Bri BAREs...Again: My thoughts on the new production of "Bare"

           

In the summer of 2009, I was lucky enough to direct an amazing production of the “pop opera” bare, written by Damon Intrabartolo and Jon Hartmere at the Hart House Theatre. Previously, the show had been produced professionally only in LA and New York and both versions were very different from each other. The 2009 Toronto staging was based on the concept album that was released a few years after the off-Broadway production and was yet another incarnation of the same show. In a letter from the writers, it was stated that through all the changes that had been made to the show, this was the definitive version.

Wade Muir and Graham Parkhurst in the 2009 Toronto production of "bare."

Though the Canadian premiere featured some truly amazing performances from a young cast and was very well received by audiences and critics alike, there was a centralized negative criticism that focused on the writing. I have to add a disclaimer here; most of the other criticisms included problems with our sound design, which was mostly a budget issue (a problem that can account for many of the shows weaker points). Jon Kaplan from NOW Magazine said, “[The] young cast works hard under Brian Gregory-Waters’ direction, their singing sometimes more impressive than their acting. This is partly a script problem…the second act stretches the narrative too thin and some characters are merely sketched in.” Mark Andrew Lawrence of BroadwayWorld.com wrote, “…the book occasionally dips to the level of TV soap operas and the music sometimes lacks variety, the performances carry this production.”

Let’s fast forward to 2012 and Bare: The Musical opens in New York City at the New World Stages. I was lucky enough to be in the audience during the very brief run (previews began in November and the closing date is set for this Sunday) and I was in absolute awe of what I saw.  When I first entered the theatre and was affronted by the set, my first thought was, “wow…it’s way uglier than the Toronto set” (at Hart House it consisted of a simple black riser and some steps but was crowned by four gorgeous stain glass murals designed and illustrated by Miles Pasik). The set at the New World Stages was essentially the same, however it was completely decoupaged with thousands of tiny photographs. Perhaps I was sitting way too close to appreciate the visual impact that it had, but I found it slightly jarring and it reminded me of a lamp my mother tried really hard to make happen during her foray into decoupage. However, the mom-craftiness of its appearance aside, it was very well used and probably one of the most functional static sets I’ve ever seen.

The next thing that struck me was that this show, which was once a completely sung-through “opera,” started off with a very simple monologue from Peter, the show’s protagonist (played beautifully by Taylor Trensch), which reveals right off the top that someone dies. With such a small cast, it isn’t much of a mystery that the other protagonist, Jason (played by Jason Hite) is going to bite it. This is followed by the brand new opening number “Million Miles from Heaven” which replaces the uber-dramatic dream sequence “Epiphany” in the original score. The new number is fantastic and the energetic cast delivers a full-out song and dance number that brings us back to the beginning of the story when Peter and Jason are secretly hiding out (half-naked, might I add) in Jason’s bedroom.

Taylor Trensch completely re-invents the character of Peter with the help of a brand new script written for this production. In the previous version, Peter is suffering right from the top of the show because of his secret relationship with Jason and the strictures of the Catholic Church. His songs are mainly sad ballads about confusion and love. In the new version, Peter doesn’t seem to really care about the church’s view and is mainly concerned with helping Jason come to terms with his sexuality. Trensch plays up the comedy and awkwardness and the audience falls in love with his charm within minutes.

Taylor Trensch and Jason Hite in the current New York production.

It is Jason who bares the brunt of the burdens in this show. He is struggling to come to terms with his sexuality, keeping his relationship with Peter a secret from his jock friends who talk in homophobic slurs and bully the other students, and his sister, Nadia (Barrett Wilbert Weed), an ironic drug-dealer. He is still the golden boy of the school who tries to overcome his deviant sexuality by sleeping with Ivy (Elizabeth Judd). That is basically it in terms of plot in the new version, but it is absolutely enough. The storyline of Nadia dealing with her weight and self-esteem has been cut, along with the scenes with Peter’s mother and his coming out. The story focuses primarily on Jason’s journey and the supporting characters are simply that, serving only the purpose of advancing the plot.

The most noticeable change was the role of the nun. In previous productions, including the Toronto production, the role of “Sister Chantelle” is played by a sassy, black woman with a powerhouse voice that brings down the house. In Toronto, the role was played by Nichola Lawrence, who literally stopped the show every night with her Gospel number “God Don’t Make No Trash.” In the new production, the nun’s name is “Sister Joan” and was played by film actress Missi Pyle, a slender, blonde, white woman. It was a huge risk, but “Trash” was completely cut from the score and replaced by a quieter, more sincere song called “You Are Not Alone.” The story ends the same way it always has, Jason is unable to come to terms with his sexuality and cannot deal with all the people he has hurt in his attempt at leading the perfect life, not to mention being told by the priest that his life is sinful, and so he overdoses on some drugs, dying in Peter’s arms.

