Rock musical `bare' to make Bay Area bow
Producer Randy Taradash announced today that the off-Broadway hit bare will have its Bay Area premiere in 2009 in a San Francisco theater to be determined."I'm thrilled that Bay Area audiences will finally get to see one of the most exciting and moving musicals in recent years," Taradash said in a statement. "bare's crackling pop- and rock-based score, as well as its incredibly relevant and emotional story, is made for San Francisco audiences."With music by Damon Intrabartolo and book and lyrics by Jon Hartmere, bare is set in a co-ed Catholic high school and explores the realities today's teens are faced with: sexuality, coming out, drug abuse, body image issues, acceptance by their peers, the church and their family.The show began life in Los Angeles in 2000 then sold out its five-week run off-Broadway and there was talk about heading to Broadway, but the transfer never happened.Since its inception, bare has developed a legion of followers who keep their love for the show alive virally on sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. Last year, a studio recording, "bare, the album," was released and sold out the first day it was available on www.barethealbum.com. The recording was released on iTunes this month."We are building the bare-sf.com website as an interactive hub so that audiences can be a part of the exciting process of creating the San Francisco production of bare from the ground up. From casting to set designs artist blogging to rehearsals and beyond, the many fans of bare that have been waiting for a large-scale production will have a front-row seat to the experience through bare-sf.com. The best way to keep up-to-date is to sign up at www.bare-sf.com for announcements on all things bare."The San Francisco production will be directed by Stafford Arima, who helmed the still-running off-Broadway hit Altar Boyz. He also directed Ragtime in London's West End and Leonard Bernstein's Candide for the San Francisco Symphony.For information about bare, visit www.bare-sf.com.