Naked Boys Singing
The Garden Theatre at The Eagle. Booking on various dates throughout October
There have been times where these reviews have questioned the occasional gratuitous use of nudity in queer theatre, given it’s appearance can often be little more than a gimmick to ensure that the more covered bums of the audience find their way onto the auditorium seats. Naked Boys Singing is clearly not only aware of this potential accusation coming it’s way, but decides to wear it like a badge of honour, (if there were anything to pin it to), as the first bars of the opening song, Gratuitous Nudity, heralds the arrival of five fully naked actors on stage. It’s clear the show’s intention is to deliver exactly what has been promised by the title… and it does!
“Tonight get ready for something risqué, tonight we throw inhibition away. Why even bother to make a fuss, when it’s obvious to us that you’re here to see… gratuitous nudity”. So sing the naked ensemble, and sure enough what follows is an entertainingly camp, but clever, 70 mins where six brave souls perform this hilarious musical revue that had originally found success in America, running off Broadway for over 12 years. Tonight it’s LAMBCO Productions that bring this surprisingly impressive and highly entertaining show to The Garden Theatre at The Eagle. It was their previous production of Fanny & Stella that christened the arrival of this new covid-safe outdoor theatre space, and in doing so brought theatre back to London after the UK’s initial lockdown. That was in August however, and the success they enjoyed was helped by the unusually warm final days of summer. How these six naked actors were going to fare during these colder, rain soaked nights of late October was anyones guess, and whilst a marquee had since been erected to provide a canopy over the space, with heaters strategically placed in an attempt to raise the temperature, (as if the sight of six naked actors weren’t already doing that!), it still wasn’t quite enough to stop the occasional sharp breeze rip through the space. Not that you’d have noticed from the stoic performances of the cast… other, that is, than a departing quip of “I’m usually bigger than this” from one of the actors as he left the stage.
No doubt the energetic choreography must have helped keep this cast warm, who were impressively self assured despite being fully exposed for the scrutiny of an audience who, due to the nature fo the space, were seated in very close proximity to the performers. Having a front row seat myself I did question exactly how close might be considered too close, but it was remarkable how quickly the sight of a fully naked cast became not only normalised, but a celebration of the male form in all it’s shapes, sizes and angles. Alongside the actors physical attributes, (each having undertaken some manscaping for the role), equally impressive were their vocal performances, with plenty of opportunities to show off their impressively tight harmonies during the ensemble pieces, as well as being able to hold their own during the solo’s, (I assure you these increasingly frequent double entendres are unintentional), with each actor getting their own moment to shine. Daniel Noah was the perfect ‘Perky Little Pornstar’, Nick Brittain excelled during ‘The Entertainer’, a versatile Daniel Ghezzi brought plenty of personality to a variety of roles, with Liam Asplen making a very memorable entrance all of his own. (No spoilers).
Despite there not being much in the way of a narrative to thread the 15 songs of this show together, (or if there was, I apologise for finding myself temporarily distracted by the… performances), each song, and the well choreographed routines that accompanied them, were both a joy to watch (obviously) and to listen to (surprisingly), given the well crafted wit of the lyrics and the impressive infectiousness (not the best time to use that word) of the tunes. The nervous laughter born out of the audiences own initial awkwardness soon morphed into the much more spontaneous cheers for songs like The Naked Maid, (the unenviable first solo of the night nailed by Jensen Tudtud) I Beat My Meat and Muscle Addiction. (You get the drift).
Although some of the references had been updated for a UK audience, there was no hiding the American roots of this musical review, or indeed it’s age as I’m quite sure there aren’t many shows that can follow a reference to Tom Daly with a song about Robert Mitchum… and I’m guessing a fair percentage of the audience, (or the cast), had no idea who Robert Mitchum was, never mind wether he was ‘Bitchin’ or not, but even that juxta-position didn’t seem quite as odd as the inclusion of the song ‘Kris, Look What You’ve Missed’, which brought a sudden melancholic moment of sobriety to an otherwise upbeat, feel good, high energy show. Fortunately, being followed by the gym locker room set song ‘Muscle Addiction’, spirits were immediately lifted once again, and Kane Hoad was given the perfect opportunity to show off his own many talents, as well as allowing director and choreographer Carole Todd to flex her creative muscles within the limitations of The Garden Theatre.
It might not have been enough to have completely changed my opinion with regards to gratuitous nudity being more the norm than the exception in queer theatre these days, but Naked Boys Singing was an amazing tonic that doesn’t take itself too seriously during these dismal days of coronavirus, and with another nationwide lockdown being announced even as this evenings performance was taking place, I am glad I had the opportunity to catch this show before the lights tragically go dark in theatres around the country once again. Needless to say, there’s nothing quite like the sight of 6 naked (and talented) men to take your mind off the more serious issues of the day, and I hope I will have the chance to recommend this show once again as a way to bring that feel-good factor back into your lives when Naked Boys Singing hopefully returns for one more post-lockdown hoorah.
