When Eli Newsom takes the stage Friday night at Stamford’s newly renovated Kweskin Theatre, the only thing separating him from the audience will be a thin strip of cloth — a g-string, that is.

“But not for long,” joked the Bridgeport resident. “I’ll be donning and losing the g-string!”

Newsom is one of six male actors starring in the Curtain Call and Playhouse on the Green co-production of “The Full Monty,” on stage at the Kweskin Theatre through Feb. 28 and Bridgeport’s Playhouse on the Green March 12 to 28.

Based on the 1997 British film of the same name, the rock musical centers on a half-dozen middle-aged steel workers who go the way of Chippendales, stripping for cash after losing their jobs in a depressed manufacturing city.

According to Newsom, one of the most stressful aspects of rehearsals has been getting used to wearing a g-string and nothing else, a feat that means “creating a safe and comfortable environment” for male cast members.

“We’re doing it step by step,” said Newsom, adding the cast’s real-life experience hasn’t differed much from that of the fictional steelworkers. “First we take our shirts off. Then the pants. If they blast enough light on us maybe we won’t know the audience is there.”

Click here to read the full article!

L-R Jim Nassef, Bill Warncke, Richard Cummings, Eli Newsom, Kevin Thompson, and Kevin Pelkey