Naked Boys & F**king Men Move Together to Arts

As previously tipped (See The Goss, 9 Jun 2009), the King’s Head’s two current hits with eyebrow-raising titles – Naked Boys Singing and F**king Men – will transfer together next month to the West End’s Arts Theatre, where they will start preview performances on 7 July 2009 prior to successive press nights on 9 and 10 July respectively.

At the King’s Head, where they continue until 5 July, Naked Boys Singing runs in the early evening slot, followed by F**king Men. The order will be switched in the West End with Tuesday to Saturday nightly performances of F**king Men at 7.30 and Naked Boys Singing at 9.30. The shows can be booked separately for £17.50 or as a “double bill” combined ticket priced at £30. Both are directed by Phil Willmott.

A long-running New York hit, Naked Boys Singing was first seen in London at Madame JoJo’s in Soho in 2001. This new production, which started at the King’s Head in May, has been specifically reshaped for London audiences by Willmott. The 65-minute musical comedy revue celebrating the glories of the male body features 17 songs by 13 writers performed by seven good-looking actors – in the nude.

The “naked boys” are Stephen Butler, Duncan Leighton, David Lucas, Adam Mendlesohn, Matthew Russell-Jones, Nathan Taylor and Joe Van Haeften. The production has musical direction by Elliot Davis and choreography by Andrew Wright.

F**king Men was another long-running New York hit and, according to the show spokesperson, now qualifies as London’s longest-running production at a single Off-West End venue, having extended multiple times at the King’s Head in Islington where it first opened in January.

Written by Joe DiPietro (who also co-wrote the musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change), F**king Men is billed as a “free-wheeling comedy of sexual manners” which is inspired by Schnitzler’s La Ronde but relocated to modern-day gay America in its portrait of ten men searching for love, sex and intimacy.

The F**king Men cast are Stewart Alexander, Stephen Billington, Scott Capurro, Matthew Clancy, Dan Ford, James Kristian, Timothy Lone, Shai Matheson, Patrick Poletti, Chris Polick and Adam Unze. F**king Men is produced by the King’s Head and Steam Industry. Naked Boys Singing is produced by the King’s Head, Skullduggery Theatre Company, Jacki Barlia Florin and Patricia Greenwald.

The Arts Theatre has been largely dark since the early closure of Shout!, the Sixties jukebox musical starring Hi-de-Hi’s Su Pollard, on 31 May (See News, 21 May 2009). Ahead of the King’s Head transfers, there will be three more 10.45pm performances of musical girl group The Show Girls, along with YouTube sensation Miranda Sings, on 29, 25 and 26 June 2009.

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