The question had to be asked.

Brad Satterwhite appeared in The Pear Theatre's excellent production of "In the Next Room, or, The Vibrator Play," which closes with him getting stripped naked — back to the audience — then mounted by the beautiful April Culver as his wife.

It's a fine moment.

Now, Satterwhite is appearing in "The Full Monty" at Hillbarn Theatre, wherein he and several other men in the cast strip full-frontal naked.

So. Will he ever again audition for a role where he doesn't get naked on stage?

He laughed.

And said that he has already auditioned for a fully clothed role, although he's not yet at liberty to say what it is.

Courtesy

Brad Satterwhite

In "The Full Monty," which runs May 3 through May 20 at Hillbarn, Satterwhite plays Ethan Girard, a roller at the steel mill, where he and several others have been laid off and are hurting for income.

After seeing their wives get excited about some Chippendales strippers, someone gets the idea to raise money by stripping, and to go Chippendales a step farther by going "the full Monty' — that is, fully naked.

"The show itself kind of flew under the radar," said Satterwhite during a phone interview. "It was the same year as 'The Producers.'"

"The Producers" won a record 12 Tony awards that year, leaving precious little for "The Full Monty," although "The Full Monty" enjoyed a healthy, two-year run on Broadway.

"The music is surprisingly good and tricky," said Satterwhite, "very high. It's ironic that it's about working class men, and it's written for a bunch of tenors.

"We don't see many musicals about men out of work who don't know how to deal with their masculinity. It's the idea that men and who they are is tied to what they do for a job ... masculine men who don't know what it means to be men if not working."

The men go through several steps and adventures on the way to doing their actual show, and much of it is quite funny.

And, "We are naked on stage," Satterwhite said, but "they have a very clever way of lighting the stage," which means all the, uh, details won't all be visible to the audience.

Satterwhite, who is 29, was born and raised in San Mateo, and still lives there, on the border of Burlingame.

He was 13 when his mother, Keri Satterwhite, made him memorize lines for "Macbeth," and he "really liked it."

Then, while at Serra High School, he was into football, but hurt his knee, and a friend dared him to audition for a musical. He did so, loved it, then traveled south to UCLA, where he majored in theater with a specialty in musical theater and Shakespeare, with a minor in English.

Joyce Goldschmid / Palo Alto Players

Brad Satterwhite as Tim the Enchanter in "Monty Python's Spamalot," at Palo Alto Players, April 28 through May 14, 2017.

He was an actor in L.A. for two years, primarily doing Shakespeare, then came back to San Mateo when he was asked to teach English to middle schoolers at a private school.

"I know Dan Demers (executive artistic director at Hillbarn Theatre). He was one of my directors for high school shows. I reach out to him, and asked what he recommended."

Satterwhite went to Hillbarn's general auditions, then was asked to be in the theater's 2014 production of "The 39 Steps," in which he was "handsome, elegant and very funny," as I wrote in my review.

That was followed by Satterwhite's performances in "Proof," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Legally Blonde," "A Few Good Men" and "Cabaret" at Hillbarn, then "Monty Python's 'Spamalot'" at Palo Alto Players" and "In the Next Room, or, The Vibrator Play," at The Pear, "The Laramie Project" at Palo Alto Players," and now, "The Full Monty," back at the Hillbarn.

In her review of "Proof," Joanne Engelhardt said in the San Jose Mercury News, "As Hal, one of Robert's last graduate students, who is both in awe of his mentor and admires his early groundbreaking work, Brad Satterwhite is likable, has great chemistry with Gangi and helps keep both her character and the script on an even keel."

In "Cabaret," according to my review, "Satterwhite is excellent as Cliff, the struggling American writer who is quick-talked into taking Sally as a roommate and then lover, even though he generally prefers men."

Satterwhite also holds down a straight job, at a start-up in San Francisco, after leaving teaching because of the low pay.

And between plays, he usually takes a month off to work on his writing. He is a novelist, under the pseudonym Hal Emerson.

"I came up with that name when I was in college," said Satterwhite. "It's for Prince Hal, from 'Henry IV,' and from my favorite philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson."

For "Henry IV," "Part 1" or "Part 2"?

"Both parts :) great monologues in both," Satterwhite said in email.

These days, Satterwhite/Emerson is working on his ninth and tenth novels, he said, describing the books as "mostly fantasy, some science fiction as well."

His latest, "To Die a Thousand Deaths," has gotten good reviews, and his "Exile" trilogy, which began with "The Prince of Ravens," has sold quite well, said Satterwhite.

He published all his books independently — "the whole agent and publishing house process turned me off. I like the freedom and creativity of publishing myself."

Email John Orr at johnorr@regardingarts.com