NAKED BOYS SINGING REVIEWS | London Theatre Direct

"Treat yourself and go" Time Out

"You will not be disappointed." - So So Gay

Let’s get this out of the way first: Naked Boys Singing is not going to get done under the trade descriptions act. If you want to see naked boys singing you will not be disappointed. But there is much more to this show (an off-broadway staple) then a seedy Chippendales striptease. What we actually get is a witty and touching look at sexuality, body image and stripping down your inhibitions.

Naked Boys Singing is a show-within-a-show. There is a plot, albeit a loose one. We follow the path of the six actors who come together to form the eponymous troupe from their ‘auditions’, through rehearsals, until the moment all is finally revealed all on stage.

The musical numbers range from the cheeky (Jack’s Song and Naked Maid) to the touching. Window To Window, possibly the best song of the evening, is a love song to the man at the window of the apartment across the road. Fight The Urge isn’t just a song about unwanted erections, but one that looks at the difficulties of being a gay kid at school.

When the boys finally do get naked, much to the delight of the audience (about 50 per cent gay, 50 per cent female for this performance), the sense of fun remains, with the emphasis on entertainment, not titilation. These are definitely good-looking boys, but the real charm is that they are not identikit Muscle Marys. These are real guys with real bodies and that’s just how it should be.

This is an understandably minimalist production, but some effective use of lighting and the occasional prop is more than enough to keep the show interesting.

"Funny and Poignant" Official London Theatre

Naked Boys Singing is a perfectly proportioned, 65 minute review featuring seven good-looking and talented male actors celebrating the glories of the naked male body through a series of catchy, pithy cabaret numbers both funny and poignant.

Naked Boys Singing has become a worldwide phenomenon with productions in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, Portland, Provincetown, Philadelphia, Boston, Vancouver, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Sao Paulo, Rome, Sydney, Oslo and Cape Town!

The long running New York production of Naked Boys Singing is equally popular with gay and straight audiences and its famous fans include Ricki Lake, Harvey Fierstein, Molly Ringwald, Deborah Gibson, Betty Buckley, Bernadette Peters and 55 members of the NYPD.

Between them, the cast of Naked Boys Singing 2009 range from National Theatre veterans to performers with national tour experience.