Damon Intrabartolo, Writer of Pop Musical Bare, Dies at 39- Page 2

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 4:27am

I have thought about this for a few days and I wasn't sure if I should chime in, but I found myself listening to both my sampler CD and the studio cast recording today.. I pulled out my programs, and I decided I needed to say something.

Bare opened in 2000, when I was still a high school student. I felt isolated, I felt alone. One day, I wandered across mention of this “little show that could” that starred Jenna Leigh Green, who I only knew from Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. We didn't have YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook videos, etc.. so what I could find out in my small town was somewhat limited - a review here, a mention there, one or two video clips from press events and award information. I can't tell you what it was, but I knew that I HAD to see it. In the days before rapid sharing, we had to snail mail if we wanted our hands on a coveted secret recording of the reading or the Hudson Theatre production on the black market of theatre fans. I still have those recordings tucked away in a case. I tried to fill in the blanks in my mind and I fell in love with what parts of the music I knew.

Fast forward to 2004, when Bare surfaces again - “Bare: A Pop Opera” was being readied for a potential off-Broadway run and preceded by a workshop staging at the American Theatre of Actors' Chernuchin Theatre.. I wanted to see it badly. Details began to appear on line.. Jenna Leigh Green would make her NYC debut in the role she created, Kaitlin Hopkins would be in it – my Trekkie self was excited, a then mostly unknown Sasha Allen – a highlight of Camp for me.. and Aaron Lohr (I was a Mighty Ducks fan too..). Then came the icing on the cake for me – Hairspray's John Hill would star as Jason and my absolute favorite (as many an original BWW member will attest) Adam Fleming was to be in it as well.

I wanted to come so badly. I was out of high school, but still a student and getting by, but I was saving money to MOVE to NYC – not visit. Then the run sold out. It extended. It sold out. Somehow, through the kindness of people in my world, I was gifted with a belated birthday gift – a full week in New York City with my airfare and hotel paid for... and it would be DURING the run of Bare.

I was ready to pack my week with theatre – rushes and lotteries galore. Day one of my NYC trip, I paid a return to visit to Hairspray at the Neil Simon Theatre for a matinee and raced over to the Midtown Community Courthouse – where the ATA is located, and there was no way I would get in. The cancellation line was so long that it was equal to 25% of the theatre's seating capacity, so I asked what time the box office opened and when the line would form the next day and I came back. It was during court business hours, so I went through a security check, climbed the spiral staircase and I wanted to sign up as soon as the door opened. I wrote down my name, I ran across the street for a beverage at Uncle Vanya's – which is still there, and I went back, perched myself on a step in the stairwell by the box office table and I waited. The line was long. I made friends – some I still speak to and stay in touch with.

Being spot #1, I made it in - General admission seating and all. I ended up in the front row, almost at center. The programs were nothing fancy, the set was looming over me – two spiral staircases a stained glass window, a few lockers.. and I was floored by what happened. Sitting in that dingy theatre in a rickety theatre seat, I was touched by something magical. It was not quite perfect, and it was low-budget in many ways, but it was powerful storytelling that struck me at my core. Just as it did to those around me. The audience was all ages, and all were excited by what we saw. When the show ended, these was a little bit of an emotional shell shocked quality. There wasn't a stage door – the actors left down the same stair as everyone else, but it was such a small theatre, it didn't feel crowded.. and I couldn't help but “stage door”, such as it was. My signed program from that night sits in a file on my desk and pictures from that night are in an envelop.

I was so excited by that night in the theatre that I went back again. The very next day. The only other time I could possibly sit on line and go again. Of course, I had posted on BWW as soon as I had gotten home the night before and said I was going back.. little did I know what can of worms that would open!

Again, I was number #1 in the cancellation line and somehow, when I went in, one of the few available seats was the exact spot I had been in the day before. As I left this time, they were handing out sampler CDs (made by a then new Sh-K-Boom label) which I eagerly snagged, all too ready to get it into my discman(Yes, kids - 2004!). I was speaking with audience members as I had done the night before, but a hand grabbed my shoulder on the sidewalk and spun me around.. Adam Fleming. “So YOU'RE Broadwayguy2! You know some people call me 'Adamness' now.” Next thing I know, I am leaning against a wall with Adam, John, and a steady stream of Bare cast and musicians, talking about the show, my trip and the world. Adam even walked with me for a few blocks through midtown before we had to part ways.

Fast forward to 2012, and 8 years of telling people how truly special this show was.. of watching the careers of the cast and creatives – Sergio Trujillo was choreographer, Sasha Allen went onto Hair and The Voice, among many other people – it was a remarkably talented group of people with brightly shining stars working on that postage stamp stage. When the revisal of Bare opened at New World Stages, just down the hall from where the show was supposed to land in 2004, I was excited. Nervous, but excited... and incredibly anxious to revisit the show. I honestly and truly walked in ready and wanting to love it...

I won't go into details HERE (ask me elsewhere, send a PM) of my complete thoughts on the revisions to Bare, but I left deflated. I always knew and felt that the show needed delicate work and fine tuning, that a few characters would benefit from being deepened and explored, and some of that happened, but what they did was fundamentally change the show. They changed the themes, they changed the CORE. It was no longer a high school soap opera-heightened (isn't ALL high school a soap opera?) exploration of these teenagers' struggle to grow into adulthood and be themselves while stretching the seams of the church and the heavy restrictions placed on them by its structure; it was transformed into a public service announcement about the dangers of peer bullying and modern technology as a destructive tool of vengence and that we can not hide from that technology.

I instantly knew what the 'new' show was missing. It was missing the fundamental building block of Bare. It was missing the work, the story, and the heart of Damon Intrabartolo.