This show was a completely different experience than the one I have come to know so closely. For a time, bare was my entire life. I am still being introduced in the theatre community as “the guy who directed bare” and I still have recurring nightmares dealing with the show itself. The production I saw in New York was not the bare that I have come to know, but at the same time, it was a purer, simpler and more honest bare and because of that, it was a great deal more effective in relaying the message of hope that was always at the heart of the story.

I hope that there never is a “definitive version” of bare. I hope that it continues to always change and stays current. There is no more rave scene in the show (which was written in 2000, when raves were cool[?]) but there is bullying, and social media now plays a huge part in Jason’s outing. Maybe one day bare will end with Jason and Peter surviving because teen suicide, bullying and intolerance will be things of the past and will no longer be relevant. 

Director Bri[an Gregory] Waters, being adorable.

Writing is hard.

Writing is hard.

I am trying so hard to finish my play right now. I have a lot of scenes written and I know what I want to write, the plot, where the characters end up, but I have no idea where to start. I tend to write tangents and then have to go back and edit them down.

Frustrating!

Its weird because this play is about me. Its about things that happened either to me or close friends. I know what happened, I was there. But do you think I can write about it? Nope! My dialogue sounds like this:

Man 1: Hello.
Man 2: Oh, hey. What's up?
Man 1: Not too much.
Man 2: Hey remember that time...(insert exposition).
Man 1: As a matter of fact, I do remember that. Funny! Bye!!

Great scene.

Anyway, hopefully this thing writes itself after I drink a bottle of wine. Maybe there will be a reading soon. Who knows.

It is true what they say though, turning pain into literature is such a super way of getting over it. Some of the crap I've been through is hilarious when looked at from another perspective. I couldn't write some of this stuff, too unreal and if it hadn't happened to be, I would call it bullshit.

Every Little Step

Hey hey!

I just watched the documentary "Every Little Step" with my best friend Chris. We were going to go to "Alice in Wonderland in 3D" but it was raining and cold so it didn't take much to convince us to rent something and make cookies.

Anyway, I highly recommend that anyone who has ambitions to be a musical theatre performer watch this film. It was very eye-opening. HUGE reality check. The performers auditioning for "A Chorus Line" on Broadway were so amazingly talented and still getting turned away. That's what was really disturbing. I know I personally have a lot of work to do to be as good as the least talented person in this film - and that sucks! A lot of the hopeful auditioners had the same thing to say, "I was born to do this!" or "I've dreamed of being on Broadway since I was a little kid." Not only that, but their parents wanted them to be on Broadway too and enrolled them in dance classes when they were four!

Now, I started taking dance when I was twelve and then quit and then got back into it last year. Needless to say, I kinda suck (well, I'm better off than some people I've worked with, which still isn't encouraging.) Just to think that I might be auditioning with people who have been dancing as long as I've been alive, is some seriously scary shit!

Toronto isn't quite Broadway. I understand that. But if you have seen some Toronto musicals (real ones, not American national tours that Mirvish brings in so they don't have to employ Canadian talent), you tend to see the same few faces again and again. This is because in Toronto it isn't about who you know, its about who knows your work. If you haven't had any work, no one knows you and you never work! Its like the circle of death.

Then, I remembered I also had the opportunity to watch a documentary last week about the Toronto production of "The Toxic Avenger." They sort of followed the show's two leads, stage veteran and my hero, Louis Pitre and newcomer Evan Alexander Smith. It was so encouraging to see someone like Evan break into the theatre scene in a huge way. Playing the lead in a show which also featured big-wigs like Pitre (who was Tony nominated for originating the role of Donna in "Mamma Mia!"), Jamie McKnight (who was one of the Canadian Tenors) and Peter Deiwick (who's abs have been in, like, every Mirvish show, ever), must have been nerve-wracking, but he did it and he was amazing. Not once did he look out of place up there with those seasoned performers. Landing a job like that straight out of theatre school is everyone's dream, and look!, it happens!!

I guess the moral of the story is, just keep doing what you do. Hope to God you're good at it. Pray someone sees you doing it. Then hope that person is a major casting director or agent.

In the meantime, I'm going to eat the rest of this unused cookie dough and step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch, turn, turn, out, in, jump, step, step, kick, kick, leap, kick, touch down the hall a few times for good measure. God I hope I get it.

The "new" BMT

I'm not sure how I feel right now. It's been six months since the Canadian premiere of Bare closed and I have been fairly busy doing some theatre since.

In September, I was added, last minute, to the cast of the remount of the Canadian premiere of Jerry Springer - The Opera. Because I'm sort of a musical theatre snob, I could appreciate the art behind the subject matter but not its execution or message. I pretty much did the show so I could meet some people and sing some pretty songs. I succeeded in doing both of these things, so the experience wasn't a total loss.

