Heart and gusto in ‘Ladies Night’

Ayden Malone as Norman in his firefighter routine when the Raging Rhinos hit the stage. Pictures by Jaeda Maepu

Has any Gisborne show enjoyed such a responsive, raucous, ribald crowd as the audience at Centre Stage’s opening performance of the New Zealand comedy, “Ladies Night” ?  Unlikely.

The play centres on a group of jobless blokes who hit on the idea of forming a male strippers troupe to earn some cash. You know the story from the movie Full Monty which blatantly ripped off the New Zealand play.

“Ladies Night” is funnier, more relatable  — and live; the cast of the Lawrence Mulligan-directed production have taken on the roles with heart and gusto.

With his Brian Eno-ish hairstyle and strong stage presence, Jono Samson looks all the part of the troupe’s anxious manager, Craig — and he has reason to be anxious. Personal dramas, a terrible audition and arguments threaten to tank the lads’ money-making scheme.

Hurt by his crumbling marriage, Bruce Reid’s masculine but emotionally stunted Barry is easily frustrated, sometimes comically, sometimes poignantly so. Real-life dancer Paul Hawaikirangi invests his character Wes with the energy of a good-hearted but profile-conscious sportsman whose ego sometimes gets the better of him, while Ayden Malone brings out an endearing goofiness in his character, Norman. As choreographer Glenda, Elizabeth Cutts is bold and brassy and coy around Norman; Debbie Rowland’s sceptical bar manager Bernie is cool and sharp.

Graeme, the troupe drop-out played by Walter Walsh, spends less time on stage than the other actors but Walsh’s scornful, carnivalesque appearances earned some of the biggest laughs on opening night.

When the Raging Rhinos take to the stage accompanied by dramatic projected backdrops and thumping soundtrack for the climax, James Packman switches up his cleverly nuanced performance as the reserved but fussy Gavin to a hilariously caustic MC in drag who undergoes one outrageous costume change after another between dance routines. If all audiences are as vocal (in a good way) and as . . . interactive as that of opening night, actors will need to pump up not just their pecs but their own vocal projection.

The Raging Rhinos would have to go a long way to offend audiences (look at Graeme) so having got opening night under their G-strings the lads can easily afford to be even more sinuous and suggestive in their routines.

Opening night’s audience loved the warmth of the show, the comedy and the raunchy routines.

One young woman summed up the evening perfectly: “Sh**, that was funny.”

■ Ladies Night, Tuesday March 19 (tonight) to Saturday March 23, 7.30pm, Lawson Field Theatre. R16. Book at the i-Site or through Ticketek. $4 from each ticket donated to the Gisborne East Coast Cancer Society.