Bare: a Pop Opera Guide
Thank you so much for opening this up!! :-) Bare: a Pop Opera (which is... not actually an opera or pop) is a musical focusing on a gay couple--Peter and Jason--and their struggles in a homophobic Catholic boarding school. (No knowledge of Catholicism necessary!) Bare is a little over two hours long overall.
In this guide, I'll walk you through song-by-song, or, if you're only interested in the basic plot, through the plot-relevant songs! (I highly recommend listening to the whole soundtrack. The plot-relevant track will not include character development/exposition songs unless they are expressly important to the plot.) I'll include symbolism, any important tie-ins to previous songs, and so forth so you can get the whole experience! I'll also have character guides available so you can learn who they are before you jump in or so you can look back if you get confused on who's who.
Please message me on twitter (@queeenmab) if you have any questions at all, if you notice a mistake, or just wanna chat--I love talking about Bare and love talking to people!
One note--I don't recommend clicking the annotations given on the lyrics site I provide, since they often have spoilers. :( If you don't care about spoilers, though, go ahead!
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General Content Warnings:
Homophobia (General)Religion (10 songs)Underage Drug/Alcohol Usage (5 songs)Sexual References (4 songs)Slut-shaming (re:Ivy, all one-liners)Self-harm (1 song, mentioned in my summary but not in lyrics)
Spoiler Content Warnings (Click to see!)
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Spoiler Content Warnings:
Suicide (1 song)Drug overdose (1 song)Teenage pregnancy (Mentioned in 2 songs)Underage (Consensual) Sex (1 song)
Bare is a "tragic gays" play; there is not a happy ending, but I personally take a happy message from it.
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Epiphany
Content warnings: Homophobia.
Epiphany, the first song of Bare, is a dream sequence of a stereotypical mass which displays the homophobia of St. Cecilia's--the boarding school that the cast attends--and provides exposition regarding Peter's personality and childhood.
Trivia/Important Info:
Timothy, Romans Corinthians, and Leviticus are the four books in the Bible which condemn homosexuality.Catholic doctrine is to "love the sinner, hate the sin," not "hate the sinner, hate the sin," as it is in the song, displaying how severe the homophobia in St. Cecilia's is, or at least feels, to Peter.
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You & I
Content warnings: Sexual references.
You & I, the second song of Bare, is Jason's introduction song which provides exposition on the playful and free nature of Peter and Jason's relationship while also shedding light on their relationship's conflicts, such as about how open they should be about their relationship. It reveals both Jason's anxiety about coming out and Peter's desire to and shows that their relationship is a closely-held secret that nobody but them knows about.
Trivia/Important Info:
Jason favoring baseball over acting/dancing/singing shows his favoring of masculine activies over feminine ones, further revealing his fear of coming out--he's so scared of it that he doen't even want to partake in perceived "feminine" activities that could make him "look gay."Jason and Peter room together.
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role of a lifetime
Content warnings: Internalized homphobia.
Role of a Lifetime, the third song of Bare, features Peter agonizing over how he knows Jason's entire life and personality has been all one big act and that he rarely lets his true self slip through. Even worse, Peter recognizes that Jason wishes he could be straight and that living his life out with a "trophy bride" is his dream, and wonders what exactly he is to Jason.
Trivia/Important Info:
This song establishes a core part of Jason's personality as well as establishes his internalized homophobia.
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auditions
Auditions, the fourth song of Bare, are the literal auditions for the school's production of Romeo & Juliet, which the entire cast ends up participating in, including Jason, who decided just that morning to audition. Jason ends up casted as Romeo, Peter as Mercutio, Ivy as Juliet, Nadia as Juliet's nurse, and Matt as Tybalt.