It is no real secret that Damon battled demons in his life. It is no secret that he was a brilliant composer and a notoriously difficult person to work with and that he seemed to HATE true collaboration and giving up absolute controlof his work, no matter which work it was. Look at the early production history of Bare and the behind the scenes DVD of the show with the studio cast recording... they openly SAY that Damon was difficult to work with a lot of times. Nevertheless, what made the original versions of Bare the cult classics that they are, that gives the show the legacy and soul that it has, was and IS Damon Intrabartolo.

Cliché though it is, I am thankful for him and what he created, the memories and the people that he brought to me through his work and I am grateful that in that dingy theatre in 2004, I was able to see Damon conduct and play keyboard in his show, his baby.. and I sincerely hope that the show is revisited, that it is honed, and polished and celebrated and that his spirit is never washed from the storytelling in it again. Because it is special.

So, thanks, Damon. Thanks and godspeed.

Updated On: 8/18/13 at 04:27 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 5:56am

Thanks, BroadwayGuy.

[mar6411]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 7:11am

Wow. Beautiful broadwayguy2. These kinds of posts are why I keep coming back to the board. Thank you.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 7:19am

"I'm sorry that the man died, but it doesn't even hint at why he died.

Is it your business?

g.d.e.l.g.i. STFU.

If you have nothing to add, don't comment. Is it my business? It's news that he died. It's incomplete news not to know the reason why a 39 year old man died.

Your comment is so typical of those on this board. Commenting just to make yourself heard.
Pompous ass."

Sorry but I'm with g.d.e.l.g.i. on this one. I am sorry that you feel that the news is incomplete, but it really isn't any of your business. Also, as mentioned, no one may have the exact cause pinpointed yet. When (and if) the family decides to release a statement on a cause of death, I am sure you will hear about it. For now, seriously, have some respect for the family's privacy. Don't get so defensive when others call you out on your question, because it really makes you look like the pompous ass, not g.d.e.l.g.i.

Updated On: 8/18/13 at 07:19 AM

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 9:36am

Broadway Guy,

A beautiful post.

Thank you for sharing.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 2:09pm

Thank you guys.

It sounds foolhardy to some for me to say, or perhaps like a 16 year old Renthead, but I can't help but believe that I was completely meant to discover the show when I did and see it HOW I did. I have never been gifted with a trip like that before or since. There was no logical reason for me to think I would have any way to see this show - in person at least, and it all happened last minute, but the pieces fell perfectly into place.

That night, Adam Fleming and John Hill asked me when I was moving to New York. I hadn't thought of when yet, but I just blurted out a deadline for myself. Know what? I moved here before that deadline? And my first week here (in 2005), I had dinner at 44 & X with people I met on the cancellation line and who were seated around me.

I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of shows. Good, bad, mediocre, brilliant and everything in between. In opera houses, arenas, Broadway theatres, basements, etc. There is a very small handful of shows - of varying quality - that, for whatever reason, struck me to my core in the way that Bare did. The vast majority of people in that small house, you could sense, felt much the same.

Bare, as conceived by Damon Intrabartolo, defied logic and expectation and pulled audiences in and stayed in their minds and hearts when the show was nowhere to be found. Even through its revisions as HE supervised, it stayed that way... it stayed true to the story he felt he had to tell... and audiences loved it. Casts loved it.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 3:25pm

I see. Well, there goes that line of speculation. uncageg, you seem to hint at knowing why he didn't participate. Not to derail the thread, but may I ask why?

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! Updated On: 8/18/13 at 03:25 PM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 3:40pm

What Carlos said.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 3:45pm

He was kind enough to respond privately when I fully expected a brush-off. There's a difference, not just in wording but in attitude, between "May I..." and "TELL ME!" that maybe you guys need to learn.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 3:52pm

What you need to learn is to stop being a damn hypocrite...and an assh0le.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 4:56pm

Have you tried looking in the mirror, honey? Most everyone's mad here.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 5:07pm

Speak for yourself, "dear". You're a waste of internet bandwith.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 6:51pm

A request? Out of respect for Damon Intrabartolo, can the bickering please be taken to pm?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/18/13 at 11:15pm

^ agree

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 8/19/13 at 12:09am

I'm all for it. I didn't seek out this fight, but should he choose to continue it in PM (or learn to spell bandwidth properly, for that matter), I'm not turning the other cheek now that it's on.

[FlowerChild67]

Posted: 8/19/13 at 4:22am

I'm a little late in learning of his passing, but: this is so sad, especially with how young he was... He was brilliant, and I had looked forward to seeing what else he would do, both original shows and changes to bare. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 8/19/13 at 10:58am

broadwayguy--

Thanks so much for sharing your story. It's given me the desire to share as well.

I discovered Bare a year after the ATA production, upon my graduation from a conservative, Catholic high school. I couldn't believe it-- I had finally found my story. No film, play, song, or album had ever hit so close to home, and I knew others had to experience it.

After a couple years, as soon as the rights became available, a few friends and I fought hard for months to mount a production at our college-- and we ended up becoming the first to produce Bare.

Following our production, going through the typical post-show slump, I couldn't help but send a random message to Damon on Facebook, not expecting any reply, but just thanking him for sharing his work and story with those of us who had similar religious, high school experiences.

To my complete shock, I received a message from him the very next morning:

"Thank you so much for your message, I am overwhelmed by your production's loyal and faithful support. I have heard others sing your praises, and that was only for a 7 performance run. You thank me for the experience, but you really gave this experience to yourself. So don't be thanking me all that much :)
Thank you again for this.
-Damon"

I keep a copy of his message with my program, and I will forever treasure it.