Naked Men Musicals
In the past couple of years there's
been a growing urge to see naked men on stage - and particularly
to see them singing in musicals.
The hugely popular gay musical
Naked Boys Singing! has been a major success on Broadway
and other productions have been staged throughout the United
States and the world. It's been running for more than seven
years now.
The musical doesn't have much
of a plot. It is basically just what the title says - Naked
Men Singing. They also dance. The show essentially gay in nature,
and the men sing about meeting Mr Right and finding true love.
There's also a few songs about AIDS and other gay issues. Nonetheless,
the show has proved popular with many different social groups,
and women are big fans.
Songs include: 'Gratuitous Nudity,'
'Muscle Addiction,' 'Nothin' But the Radio on' and 'Perky Little
Porn Star.'
Naked Boys Singing has encountered
various censorship during its reign. The Atlanta authorities
famously shut one production down in 2004, and the show is completely
banned in Puerto Rico.
A musical version of the British
film The Full Monty also proved very popular. It played
on Broadway and London's West End, finishing it's run there
at the end of 2002.
The Full Monty featured
a rock soundtrack, and this time the unemployed men-turned-strippers
were from New York. The players did get naked during the final,
climactic strip scene.
Comedy production 10 Naked
Men does not include any singing, but true to form, the
actors do get completely naked. The show is about male prostitution
in Hollywood; a dour subject given the full comedy treatment.
The last time nudity was closely
associated with a musical was with Hair in the sixties.
That particular musical earned notoriety for a very brief full
frontal nudity group scene at the end of the first act.
Articles
Naked
Boys Singing - NYTheatre.com
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Naked Men 
