AK Soufflé: There’s no business

In many ways I am far from your average gay man. I do not go to the gym for a start and I seldom go to clubs and dance to impenetrable club sounds, they leave me absolutely cold. And as I have said on many occasions I am unlikely to be categorised by any of the standard gay tribes.

But in one respect I do confirm and I am unashamed to say that I love musical theatre, or at least some musical theatre. If you read my regular stage column here in Latest 7 you will have noticed that I am a fan of most forms of theatre but I really dislike so many of the new breed of juke box musicals.

What I like is a good strong book (the story for those not in the inner circle), great tunes and lyrics that have content, that progress the narrative and earned their place as a part of the whole.

Last week I was introduced to a show that had passed me by: Bare, a rock opera. Well my memories of rock operas go back to The Who and Tommy which in hindsight is a far better work than I once thought. Bare however is a far stronger piece of work that has so far only reached a very small audience both here in in its homeland the USA.

A show that had passed me by: Bare, a rock opera

On the show I had the director of a new production of this work, Conor Baum who works with Brief Hiatus. He brought with him two of the cast of this new production, Jamie and Nathan, and they sang a number from the show live in the studio. It was one of those spine tingling moments, not just for me but for the whole Latest team who happened to be around when they performed.

I loved having them there and I rushed home to download the entire soundtrack.

I am pleased to say that musically it is pretty impressive, through sung (ask a musical fan) and with a story that is emotionally charged. It is very much a rock piece with a hefty rock score underpinning the work but with some very good ballads to balance. Needless to say I am now on the edge of my seat looking forward to going along to see the show when it opens next month at One Church in Brighton. And if you want a taster then go to our website and our YouTube channel to get a preview and find out a little more about this company and their ambitious project. I am confident that they will more than deliver.

Bare
Book & Music by Damon Intrabartolo
Book & Lyrics by Jon Hartmere
July 6th – 15th, £17.50, Concessions £14
Tickets are available from bit.do/barebrighton