Jon Hartmere News

For its second season, Refuge Theatre Project will continue its mission of showcasing the work of a new generation of musical theater writers. Company co-founders Ross and Morgan Glynn Egan announced today that the season will open with High Fidelity -- the musical based on Nick Hornby's 1995 novel and on Stephen Frears' 2000 feature-film adaptation that starred Chicago natives John Cusack, Joan Cusack and Lili Taylor.

The BroadwayWorld community is nothing if not vocal and yesterday's critical column revealing my top picks for the most important gay musicals of all time inspired many reactions in the feedback, on Facebook and on social media, ranging from 'I LOVE LOVE LOVE COCO' to 'No FUN HOME?' to 'Where's THE FAGGOT?' and far beyond. As with any list such as this, historical perspective is an essential element and a musical such as FUN HOME that has only been on Broadway mere months is obviously too new to truly assess insofar as its historical influence and impact on the overall legacy of gay musicals on Broadway in toto - going as far back as 1969's COCO and covering all the way up to 2013's KINKY BOOTS, as yesterday's list did. So, as a result, we are giving you more of what you asked for and sharing 10 more musicals that have been important to the gay movement, all of which cited in yesterday's column but not included on the actual top ten. What follows are my personal choices, so what are yours? Let us know and perhaps we will even need to do another list to shine a light on even more LGBT touchstones.

While some might complement Clandestine-Arts' production of BARE: A POP OPERA for its 'can-do' attitude, there's a difference between the type of youthful inexperience that leads to theater that is exciting and new, and the type of reckless abandon that is at best moderately amusing and at worst incredibly dangerous. That is to say, there's nothing wrong with upstart theater company Clandestine-Arts' creative vision of producing emotion-driven musicals with low budgets, but theater is an incredibly technical art form. Whether the venue is a Broadway 2,000 seater, a high school auditorium, or a hole in the hall black box in Adams Morgan, there is never an excuse for a production so shoddily put together that the audience can reasonably fear for the performers safety, as well as their own; especially not at the admission price Clandestine is charging. At the end of the day, what really seems to be lacking is a sense of adult supervision.

It is rare for a semi-professional or community show to come together as seamlessly as Utah Repertory Theater Company's BARE. It is a case of the right performers and right production team all sharing a personal passion for the material. They have created an exquisite production of a feel-everything musical. Joy, despair, laughter, and tears intermingle among characters and audience alike in a transcendent spiritual communion.

Ring in the holidays with a song for a good cause!

Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) just held its Sixth Annual New York City Christmas: A Concert to Benefit ASTEP, taking place last night, December 15 at Joe's Pub at The Public in New York City. Back by popular demand, the evening featured Broadway's most sought-after talent singing new and classic holiday songs. Two new special releases are now available for purchase: 'I Got All I Need (This Christmas)' an original song written by Lynne Shankel and Jon Hartmere sung by Lindsay Mendez (Wicked, Godspell, Everyday Rapture) and Derek Klena (The Bridges of Madison County, Wicked, Carrie, Dogfight) and a hip-hop version of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' (music by Shankel) sung by Aurelia Williams (Sistas, The Musical, Papermill's Once On This Island), Kenita Miller (Merrily We Roll Along, Ragtime) and Kay Trinidad (The Little Mermaid, Bare) based on the traditional poem. The two songs were recorded on Yellow Sound Label are available on iTunes and wherever digital music is sold. All proceeds go to benefit ASTEP.

Two new special releases will be performed and sold at Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) Sixth Annual New York City Christmas: A Concert to Benefit ASTEP, taking place tonight, December 15 at 9:30 PM at Joe's Pub at The Public in New York City. 'I Got All I Need (This Christmas)' performed by Lindsay Mendez and Derek Klena with music by Lynne Shankel and lyrics by Jon Hartmere and 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' performed by Aurelia Williams, Kenita Miller and Kay Trinidad with music by Shankel based on the traditional poem.

Two new special releases will be performed and sold at Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) Sixth Annual New York City Christmas: A Concert to Benefit ASTEP, taking place on Monday, December 15 at 9:30 PM at Joe's Pub at The Public in New York City. 'I Got All I Need (This Christmas)' performed by Lindsay Mendez and Derek Klena with music by Lynne Shankel and lyrics by Jon Hartmere and 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' performed by Aurelia Williams, Kenita Miller and Kay Trinidad with music by Shankel based on the traditional poem.

