Growing body of work
'Game,' 'Sloane' show off some male skin
Sure, the full monty has been a la mode for men for a while now, but full frontal is so 2003 (the year "Take Me Out," with its showering jocks, won the Tony). There's a more modest feel to the crop of buff bods currently on Gotham stages.
In "The Pajama Game," Harry Connick, Jr., does nothing more than take off his shirt. But his glistening pecs induce swoons.
In Off Broadway's "Entertaining Mr. Sloane," former Abercombie & Fitch model Chris Carmack shows off a torso so toned it makes auds forget any criticism they might have of the production itself. (Wait, there was a play?)
And a former Mr. Sloane, Maxwell Caulfield, got admiring reviews for his perf in the Off Broadway play "Tryst" -- in particular for his abs.
Next in line at the meat market: Josh Strickland, the "American Idol" alum who spends most of Disney's "Tarzan" in a loincloth.
But Strickland might surprise those expecting a muscle-bound hunk. He's very lean and he still has -- would you believe? -- body hair. Waxing be damned.
"We wanted someone who looked like a human being, who was a natural young man," says Thomas Schumacher, head of Disney Theatrical Prods. "I didn't want some stereotype. I didn't want Tom of Finland."
Strickland has been swinging over the stage of the Richard Rodgers Theater -- and into young girls' hearts -- since previews began March 24. The show opens May 10.