Trivia/Important Info:
Matt was auditioning for Romeo's role, just as Jason was. Jason, however, only decided just that morning that he was going to audition--Matt had been practicing, implied, for weeks.Although it's not stated, Peter is casted as Mercutio, who some scholars believe was gay for Romeo.Jason is casted as Romeo, who is more dreamy and idealistic to contrast Jason's realism and practicality; Peter is casted as Mercutio, who is more realistic and practical to contrast Peter's dreaminess and idealism.
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plain jane fatass
Content warnings: Focus on body image.
Plain Jane Fatass, the fifth song of Bare, features Jason and Nadia and focuses on Nadia's body image issues and her self-confidence issues. Most productions of the show do show her as genuinely plus-size.
Trivia/Important Info:
In this song, it's implied that Jason and Nadia's parents are abusive and/or neglectful, something supported by later songs.Since their birthday gifts arrived at the same time and the two are in the same year in high school, it's implied that Jason and Nadia are twins.
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wonderland
Content warnings: Focus on underage drug use.
Wonderland, the sixth song of Bare, features the cast planning to go to a rave and use drugs while they're at it. Lucas describes each of the drugs he has available to the cast, and Matt eventually agrees to attend the rave upon Ivy's encouragement.
Trivia/Important Info:
Matt has a crush on Ivy/he and Ivy are in a relationship (depending on the production), hence why it was her pressuring that made him decide to go to the rave.
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a quiet night at home
Content warnings: Self-harm mention.
A Quiet Night at Home, the seventh song of Bare, is a Nadia solo song which focuses on her bod image/self-worth issues as well as her anxiety surrounding romantic relationships. It also reveals how her mother and society have negatively affected her view of herself.
Trivia/Important Info:
At the lyric "spent getting by," Nadia begins to self-harm.A siren is a creature in Greek mythology which would sing to passing sailors, bewitching them with both their beauty and song into jumping off their ships to be with them; the sirens would then drown them. Nadia's comparison to a siren emphasizes her desire to be beautiful, and her failure to do so--despite being in a siren's nature--emphasizes how worthless she feels because of it.
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rolling
Content warnings: Implied drug usage.
Rolling, the eighth song of Bare, shows the cast at the rave. As it's mostly instrumental, there's not much to say.
Trivia/Important Info:
Matt is the one who takes Ivy outside; Jason and Peter follow soon after.
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best kept secret
Best Kept Secret, the ninth song of Bare, features Jason and Peter discussing why their relationship has to be "the best kept secret," with Jason wanting to keep it hidden and Peter wanting to reveal it.
Trivia/Important Info:
Matt, in the previous song, had taken Ivy outside because she had taken too much and was getting sick; Peter and Jason are outside because Jason doesn't want everyone to see their relationship.At the end of this song, Peter and Jason kiss. Since Matt is outside, too, he both saw them kiss and heard everything.The title of the song, as is played with in the lyrics, is a double meaning: either the secret is one that shouldn't be revealed (i.e. it's best kept secret), or it's a secret that has been hidden extremely well (a best-kept secret).
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Character Guide
These guides are spoiler-free!
Main Characters:
Minor Characters:
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Peter Simmonds is the protagonist of Bare. He's in a relationship with Jason, which is implied to started when the two of them were twelve--they're seniors in high school, currently. He suffers from significant religious guilt/anxiety over his sexuality, but not to the point of mental illness. Otherwise, he's a generally "normal" kid aside from his stereotypically gay/feminine interests ("loves his female singers, loves to cook!"). Peter is also the antithesis to Jason in that he expresses and accepts his emotions freely; he is far more outwardly emotional than Jason is, and, similarly, is more optimistic, easygoing, and so forth. Peter is very close to his mother and has a strong desire to come out to her, but is worried about her reaction.
Peter plays Mercutio in the school's production of Romeo & Juliet.
Songs: Too many to list.
