BARE: A Pop Opera

[MichaelDendy]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 4:11pm

I personally have fallen deeply in love with this show and would love to see it come back to Broadway with Matt Doyle in the cast as Peter again. What do you guys think about this show?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 4:24pm

I love Matt Doyle. I'm not convinced that this show will ever make it to Broadway, but I hope it does. It needs a very passionate creative producer and director.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 4:32pm

It is being prepared for a NY reading. (I don't have details, but only know they have just begun rehearsals for it.)

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 4:44pm

What it needs is realistic casting. What's up with all the NYC productions casting only freakishly pretty people? Do these guys look like people you knew in high school? It really diminishes the material's most valuable asset -- its authenticity. For my money, it really short-circuits the authenticity of the story when the characters don't look like kids in a high school but instead look like they stepped out of an Abercrombie and Fitch ad.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 4:53pm

Since when is eye candy a bad thing? There were a few Abercrombie looking guys at my high school. As long as they can sing the score I don't think someone should be disqualified for looking too sexy. That's just reverse discrimination.

[Nettik]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 4:56pm

I'd personally prefer to look at eye candy over non-eye candy, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. Just look at television casting. How many "ugly" people are on television? (Besides personal preference, that is.)

I love this show and I'd love to see it come back to NYC, but off-Broadway. I think it's a show that would get lost in a large venue.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 5:14pm

Yeah, what's wrong with you? People aren't interested in confronting truth through art.

We live in the G.D. world every day. Why see it when we go to the theater?

Why cast actors who are reasonable analogs to the people we encounter in daily life? Who are you, Lars von Trier?

You think average-looking actors are having trouble finding work? PUH-LEAZE! If that were true, where were Peter MacNicol be?

There's no value or potential for learning or growth in self-reflection. Escapism is where it's at, and anyone who tells you differently could really do with a large, buttery popcorn, a Doris Day movie, and a cigarette, none of which are bad for you because they all feel soooooooooooooooooo good!

Also, they're a liar.

Updated On: 10/26/11 at 05:14 PM

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 7:21pm

When I saw Godspell on Sunday, I spent the majority of the performance thinking about how much I would like to see Hunter Parrish as Jason. I think he'd be great in the role.

Posted: 10/26/11 at 7:57pm

themysteriousgrowl your brilliant post made my day

I think it makes sense to have some "pretty people" in the cast--for Jason that seems to be one of his traits anyway.

While a flawed show, I think it does deserve more life--but I think off-Broadway really is the best place for it. They probably would have to update some of it--even back then the rave stuff came off as out of date, but... Wasn't there some convulated reason why its initial brief off Broadway run didn't lead to anything more? I wasn't really paying attention to it back then...

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 9:07pm

I personally have fallen deeply in love with this show and would love to see it come back to Broadway with Matt Doyle in the cast as Peter again. What do you guys think about this show?

It has to be on Broadway before you can see it back on Broadway.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/26/11 at 9:11pm

The cast for the new reading is almost as attractive as the NY Off-Broadway originals.

[harmonyfye]

Posted: 10/27/11 at 2:39am

The show certainly does have an incredibly passionate producer/team attached to it. They have been working and re-working this show for years. I'm sure it will pay off and address the slight flaws from the original production. Whatever happens, they really can't lose as long as they get that beautiful score on a stage with some killer vocal pipes, cute faces or not.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 10/27/11 at 2:58am

themysteriousgrowl,

Sorry, but that's the silliest, shallowest view of art I've heard in a long time. People don't watch movies or TV or theatre to escape; they do it for connection. There's a big difference.

If escapism were really the only thing people wanted, why are all the most popular, most enduring musicals in history the serious ones? Why are the most popular, most enduring plays the great tragedies of Shakespeare and the dramas of Ibsen, Chekhov, Miller, Williams, O'Neill, etc.? Escapism can be pleasant, but it's not satisfying.

If people aren't interested in finding truth in art, then why is that where we always find it?

Posted: 10/27/11 at 4:15am

gvendo, I'm pretty sure Mister Growl was being *dead on serious*. As to your reply, c'mon, the only reason people go to Tennessee Williams is to gaze at his famously, usually shirtless, "primitive males".

Harmony, I agree with you cute faces aren't that important--because the auditions should be held as close to nude as possible, with the main criteria a look and physique much like you'd find in an A&F catalogue. I mean it's called Bare, right? you can't mislead your audience.

[LuvUrBatBoy]

Posted: 10/27/11 at 1:47pm

What this show needs is some editing and a clearer/less truncated finale. Hopefully the reading will present a book that is much more cohesive than previous versions.

*SPOILER ALERT*
The ending is far too vague regarding the overdose versus suicide, and Act 2 as a whole is way too melodramatic.

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/27/11 at 2:08pm

LuvUr, that ending is what I really think needs to be cleaned up.

***SPOILER***

He drinks really fast from the bottle and then everything just, moves fast and bango, he is dead. I just think they should put a bit more emphasis on why he does it or have a scene devoted to him taking it. I mean, we kind of know why he does it but maybe give him a song to sing as he is deciding to do it. JMO

Posted: 10/27/11 at 5:24pm

He dies of an overdose of G right? Which obviously happens--but usually only happens when mixed with alcohol. I know they try to set it up with the little rap about G by the drugdealer earlier on, but I agree with these comments. I do find the mix of his bluring of reality and death during the ball scene from R&J effective, but much about the stuff surrounding it isn't. And melodrama works for the piece in general--it's a teen agnsty piece, but it goes a bit too far at some points in Act II.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/27/11 at 7:14pm

If anybody's never heard the versions of the songs from the original sampler, they're here:
http://www.myspace.com/baremusical

[Nettik]

Posted: 10/28/11 at 10:51am

I'm hoping that if brought back to NYC, the show is trimmed a little bit. As much as I love the piece, there are a few numbers that I think drag the show down as a whole. "Birthday, Bitch!" and "911 Emergency" in particular. (Both have their place in the show, but I always find myself tuning both numbers out.) I also don't really like the way Act II opens with "Wedding Bells."

That said, the music in this show is some of my favorite from contemporary theatre.

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/28/11 at 10:04pm

I own the studio recording. Actually Damon sent me a copy after it wasn't available. But I am so glad I own that original sampler. I also grabbed a handful of the original postcards.

Updated On: 10/28/11 at 10:04 PM

[massofmen]

Posted: 10/29/11 at 12:22pm

funny that Kristin Hangii, who was the original director and now has a tony nomination from ROA, isn't directing. maybe she is busy?

[MichaelDendy]

Posted: 11/2/11 at 12:42pm

Wow! I feel that "Wedding Bells" is a quite powerful song in the show. Along with the other 2 you mentioned. "Birthday, Bitch" not powerful but just hilarious and helps define Ivy. Opinions are opinions though.

Replying to the "pretty actor" thing. Built into this show are characters who are not pretty and Peter and Jason both must be pretty and sexy because the roles call for it. Jason who is spoke about in a song as being gorgeous and since Jason has fallen for Peter, gay rules state he is pretty as well, in this world at least, because Jason is quite vain and would not want to be associated with an ugly guy - Just saying.

All this is simply my own opinion of the show.

[fade2black2]

Posted: 11/2/11 at 4:58pm

Anybody here see (or know someone that has seen) the latest reading with the new cast? Would love to hear some feedback.

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/2/11 at 5:06pm

The original NY production was almost a decade ago, and is not connected to the current reading. Why is it weird that the same director isn't still involved?

[MichaelDendy]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 12:13pm

I would like to hear how the readings went as well. I'm seriously going to fly to NYC for opening night if it comes to Broadway or even off broadway!