody else love them." We went forward with that idea in mind. I've directed 3 other plays that had complete nudity and I've never said "Tomorrow we're taking our clothes off". It's always happened the same way. They decide amongst themselves, 'ok, we're going to do this'. We're bocking, we're talking...and then we were running the scene in Herald's house where they have their clothes off for the first time in front of each other. The actor playing Herald said "Ok boys, are we going to do this?" They had all obviously been talking. I thought they had come up with some gag or something but then off came the clothes! No one in the room knew it was going to happen except them. It was their choice. Brandt Blocker turned to me several times during dress rehearsal and said "I've gotta give it to these guys. They're on stage in nothing but a thong while we're testing lights, working tech, prodding at them..." And they didn't have many qualms about it but they embraced it. That aspect was easier than most people think it would be.

How is this production affecting the future of the Lyric?

Our season always depends what we can get the rights to. We have to compete with National Tours coming through our city, so it's difficult in scheduling what our season is going to be. You have to weigh it all very carefully. There has to be a good balance: something old and something new, and we have to keep our finger on the pulse of what our audiences are liking. With shows like SPAMALOT and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, we found that the response was quite good which sends the message to us, 'We're in okay waters, but we don't want to push this too far'.

But we do have the opportunity to broaden our scope of the kind of shows we do. We wouldn't do a whole season of shows like Full Monty, that's not what our audience wants to see all the time. For example, PETER PAN followed by YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: they're about as different as you can get from each other. Give the audience variety and test the waters. If they like it, you proceed. Because we're a small company administration, we are all very in touch with the audience in the lobby and box office. We talk to our patrons all the time. They'll absolutely tell us what they like. Season tickets as a rule are on a decline in the arts but ours are spiking. I would say in the last 2 years our season tickets have grown almost 30%.

Did you run into any issues while casting due to the context of the show?

It was a very difficult show to cast, maybe the most difficult that I've ever directed. And that's because your types are so specific with the six men. "He's fat, he's old, he's skinny, he's bald, he's short", you need all of those guys. I had to cast according to the info that was given me, not because an actor was a good singer or dancer. My choreographer, Karen Habert, was a miracle worker. "Michael Jordan" and the Closing Number had to be phenomenal, and they all worked their butts off. There were a lot of guys who I had not worked with before. There were such specific casting requirements that I turned over a lot of rocks to find the right guys. At the audition I said "Okay, you'll have to do this on stage and you must be ok with the language, the underwear, the final number...". There's a little bit of trepidation. As a director you have to trust that they really are ok with this. The process was really revealing to me because I got in there and they were champs about it all. They embraced it because they knew their character and why they were stripping.

I love what you said earlier, that it's not a show about men taking their clothes off. What was it like to work through the many social and gender issues embedded in this script?

Each of my 6 guys is very aware of his type and I think that's why I have such respect for them. They honor that type so well. Sweet Nick Caruso, who plays Dave, is not ashamed to flap his belly and say "What do I do with this?". It doesn't hold him back. Koby Parker has done a million shows at the Lyric and has been gearing up for this moment. When we announced Full Monty I went to him and said, "This is the show for you. It's your time." I was very pleased that Koby has hit a homerun with this role. He understands the role and he has worked really hard at achieving the success with whom Malcolm is.

Well what about the ladies, Alan?

I also love all of my women! They tend to get overlooked in this show because it's about the men. But you rely on those women to open the door to what's going to happen in the show. The pre-show with them dancing and screaming and being on stage, they open the door for the rest of the audience that says "We might as well have fun with this too". That aids tremendously to the experience that the audience has with the show. I can't wait til we get that audience that is filled with wild women who want to rock and roll! You can see women start chanting for "Buffalo men" and when they "let it go" at the end of the show, you see women's hands go up...it's really a lot of fun! I'm waiting for that night when the audience is mostly women who make you wonder if they're going to storm the stage or throw their panties.

I know you'll get that audience! The performances of those six guys definitely warrant that reaction.

I'm really proud of all of them. They have not let what could be intimidating to some actors get in their way. I have found that in this cast there is a bonding element. The six guys all wanted to be in the same dressing room. We were going put them each in their own dressing room but they chose to be together. And it's because they've achieved a lot together. They've got something to share between the six of them that nobody can ever share because they were the six strippers in The Full Monty.

Don't miss your opportunity to catch one of the most shocking and exposing performances in Atlanta Lyric's history! THE FULL MONTY runs for two more weekends, February 18th-21st and 25th-28th at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at http://tickets.atlantalyrictheatre.com/ .

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