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Jason McConnell is the deuteragonist of Bare. He's in a relationship with Peter, which is implied to started when the two of them were twelve--they're seniors in high school, currently. He suffers from significant religious guilt/anxiety over his sexuality, implied to be to the point of mental illness--"Role of a Lifetime" focuses on how Jason puts up an act that he takes down for nobody and constantly hides his true self in order to make himself likable. Furthermore, he has notable internalized homophobia. He is the antithesis to Peter in that he represses a significant portion of his emotions and/or refuses to express them and is, similarly, more pessimistic, irritable, and so forth.
Jason and his sister, Nadia, are implied to have abusive and/or neglectful parents who are also extremely devout Catholics, adding to the likelihood of his mental illness as well as his internalized homophobia.
Jason plays Romeo in the school's production of Romeo & Juliet.
Songs: Too many to list.
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Of the main characters of Bare, Nadia McConnell is the least plot-relevant. She's plus-size and suffers from severe body image issues and is particularly preoccupied with romantic relationships/trying to find someone who will love her for who she is. She rooms with Ivy, who, although they used to be close friends, she strongly dislikes due to Ivy's beauty and how she "has the world handed to [her]" because of it, something Nadia would "trade places with [her] in a heartbeat" for.
She and her brother, Jason, are implied to have abusive/neglectful parents. Her mother contributed to her body image issues, especially, by telling her to just "slim down" so that "things will change," because, "after all, [Nadia has] such a pretty face."
Nadia plays Juliet's nurse in the school's production of Romeo & Juliet.
Songs: "Plain Jane Fatass," "A Quiet Night at Home," "Spring"
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Ivy Robinson, like Jason, feels as though she has to put on an act to make people like her and feels as though nobody knows her true self. This act, her being "promiscious" and "slutty," alongside her stereotypical beauty, has earned her Nadia's dislike and turned their childhood friendship into a more enemy-like relationship. Furthermore, although Matt has a crush on Ivy, she recognizes that he only likes her for her facade and not her real self. Underneath this act, however, Ivy is a genuinely sweet and strong--if insecure--girl.
Songs: "Portrait of a Girl," "One Kiss," "One," "Touch My Soul," "All Grown Up," "Promise"
Here is a link to my Ivy analysis on Twitter! Warning for Bare spoilers up through "All Grown Up" in Act 2. The production I saw had Ivy act much more sexual than the cast recording implies and than in the LA production, which did influence my analysis a lot, but I think it stands still without that added hypersexuality, as Ivy is still overly sexual regardless.
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Matthew Lloyd is part of the Peter/Jason/Nadia/Ivy friend group, and he has a crush on Ivy which is implied to be very strong. He has a sister, Megan Lloyd, who also attends St. Cecilia's. He develops something of a rivalry with Jason due to various factors, including that Jason "stole" Romeo's role from him in "Auditions," and struggles with that envy throughout the play.
Matt plays Tybalt in the school's production of Romeo & Juliet.
Songs: "Are You There?" (with Peter)
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Lucas is the school's "party" boy and the school drug dealer, who is implied to be in a relationship with Tanya.
Lucas plays Benvolio in the school's production of Romeo & Juliet, while Tanya plays Lady Capulet.
Songs: "Wonderland"
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Claire is Peter's mother, who ended up divorcing his father for reasons including Peter's effeminate nature. (She does have implied sole custody of Peter.) She is implied to have recognized since Peter was young that it was very likely that he was gay, but refused to acknowledge it. She and Peter are extremely close, and she does genuinely love him despite her fears.
Songs: "See Me," "Warning"
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Diane, Rory, Alan, Kyra, and Zach are various kids involved in the schools production of Romeo & Juliet who are also implied to be on at least a friendly basis with Ivy and the rest of the main cast.
Songs: None. Involved in "Auditions," 'Confession," and "Birthday, Bitch!" but are not the centers.
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Sister Chantelle is a sister at St. Cecilia's who runs the theater department and is the director of the school's production of Romeo & Juliet. She is the stereotypical sassy black woman, but does break this stereotype in her song "G-d Don't Make No Trash."
Songs: "911! Emergency!," "G-d Don't Make No Trash"