Then, I was thrown into the original Canadian cast of High Fidelity: the Musical which was a great experience, though I'm not too sure the show was that good. I mean, it was good. People came to see it in droves but I didn't see it for myself and from what I hear, we did the best we could with shotty material.

Anyway, I'm writing this post because I'm feeling so overwhelmed with defeat. I just read a review of Urinetown by a professor who I truly respect as an artist. This show is being staged by a company called BMT, which I founded and Artistic Directed from 2005-2008. For four years I ate, slept and shat this company and made it in to something amazing. The whole point of this company was to create another opportunity for artistic growth in the students at Brock. It was completely self-sufficient and was completely staffed and run by students. We had some great shows and some not-so-great shows, but we always had a good time.

When I graduated and started attending Sheridan, the students at Brock took control of the company and kept it going. Urinetown is the second show that BMT has done without me and I am so proud of everything these students have accomplished. I remember having to fight tooth and nail to make this company succeed, raise money, find rehearsal space, negotiate performance rights and on top of all of that, direct the show! I had no idea what I was doing when I started, but decided just to dive on in. If you know me, you know I don't do anything in a small way, so the first show I decided to do was Jesus Christ Superstar. This is a show that some seasoned theatre companies stay away from, simply because it is a huge undertaking, expensive and vocally demanding. Though our staging of this musical could possibly go down in history as one of the worst ever (though my mother still says this was her favourite of all my shows), we still put on a show and didn't give up. Since then, I directed Tommy (a production people are still talking about) and High School Musical (which I wish people would stop talking about because it was pretty terrible).

The reason I preface with a summary of what I did while at Brock is this: never once did I think this was going to be a competition for best staging of a musical. I would simply choose a show I thought would be fun and did it. I wish I would have known that five years later a phrase like this would enter a review,

"This is BMT's most successful show to date of the ones I've seen, with reduced numbers on stage leading to more controlled and clean stages images as well as much more effective storytelling...With their new off-campus digs, one gets a sense of this being a producing organization beginning to grow into their own. My challenge to the group: either find as interesting a musical as Urinetown for next year, or write your own. Please don't lapse back into the ever so cheesy and un-ironized american musicals: successfully tackling a piece like Urinetown is a testament to your creative and critical intelligence."

Perhaps Urinetown is the company's best show to date. It might very well be. It is directed by Spencer Smith who I have worked with and have come to know as a first-rate peformer, writer and all-around intelligent theatre practicioner. I will be the first to admit that he has entered this show with much more knowledge and know-how than I had when I first helmed Superstar.

However, I don't think this should ever have been a competition. Why didn't anyone tell me that this little thing I was doing for fun was going to end up tarnishing my name for years to come. Yes, High School Musical was a bad show, but does that make it okay to say, "This show wasn't great, but at least it wasn't as bad as Brian's High School Musical." Why compare the new with the old? If I had known this were the case, I would have tried a little harder.

I was looking forward to seeing this production. Not to compare this show to mine, but to support my friends and see the amazing things BMT is accomplishing and how it has grown. But this article suggests I do something else. Should the gloves come off? Should I get defensive and critical?

I don't mean to sound bitter and jealous because these are not the things I am feeling. I owe my entire career as an artist to the work I did with BMT. This is where I was taught everything I know about theatre and I know that the students involved with the company today will take what they learned and do amazing things in the "real world." I do, however, feel as though the "challenge" set out by the reviewer shows he has missed the point. This company was not started in order to make it to Broadway or win a Dora award. It was simply to have some fun putting on a musical that you either never got to do or always wanted to do. Why judge? Maybe the next director wants to direct Hairspray. Is that not okay anymore?

I say it is. Do all the mainstream, fluffy, meaningless, cookie-cutter musicals you want! Do them badly!! But break your back doing them badly and suck every last bit of experience out of doing them. Learn everything to can doing these shows because when you're done and you're ready to direct something out in the world (like the Canadian premiere of Bare, perhaps [which got positive reviews from four out of five national publications]) you don't have that luxury. You have to be on your guard 100% of the time. This is when the gloves come off. This is when you get defensive and critical.

Theatre doesn't have to be cut-throat all the time. It can simply be a group of artists doing their best to put on a show and have fun at the same time. I hope the cast and crew of Urinetown had the time of their lives and did a lot of learning at the same time. I also hope that when I travel back to St. Catharines next year, I am not pummled by some pretentious peice of metaphorical darkness. Instead, I want to see something beautiful. Whether it be Mamma Mia or The Black Rider, I want to see young people having a great time and committing 100% to whatever it is.

The holidays are over...

