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Six men line the stage, dancing to the music and removing articles of clothing one by one until, in a grand finale, they’re letting it all hang out.

‘The Full Monty,’ presented by the theater department and the School of Music, plays in McLeod Theater this week. The musical is about a male striptease act and is rated PG-17 for coarse language and nudity.

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The musical is based on a film by the same name that came out in 1997.

William Barney, who plays one of the main characters, said stripping on stage was unnerving at first, but he became comfortable with it once he got to know the rest of the cast.

‘We’ve gotten so close with each other that after a while, it doesn’t even matter. We’re just guys in the locker room – that’s how we’ve been looking at it,’ said Barney, a junior from Chicago studying music theater.

‘The Full Monty’ chronicles the lives of six unemployed steel workers in New York. The men are each in a financial crunch after being laid off of work and decide to form a male strip tease act to raise some much-needed cash. Some central themes in the production are the importance of friendship and self-discovery, said Brian Clark, a senior in open music studies from Danvers. Clark plays Dave Bukatinsky, another of the main characters.

‘[Audiences] can expect a play about friends. About guys who have sort of lost themselves and their way and find it again through their friends,’ Clark said.

Barney said that he hopes audiences will walk away from the production with the realization that even if they’re at their lowest low, they can still do anything.

Both Clark and Barney said they are looking forward to performing ‘The Full Monty’ in front of an audience.

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Clark said he draws energy from the audience during the performance and is anxious to see and hear the feedback and reactions from the audience.

‘Once there’s an audience, something snaps and the energy that you get back from the audience and that you give to them, it just makes so much of a difference,’ Barney said. ‘That’s the reason we do it.’

‘The Full Monty’ runs in McLeod Theater Wednesday through Sunday. The curtain opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $6 for students and can be obtained through the theater department box office Monday through Friday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. or an hour before the performance.

Audra Ord can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 275 or at [email protected].

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