Stritchie Does “The Full Monty”
Sorry, but there’s no way that yours truly is going to cross the river to Milburn, New Jersey, to see Elaine Stritch (pictured with the boys) in “The Full Monty” at the Paper Mill Playhouse. I am two-martinis-happy, though, that Michael Musto swam over. His report: ‘When I heard Elaine Stritch was doing a great impression of herself in “The Full Monty” over at the Paper Mill Playhouse, that was good enough to get me to Millburn, New Jersey, for the first time since Deborah Gibson played Gypsy Rose Lee. As the crusty accompanist, Stritch doesn’t enter for almost an hour, but she’s priceless as usual, driving her lines out of the stadium, from her first one (“You talkin’ to me?”) to her dirtiest (“Horse, are you trying to tell me you’ve got a small dick?”). She strangely barked out her big song, imbuing it with very little actual musical value, but the crowd cheered anyway. And by the end of this very efficient production, it was clear that the biggest balls up there belonged to the wonderful Miss Stritch.’
