NAKED BOYS SINGING

If performers calm themselves by picturing their audience naked, then, to maintain their own cool, audiences at an upcoming Seymour Centre show might at first imagine the performers clothed.

The show is called Naked Boys Singing and it is just that. Eight all-singing, all-dancing and unashamedly naked young men.

Naked Boys might be staged in Chippendale, but it shares little in common with striptease acts, such as the Chippendales or Australia’s own Manpower.

“It’s not a peepshow – it’s a classy cabaret,” according to performer Chris

McGovern.

McGovern has previously worked with renowned choreographer Graeme

Murphy at Opera Queensland and has seven years of classical vocal training.

“You need to have a strong, clear voice for this show,” McGovern said. “After all, where do you put the microphone?”

Naked Boys was an off-Broadway hit, running for 12 years and 3000 performances. Despite this success, the producers of the all-Australian show have attempted to create something unique for their national tour.

“Rather than just eight boys up in a line singing showtunes, we’ve made the show in a Chicago, burlesque style,” McGovern said.

The show might not be for all the family, but it is expected to prove popular for hen’s nights and gay men.

Audiences can look forward to 16 numbers, including Bliss of a Bris, which turns the religious act into a spirited romp of genital fear, and Fight the Urge, a peek into the tensions of a high-school locker-room.

Mar 13-17, Seymour Centre, cnr City Rd & Cleveland St, $48-75, 9351 7940, nakedboyssinging.com.au

BY CARLIN HURDIS