Taking It All Off Going the The Full Monty at ACE. BY SHARLEEN NELSON Too hairy? Too fat? Too ugly? No problem. The Full Monty, a musical comedy presented by Actors Cabaret of Eugene, delivers hope to regular guys everywhere, demonstrating that even a rag-tag band of down on their luck amateurs can be show-stopping sexy. Following massive layoffs at the local factory, best friends Jerry Lukowski and Dave Bukatinsky are fed up, frustrated and angry. Jerry is falling behind on his child support payments, and his ex-wife Pam is threatening to cut him off from their son. Dave's wife wants him to take a job at Wal-Mart. Sneaking into a club on ladies' night and witnessing the local women tossing dollar bills at the Chippendales-like dancer gives Jerry an idea: If male strippers can rake in the dough without stripping all the way, what about those who are willing to go "the full Monty?" Although they can't dance and aren't exactly what you'd call great physical specimens, they enlist four other unlikely candidates and begin practicing their pelvic thrusts for the big night. The show (the play, not the stripping) got off to a bit of a rocky start. At first the vocals seemed weak, and some of the lines had a wooden, forced quality, but in response to a packed house full of boisterous and warmly receptive patrons, the cast soon established a comfortable rhythm, overcoming opening-night jitters. Leading the ensemble cast as best friends Jerry and Dave are Tony Joyner and Don Kelley. They play off each other well, demonstrating their unique flair for comedy and drama as well as their excellent vocal skills: Joyner's amazing falsetto in "Breeze off the River" and Kelley's melodic "You Rule My World." Equally engaging are Bruce McCarthy as Harold, the only group member with dancing experience, Colin Gray as the lonely and suicidal Malcolm, Charles King as the untalented but awesomely well-endowed Ethan and Jason Nicholas, who busts out some incredible onstage moves as Noah "Horse" T. Simmons. The wives, portrayed by Erica Jean as Jerry's ex-wife Pam, Chrissy Kelly as Georgie Bukatinsky and Margaret Innocenti as Harold's spendthrift wife Vicki, are splendid. Chrissy and Inocenti put in an especially impressive vocal performance in their polyphonic reprise of "You Rule My World." A fine supporting cast includes Ben Klute as Jerry's son Nathan; Maida Belove as the group's tipsy piano-playing agent, Jeannette Burmeister; Richard Loring as Pam Lukowski's nerdy fiancé Teddy; and Kat Oeming, Josh Loerzel, Jack Oeming, Hank Alley, Jennifer Mealy, Megan LaVonne Pettit, Wendy Philpott and Alan Giacoletto, who play various roles and make up the chorus. The Full Monty continues May 12-14, 19-21, 26 and 27 at Actors Cabaret of Eugene. For tickets, call 683-4368.   Opening Nights Are We There Yet? Opens Friday, May 12 at Actors Cabaret of Eugene Annex. Two dead women experiencing a mid-"life" crisis, Satan as a female aerobics instructor, some really bad wheatgrass juice and Jehovah's Visual Connection. No, it's not the season finale of Gilmore Girls, but the redux of local comedian Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant's comedy Are We There Yet? Two best friends, Wanda and Carol Ann, die in a car crash and are sent to a juice bar in hell, where they are tormented by the devil, who forces them to reveal their dark secrets to one another. Show dates are May 12-14 and 19-21. Call 683-4368 for tickets.   Sex Habits of American Women Opens Friday, May 12 at Lord Leebrick Theatre. In the era of pointy bras and pompadours, the Kinsey Report shocked and titillated the nation, declaring the definitive answers on Americans and our sexual habits. Expect quite a show at the Northwest debut of this witty play, developed at the Guthrie Theater and San Francisco's The Magic Theatre, which explores the issues raised by Freud and Kinsey and attempts to answer the age-old question, "What do women want?" Show dates are May 12, 18, 19, 25, 26 and June 1 and 2. Call 465-1506 for tickets.
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