Saturday 15 August 2009

Naked Boys Singing *** TNT

Saturday 15 August 2009 11:35 GMT

Yes they strip to the buff, yes they sing – and they dance too – but if you’re looking for titillation, this isn’t the show for you.

If it’s just gratuitous nudity you’re after, however, well that‘s what this show spends its 65 minutes working towards – and that, finally, is exactly what you get – all bits bobbing, but definitely not in time to the music. These boys are going for laughs, and to a certain extent they get them.

A long-running success off-Broadway, the show has been reworked for a British audience, with the guys progressively losing layers as they audition for a naked production. Some of the 16 numbers hit home – including an amusing ode to circumcision - but most could be considerably sharper.

Still, the cast performs with such gusto that, whatever your sex or sexual persuasion, the silliness of it all (from a knowingly coy naked maid to the short, sweaty but surprisingly agile chap forcing himself to pump iron at the gym so he can ogle the other blokes getting their kit off) will probably just about win you over .

Arts Theatre, Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JB (0845 017 5584) seetickets.com Leicester Square Tube until 22 Aug (£17.50, joint ticket with F**king Men £30)

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