The Full Monty

Yes, the rumors are true. Not only little old ladies, but all manner of women are attending performances of The Full Monty ready to get their money's worth.

According to the west coast Monty tour's Prop Mistress "Amy," who guided the load-out at Tacoma's Pantages Theater, women regularly show up with flashlights, binoculars, and welding goggles.

Welding Goggles? Yes. Apparently, the show's final moments are punctuated first by a blast of light from many panels of bright lights called ACLs, which stands for Aircraft Landing Lights. These ACLs are mounted on the lighting trusses above the stage and pointed toward the audience. They flash-on for an instant just as the Full Monty Dancers are about to reveal their all together, which they do in a total stage black-out. So, the audience is first blinded by piercing lights, and then subjected to total blackness.

Enterprising ladies are thus coming equipped. The welding goggles are donned just prior to the flash, then taken off and replaced by binoculars. Presumably one hand is left free to switch on the powerful Mag-Lite flashlights, many of which are two-feet long and are comparable to the ones used by police.

I would suspect that in order to get their full monty of The Full Monty, these ladies would best work in teams, with designated flashlight operators, so that in the dark they don't miss the propitious moment bumbling and fumbling with goggles, binocs, and torches, to use the proper Brit term for a flashlight. "The Full Monty," after all, is a British moniker despite the fact that the current American tour locates the action in the USA. Funny though, it seems everyone on this side of the pond knows what The Full Monty is. Ah, the power of theater.  

© Bruce A. Smith   2004