Stafford Arima (an Olivier Award nominee for London's Ragtime, and director of Off-Broadway's hit Altar Boyz) will stage the musical that was seen in a popular run in Los Angeles and a five-week Off-Broadway production. The busy Arima is new to the project, which has a growing fan base due in part to the 2007 release of a three-disc world-premiere recording (now also on iTunes).

The original show has music by Damon Intrabartolo and lyrics by Jon Hartmere. They share book credit.

No San Francisco theatre or casting have been announced for bare.

According to production notes, "bare is set at a co-ed Catholic high school and explores the realities today's teens are often faced with — sexuality, coming out, drug abuse, body image issues, acceptance by their peers, the Church and their family. With an exuberant cast of 15, bare is one of the rare musicals today not based on pre-existing material and features an eclectic score that draws on a variety of styles of contemporary music."

"I'm thrilled that Bay Area audiences will finally get to see one of the most exciting and moving musicals in recent years," stated Taradash. "bare's crackling pop- and rock-based score, as well as its incredibly relevant and emotional story, is made for San Francisco audiences." Director Arima stated, "bare is one of those great works of theatre that resonates today as powerfully as it did when it first premiered in 2000. I am so excited that bare will be finding a home in San Francisco — a town whose grand spirit continues to inspire, and where artists and their art continue to thrive."

"Damon and I always felt that San Francisco was a natural home for bare," stated co-writer and lyricist Hartmere. "We're excited about this production, especially given the caliber of the creative team."

The musical won multiple Los Angeles theatre awards (2001 Ovation Award, 2001 Backstage Garland Award, 2001 LA Drama Critics Circle Award, LA Weekly Award for Best Original Score & Best Musical).

Commercial producers were poised to take the show to an open-ended Off-Broadway life in fall 2004 after its popular five-week run in spring 2004, but decided against going forward. Observers saw the show as a crafty cousin to the Broadway rock musical Rent, and its theme of teen-age emotional turbulence would prefigure the later, Tony-winning alt-rock musical Spring Awakening.

Fans of the show are on MySpace and Facebook, and clips are available on YouTube.

A website, bare-sf.com, is being built "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."

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Producer Taradash celebrated his ninth year as the manager of audience development and promotions at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater (ACT). An active member of the San Francisco Bay Area arts scene for over 18 years, his promotional and press events for ACT have received national coverage. Through ACT, he has produced special-events that have featured Betty Buckley, Josh Charles, Peter Coyote, Olympia Dukakis, Eve Ensler, Marianne Faithfull, Kiki & Herb, Anika Noni Rose, Ruban Santiago-Hudson, Bruce Vilanch, and more. The success of his Out with ACT series has made him a leader in LGBT marketing in the Bay Area.