Patrick Jordan looks excited and tired, the way he might while battling the "hands down" most elaborate production in the six years of his modest but edgy guerrilla theater, barebones productions.

The space on the ground floor at 131 7th St., Downtown, is large and empty. Creating a theater space with lights, seating and a stage area that can suggest a baseball diamond and support functional showers has been a challenge. Showing it off, Jordan says they "begged, rented, borrowed and stole" everything for what he calls a "massive set," necessary because of the plumbing for real showers.

However, Jordan calls "Take Me Out," the play, "the closest thing to Disney I've gotten. This is feel-good, not as edgy as 'Bash,' 'Grey Zone' or 'Bug.' " So why has it been controversial elsewhere?

"I guess it's the nudity."

That's what the showers are for. Richard Greenberg's clever, thoughtful Tony-winning comedy is about a idolized baseball superstar who announces he's gay. Suddenly, even in the male Eden of the locker room, the players become self-conscious.

These evolving relationships are the heart of the play, which also boasts the snap and crackle of Greenberg's wit. The issues are no less than democracy, race, sexual anxiety, political correctness, celebrity and the culture wars. And nudity.

"Generally, I'm not a big fan of nudity," says Jordan, "unless it's absolutely necessary. There were shows in the past it was called for where we didn't do it." But in "Take Me Out," the "first shower scene is hysterically funny and the second is poignant with its loss of innocence."

As a good producer who's also an actor, Jordan knows he has to embrace the nudity: "If I even twinge for a second, it doesn't work." So for the first rehearsal with functioning showers, he plans to be naked when everyone arrives. On the other hand, he's made sure the water is heated.

He praises his crew, starting with designers Tony Ferrieri, Scott Nelson, Richard Parsakian and Dave Bjornson and including Douglas McDermott, the technical director -- "the hardest working man in the business. I couldn't do anything without him; he does the work of 10."

A key was enlisting David Whalen as director. The 2007 Post-Gazette Performer of the Year had performed in the play in Philadelphia, so when he and Jordan talked, he allowed he'd like to have a shot at directing, even though he was already performing in PICT's "An Ideal Husband" (just closed) and "Salome" (about to open).

The result was what Jordan calls "a nightmarish schedule," rehearsing mornings to leave Whalen free to rehearse and perform afternoons and evenings for PICT. Barebones takes Saturday off, since Whalen has two PICT shows that day, but works extra hard on Monday, normally a day off.

"The guy is a machine," says Jordan with admiration born of a kinship in crazy dedication. "I call him Crazy Legs -- he doesn't stop, from going to the gym at 6 a.m. to performing until 11 p.m. It's a good thing it was just for a few weeks, so he won't burn himself out for life."

The play's challenges include its ethnically diverse cast. The central character, Darren, is a biracial Adonis. Two players speak only Spanish and one speaks Japanese -- Jordan says no one thought he could cast those roles in Pittsburgh, but he did.

Jordan brought in Christian Felix from New York to play Darren. He himself plays Kippy, the brainy infielder who serves as a gradually unreliable narrator. And as Mason, the gay accountant who discovers he suddenly loves baseball, he cast Pitt grad student Tom Aulino, who just happens to have won an acting awardfor playing the same role for Chicago's Steppenwolf.

Bingo O'Malley plays the bewildered manager, along with Jeff Carpenter, Tristan Farmer, Joshua Elijah Reese, Jose Rivas, JJ Jackson, Tony Bingham and Jeffrey Omura.

Barebones had the players' uniforms custom-made and let the actors choose their own numbers. Jordan chose 9, not for Ted Williams or Bill Mazeroski but the fictional Roy Hobbs. Farmer, a 6-foot-4 CMU student and yoga instructor who plays the eccentric relief pitcher, Shane Mungitt, chose 21, but not for Roberto Clemente. Carpenter chose 23, for Michael Jordan.

For the first week of rehearsal, Jordan brought in a pro scout who had played for 10 years. He talked to the cast about life in a Major League clubhouse. Although he didn't know the play, his answers to the cast's questions fit right in, "exactly as it plays out in the play. That added to the sense of reality."

The Three River Arts Festival is co-producing through its 4th River Project, which is why the ticket has been kept at $10. Jordan advises seeing the play early rather than late, when it could be thronged by the crowds for Gay Pride Week.

"I'm just hoping we get the AC fixed," he says, back in general contractor mode.