A one-night-only concert reunion with the Los Angeles revival cast of bare: A Rock Musical, was held Sunday, November 16th at 8PM at Rockwell: Table & Stage, one of LA's premiere live performance venues. Check out a look back below!

Tonight, Nov. 16, a one-night-only concert reunion with the Los Angeles revival cast of bare: A Rock Musical, will be held at 8PM at Rockwell: Table & Stage, one of LA's premiere live performance venues.

Tickets are now available for a one-night-only concert reunion with the Los Angeles revival cast of bare: A Rock Musical, to be held Sunday, November 16th @ 8PM at Rockwell: Table & Stage, one of LA's premiere live performance venues.

Stage actor Morgan Reynolds, who is currently reaping rave reviews for his portrayal of Carmen Ghia, the flamboyant assistant of untalented director Roger De Bris in Arizona Broadway Theatre's production of 'The Producers,' has recently released on YouTube his very own tribute to Broadway Musicals, titled 'Live YOUR Musical.'

Tonight, September 10, Evolution Theatre Company will bring to the stage the Columbus premiere of bare:A Pop Opera book by Jon Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo, music by Damon Intrabartolo, lyrics by Jon Hartmere.

On September 10, Evolution Theatre Company will bring to the stage the Columbus premiere of bare:A Pop Opera book by Jon Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo, music by Damon Intrabartolo, lyrics by Jon Hartmere. Through its pulsating rock score and emotionally charged story, bare has thrilled and moved audiences around the world. A contemporary rock musical, bare follows a group of teens wrestling with issues of identity, sexuality, and religion at a co-ed Catholic boarding school. Provocative, raw, and unyielding in its exploration of how today's generation navigates the tightrope between adolescence and adulthood, bare examines the consequences of baring a soul-or hiding it from those who matter most.

Home Grown Theatre and XS Lighting have created one of the first "Green Shows" using entirely LED lighting in Kansas City. Bare: A Pop Opera runs through Wednesday August 13 at the Goppert Theatre on the Avila University campus. Home Grown Theatre Company is a non-profit company run solely by students.

Currently on stage in the Sarratt Cinema at Vanderbilt University is the Circle Players' production of Bare: A Pop Opera. With a book, music, and lyrics by Jon Hartmere Jr and Damon Intrabartolo, Bare: A Pop Opera touches on so many things that young people are facing in today's world. The Circle Players' production, under the direction of Heather Alexander and with musical direction by Eddie Charlton, is the kind of show that I had so many mixed feelings about at first. The initial setting of the story is that which anyone who doesn't come from wealth can be annoyed by. Set in a Catholic boarding school, every child seems to have a life that most of us have never experienced. What starts to pull you in immediately is the thing that seemingly can't be avoided....the connections between these young people and our own lives. Each has something they are dealing with that seems so much bigger than with what they should have to deal.

Circle Players ends its 64th Season of shows with the edgy and socially relevant rock musical bare, A Pop Opera. The show deals with the gamut of issues faced by teens today-- sexuality, drug abuse, bullying, pregnancy and suicide-set in a religious school. For this production, Circle Players partners with Just Us @ Oasis Center, which provides support for high school students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ). Performances will be today, May 23-June 1, 2014, at Sarratt Cinema on the Vanderbilt University campus.

Circle Players ends its 64th Season of shows with the edgy and socially relevant rock musical bare, A Pop Opera. The show deals with the gamut of issues faced by teens today-- sexuality, drug abuse, bullying, pregnancy and suicide-set in a religious school. For this production, Circle Players partners with Just Us @ Oasis Center, which provides support for high school students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ). Performances will be May 23-June 1, 2014, at Sarratt Cinema on the Vanderbilt University campus.

New Vision Players' 'BARE: A POP OPERA' will play at the Fair Lawn Community Center in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and will be running from March 20th to March 23rd with five performances.

Still emotionally resonant more than a decade later, BARE - THE MUSICAL---the angst-fueled, hyper-melodramatic 'pop opera' written by Jon Hartmere Jr. and the late Damon Intrabartolo---continues its Orange County, California premiere performances at Theatre Out---the OC's Gay and Lesbian theatre company---through February 15 at its new home in the heart of Santa Ana's Artists' Village.