I’m not going to pretend that I came to see Naked Boys Singing for any reason other than what it says on the box – to see nekkid boys … singing! Heh heh. Naked Boys Singing has been a huge off-Broadway hit in New York (apparently its into its 10th year now) and even spawned a movie in 2007 (though I don’t know recall it being publicised much.) I can’t recall exactly when it was brought across to London but it started with a run at the Kings’ Head theatre in Islington and then was transferred to the West End after apparent success.

Unlike the New York version the London version of Naked Boys Singing does not feature naked boys in the show from the get go. All the boys start the show fully clothed and, except for some moments of shirt lifting or shirtless-ness, they remain so until about 50 minutes into the show and then all is revealed and I mean ALL. The show lasts about 70-75 minutes and I’m actually glad that they weren’t naked for the whole show because actually it was more than just about gratuitous nudity, despite the cheeky opening number. I’m not sure how much I would have absorbed if the flesh was revealed early on because, and I can admit it, after the great reveal I did lose my concentration and train of thought for about five minutes so I have no idea what was sung or said in that five minutes (I couldn’t help it – the boys had such different “talents” …) but a while I got the hang of being able to watch AND listen again 😀

Nudity aside I truly enjoyed the musical. It was smart, funny, had engaging show tunes (loved “Nothing But The Radio On” and characters you could genuinely like. For the most part the performances were very engaging and remember at this stage they still had their kit on. The musical starts off with an audition process, then rehearsal, then finally the great reveal. Through the rehearsal we hear the stories of how they all come to like being naked – whether it was the “naked maid”, the Jewish boy who loved the thrill of the brisk, the porn star, or the boy trying to attract his neighbour all stories were witty and fun to listen to. There were five core characters plus the Stage Manager running the auditions and the Piano Player. One of the more moving moments was the romantic piece about the boy getting his man as represented by a ballet piece which required another two of the cast to get very up close and personal.

The show could have been awkward but the clearly the cast are very close-knit and extremely professional so they handled it, so to speak, quite well.

Quite a charming show though note the audience is likely to be 90% male, 5% hen night and 5% random curious others, like Rache and I.