This month I saw two films that totally rocked my world. The first was Milk, starring a remarkable Sean Penn. This movie really opened my eyes to what the gay community in America went through and are still going through in getting and maintaining their civil rights. From the opening montage of actual police footage of gay men being herded into the backs of cruisers to the recreation of some of Harvey Milk's most famous speeches, there was rarely a moment that I wasn't either outraged, encouraged or almost brought to tears. It is really depressing to think that even after 30 years, the gay population is still fighting for civil rights (Prop 8 anyone?). I feel extra luck to be living in a country that treats everyone (or at least mostly everyone) as equals. I know that Canada still has a ways to go and is not at all the perfect country but it is a damn good one and I am proud to be Canadian (we just need to work on our arts and media....it's a little sad).

Last night I saw Doubt with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The performances from Streep, Hoffman and Amy Adams were incredible and I highly recommend anyone (especially actors) to go see this movie. It's based on a play, so there are a lot of long scenes of dialogue, but they're executed so well that I didn't mind.

Yesterday morning I had an audition for a TV show for the Family/Disney channel. It is basically "Charles in Charge" only called something different. I read for "Blake" a rebellious teen who moves into a woman's home to take care of her kids. I don't think it went well, but the little kid I read with was amazing. I wish I was as good and funny and smart as him when I was six! I can't wait to see what he does!

Tomorrow I'm back to school after a month's break. I am not ready to go back and don't want to start being not-lazy. We'll see what happens.

One Word

My friend Fiona sent this to me and I thought it might be fun...

USING ONLY ONE WORD

Not as easy as you might think! It's really hard to only use one word answers.

Where is your cell phone? Floor

Your significant other? Imaginary

Your hair? Dry
Your mother? Cute

Your father? Quiet
Your favorite thing? iPod
Your dream last night? Hot
Your favorite drink? Whiskey
Your dream/goal? Theatre

What room are you in? Fort

Your hobby? Theatre

Your fear? Failure

Where do you want to be in 6 Yrs? NYC

Where were you last night? Date
Something that you aren't? Patient

Muffins? Elderly

Wish list item? iPhone

Last thing you did ? Facebook

What are you wearing? PJs

TV? Gone

Your pet? Cross-eyed
Friends? Missing
Your life? Busy

Your mood? Tired
Missing someone? Yes
Drinking? Water

Smoking? Nothing

Your car? Missing

Something you're not wearing? Bubblewrap

Your favorite store? TheatreBooks

Your favorite color? Blue

last time you cried? Milk
Who will resend this? Nobody
Where do you go to over and over? Sheridan(?)

Holidazed

So it's only been about two months since I last updated. To be honest, it's been a boring and busy couple of months, all at once. Boring in that I haven't done anything exciting because the "busy" mostly encompasses rehearsals, homework and the holidays.

My show went well, I suppose. I definitely dropped one of my fellow cast members when I was supposed to catch her in a trust fall. I'm pretty sure it was the first time she actually trusted me. Anyway, she learned a valuable lesson that day. Luckily, no one was injured (just our pride). The whole Winter Festival thing was a very valuable learning experience. I don't think a lot of actors can honestly say they had a paid performing gig right beside a herd of mooing cows and shared their stage with snakes and flying squirrels.

The holidays were good. I had to work three all-nighters at American Eagle, which kinda ruined Christmas Eve (I slept till 7pm, when I could have been spending time with the fam), but I didn't have to deal with any customers, who are at their worst behavior at Christmas. I also got Boxing day off, which was a godsend.

I don't really understand why people are so miserable during the holidays. I always thought that it was a time of joy and giving. But all my joy came from a bottle and the only thing I got was a headache and violent thoughts. It is very difficult to stay in the holiday spirit while working in retail. I'm a stock person, who rarely sees the sales floor, and even I was going nuts.

I think the best part of Christmas this year was a DVD my uncle made for everyone on my mom's side of the family. It was a compilation of home videos he had filmed since the '70s. I don't ever remember him having a camcorder, but the video showed my parents' wedding, my first Christmas, my brother's first Christmas, and pretty much every family get-together since we were babies. It was surreal. I love how excited I was at Christmas when I was a kid, before I had a VISA card, student debt and parking tickets.

Anyway, it's 2009 and I feel like the whole world is at my beck and call. One of my new years resolutions (besides the usual 'gain weight' and 'save money') is to read the Bible again. I read it once before, back when I was really into the church scene, and I'm interested on my interpretation of it now that I have a few more years' experience under my belt. This was triggered while I was at home for Christmas and going through some old boxes. I found my yearbooks and some old magazines, along with a box full of Bibles and Christian rock CDs. Needless to say, my iPod is a little more pack with Christian rock now. Oh, the memories.

Until next time...