Bare The Musical was performed in concert at the London Palladium.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
Cult favourite musical Bare hit the London Palladium stage in a concert production celebrating the rock opera which turns 25 years old next year. The show is still little known in the UK, although previous Fringe productions in London have helped to grow a loyal fanbase. Having previously been reworked in the mid-2000s from the sung-through Bare: A Pop Opera to the more book-based Bare – The Musical, the concert delivered the original format, sung through by a stellar cast of West End talent.
Laurie Kynaston played Peter, a gay teen hopelessly in lock with closeted jock Jason (Jordan Luke Gage), who wants to tell the world about their relationship, much to Jason’s horror and panic. Peter’s mum Claire (Cassidy Janson) believes they are friends and nothing more, refusing to allow any dialogue with her son that could suggest otherwise.
Peter and Jason continue to hide their relationship from their social group, including Jason’s sister Nadia (Katie Ramshaw) and good-time-girl Ivy (Frances Mayli McCann), each also dealing with aspects of their turbulent adolescence in secret. As Peter’s need for honesty and freedom pushes Jason further away and into the arms of Ivy, heartbreak and tragedy await our struggling teens as they try to navigate their way to finding out who they’re really meant to be.
Concerts such as these are a great way to bring lesser-known titles to a musical theatre audience who are always hungry to find new shows to explore. Musically Bare is a real winner, with the score (composed by the late Damon Intrabartolo) being a powerful and emotive mix of angst-driven ballads and rock with deceptively simple melodies that become intricate earworms and reward the listener with repetition. The lyrics (by Jon Hartmere) are poetic and insightful, really exploring the characters’ pain and points of view, and helping us get to know them better. The musical has the feel of Spring Awakening and Rent, and fans of those shows and similar ’90s and ’00s rock-infused musicals will find a lot to enjoy in the richness of the score.
The book (by both Intrabartolo and Hartmere) tackles a lot of sensitive subjects and goes to some darkly powerful places, with likeable-if-flawed characters depicted with realism and empathy. Act II does turn bleak, and could do with more light to balance out the shade. It’s the sort of show that teens will gravitate towards and really relate to, finding parallels with their own adolescent experiences, and the story could do more to reassure anyone struggling that brighter days are coming. A musical such as this could be a very cathartic and life-affirming experience, and the book should reflect this, ending on a stronger note of hope rather than the uncertainty it currently leaves us with.
While the concert was a great showcase for the score and the performers, the production itself was underwhelming. Dean Johnson’s direction was very static and one-dimensional, hardly allowing the show any sense of life or dynamic movement. While it’s fully appreciated that this was a concert performance, it could still have been presented in a more dynamic way to make it more engaging and feel less amateurish. The staging had no real sense of personality or identity (a key theme of the show itself), and failed to deliver the gravity of its themes. A very detailed list of trigger warnings kicked off the performance, the power of which never really came through, although Act II did a better job of digging deeper.
The production was also plagued by a multitude of missed sound and lighting queues, which are fast becoming the biggest frustration of these concert performances. Often, these titles are new to audiences, used to test the water and gauge interest in future performances, but this really doesn’t work if audiences can’t hear what is being said. With the show being mostly sung-through, many key lines and plot points were inaudible, which will have been hugely confusing and frustrating to anyone new to the show. With producers charging hefty ticket prices for these one-off events, they have a responsibility to the material and the audience to deliver it professionally, which was somewhat lacking here.
Technical shortcomings aside, the cast did a fantastic job in their performances. Jordan Luke Gage was as charming as ever and sang at his usual effortless standard, though the material gave him little chance to really cut loose and deliver that raw edge we know he’s so great at. Laurie Kynaston was far better as Peter, heart-breaking in every solo and effectively conveying a young man in turmoil.
Likewise Katie Ramshaw also gave a star-making turn as Nadia, full of attitude and stage presence while also shining in the quieter moments. Claudia Kariuki very nearly stole the show as sassy Sister Chantelle (and Virgin Mary turned disco diva), and Cassidy Janson was also excellent in the minor role as Peter’s mother, sharp-tongued early on and then delivering Act II ballad ‘Warning’ with a quietly emotive power. Ed Larkin as Matt was somewhat less successful, and though he was an absolute delight to watch in recent hit The Little Big Things, he felt miscast here and vocally underpowered.
It was great to see a lesser-known show like Bare playing the legendary Palladium stage, and it was a reminder of what a strong emotionally-charged musical it is. Sadly its power was diminished in its soulless direction and technical mis-steps, but we hope it gets to have another life on our stages soon, to really show the power that lies within it.
Rob Bartley
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