Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Robin does “The Full Monty” better than I’ve ever seen it. He cast superbly well. As the chief would-be stripper and big-hearted father, KC Lupp hits just the right tone. It’s good to see Lupp back. Once a busy Chicago actor, Lupp traded the boards for the microphone, becoming a radio personality at WGCI in Chicago and, more recently, a rock deejay in Tulsa, Okla. He gets the character and he’s a terrific singer."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...When you put director-choreographer Marc Robin in charge of a raucous yet emotionally loaded show at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, comprised of so many layers (love, marriage, parents and children, sexual stereotypes, show biz hype and all the rest), you can bet you come up a winner."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...The Full Monty clearly belongs to the guys, but the amazing Alene Robertson makes the perfect addition to the cast as their wisecracking piano player Jeanette. With a head full of teased red curls, an ever-present cigarette and pitch-perfect delivery, Robertson never fails to generate a laugh."
SouthtownStar
- Highly Recommended
"...Its titillating striptease and laugh-filled story always made "The Full Monty" a lot of fun. But, as staged by director and choreographer Marc Robin, the revival of the machismo musical at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, offers much more than just a good time."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...David Yazbek's music and lyrics have a genial lumpen charm. Marc Robin's production moves nicely, if too conventionally. And Alene Robertson's a hoot as a Selma Diamond-esque show biz trooper. But when the book writer, Terrence McNally, moved this tale of unemployed steelworkers-turned-strippers from Sheffield, England, to Buffalo, New York, he lost the social context that gave it meaning."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...The topicality makes The Full Monty easy to identify with, as does the superlative cast assembled by director/choreographer Marc Robin. There isn't a weak link in the Marriott ensemble, which is also blessed with a few veterans from Full Monty tours like Milton Craig Nealy (a singing and dancing dynamo in Noah “Horse” Simmons' number “Big Black Man”) and Joe Coots (an expert with his comic smart-ass retorts as Jerry's overweight friend, Dave Bukatinsky)."
Chicago Free Press
- Highly Recommended
"...The Full Monty is gloriously inspired by the popular 1997 film about unemployed working-class Brits, lovable losers who give themselves a second chance to make and feel good. (A few years later, Helen Mirren’s ”Calendar Girls” gave some show-all ladies their due exposure.) Marriott’s Americanized musical version from 2000 remains a rock-solid charmer. Bookwriter Terrence (“Love! Valour! Compassion!”) McNally and composer/lyricist David Yazbek retain their source’s sympathy for life’s underdogs and their hard-won hopes. Though the songs spell out what the film was smarter to hint at, this is an endearing evening, its fully earned emotions loaded with laughs."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Recommended
"...The script is funny enough to be sure, but lacks the warmth and generosity so abundant in the screenplay. It is lucky then that Marriott favorite Marc Robin, who directed and choreographed the work, certainly knows his audience. This crowd couldn’t be more perfect for the work, tittering and snickering their way through the racy content and jumping to their feet for a standing ovation."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...With music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Terrence Mcnally, this is a brilliant redo of a movie that was hard to understand and with some wonderful music (not memorable or hummable. but perfect in telling the story to the audience) and extraordinary direction/choreography by Marc Robin, this production is a "must see" for this summer. Mr. Robin is a master of the stage at Marriott Lincolnshire. He can make this small in the round stage seem as if it is a large big Broadway stage and yet retain all the intimacy of this wonderful theater in Lincolnshire.Thank you Mr. Robin once again for sharing your genius with the theater audiences of Chicago!"
Copley News Service
- Highly Recommended
"...Some viewers may feel that the Marriott revival is too lighthearted for its essentially dramatic premise and there were times when I thought the staging reached for low comedy laughs. But the audience reacted very positively to the broad humor, especially the many groups of women who attended my performance, possibly in anticipation of seeing something not normally displayed on a local stage."
Centerstage
- Highly Recommended
"...Veteran director/choreographer Marc Robin and musical director Bill Busch have cast and staged the perfect ensemble of actors for bringing this story to life. And once again the innovative Marriott design team of Thomas M. Ryan, Diane Ferry Williams and Nancy Missimi have created an environment that is both apropos and inventive depicting modern-day, middle-class Buffalo, New York."
ChicagoCritic
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The songs are inane yet bouncy but the entire show plays too long, the plot is razor-thin. This show could be just as funny as a straight comedy as the songs seem to get in the way. The smart choreography and movement by Marc Robin enhances the comedy adding some depth to the story. I just didn’t care enough about these guys—to me the show lacks heart."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...Robin's production is solid and entertaining, nothing near the thrilling spellbinder that the Marriott had in their recent arena-size "Les Miserables," but quite enjoyable on its own merits. Author Terrence McNally and songwriter David Yazbek effectively moved the original British setting of the film to blue-collar Buffalo, New York, where the closing of a local steel factory leaves more than one unemployed worker singing the blues."
