Randal Turner: White Hot

Randal Turner sings Cosi's "Donne mie, la fate a tanti"

You know that you're a certifiable barihunk if you can wear pointy white slippers and a Bea Arthur jacket and STILL LOOK SEXY! Randal Turner has a wonderful stage presence that no costume could ruin.

A Barihunk Before My Very Eyes

I love the San Francisco Opera, but I'm always a little critical of them for not hiring better looking baritones. Other opera companies on the Left Coast seem to have no problem, most notably the Seattle Opera, San Diego Opera, Los Angeles Opera and, of course, the Sante Fe Opera (who remain in the barihunk stratosphere unchallenged).

Gabriele Viviani is an Italian baritone making his American debut in this production. He hails from Puccini's hometown of Lucca and regularly sings Marcello in La Boheme. So far, he has no real barihunk roles under his belt, but maybe he'll come back to SF Opera as Don Giovanni or Zurga in Pearl Fishers.

I saw the final dress rehearsal of SF Opera's Lucia di Lammermoor and my friends were all commenting about how cute tenor Andrew Bidlack was. It wasn't until I saw Lucia broadcast on the JumboTron at AT&T Park that I realized our Enrico was quite the barihunk. He does look like a little like a 70s rock star with his long, blonde hair, but who cares.

Hunkentenors Debut

I am thrilled to announce that there is now is a counterpart to Barihunks for aficionados of higher voiced hunks. Many people have asked me to start a hunkentenor site, but I keep pretty busy with the plethora of lower voiced beauties. Had I started a site, Jonas Kaufmann would have been my first post [pictured above].

Check out the site at www.hunkentenor.blogspot.com.

As always, barihunks tips can be sent to barihunks@gmail.com

Barihunk Promotes Dallas Opera

[Photos from top to bottom: Michael Todd Simpson in Figaro promotion, Simpson head shot, Daniel Okulitch, and two pictures of Paolo Pecchioli]

To hell with "Remember the Alamo." The new battle cry in Texas is "Remember to get your tickets to the Dallas Opera!"

The Dallas Opera (http://www.dallasopera.org/) is promoting their new season by using barihunk regular Michael Todd Simpson in a flaming pink banner with flaming pink flip flops. If that doesn't grab your attention then you're as blind as Archibaldo in Montemezzi's "L'amore dei tre Re." As if having the sultry Simpson stalk the stage weren't enough, they've added barihunk Daniel Okulitch to the cast. Normally, Figaro isn't as barihunky as Don Giovanni, but the open shirt on the ad may portend some skin in this production.

If Mozart isn't your cup of tea, Rossini specialist Paolo Pecchioli will be singing in L'Italiani in Algeri opposite hunkentenor William Burden. As a footnote to all of you hunkentenor lovers, Stephen Costello will be singing in their production of Roberto Devereux.

So, if you want beefcake this season, head to the heart of Texas.

Paulo Szot is an out gay man

http://www.afterelton.com/blog/brianjuergens/tony-winner-paulo-szot-indeed-out-gay-man

http://parterre.com/

Barihunk readers should be reminded that we noticed barihunk Paulo Szot long before he took Broadway by storm. It's nice to see the world catching up. Here is the text from the blog www.AfterElton.com:

Here's some great news for theater lovers, supporters of LGBT visibility, and anyone with a weakness for a hot Brazilian gay hunk with a body carved from marble and a voice that could melt glass:

Gorgeous and talented Paulo Szot, who last week won the Best Actor in a Musical Tony for his performance in South Pacific, is an out gay man.

There had been some speculation about Szot (who was rumored to be openly gay in his native Brazil, where he is a celebrated opera singer), but not much was known about him in the States before he took the stage in Pacific. And of course the sight of him and sound of his pipes set tongues wagging and Internet speculation afire the day after the Awards. We contacted his publicist and were told that yes, he is gay, and we're welcome to say as much.

It is of course wonderful to have yet another openly gay actor winning the Best Actor trophy (last year, newly-out David Hyde Pierce took the prize in an upset win over bisexual actor Raul Esparza), a trend that we hope to see continue ... especially in stereotype-breaking, traditionally masculine roles like the one Szot plays in South Pacific. And folks hoping to snag Szot for themselves, you might be out of luck, as the handsome man who accompanied him is rumored to be the "Eduardo" that he thanked in his acceptance speech, and he may be spoken for.

Riley McMitchell

Riley is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia opera program. While there, he performed in Manon, Die Zauberflote, The Merry Widow, The Bartered Bride and Gianni Schicci. He also sang with the ensemble in several European tours to the Czech Republic and Germany.

Riley sang the lead role in the world premiere of George Ryan's opera "The Ghost in the Turret" heard on CBC radio. Riley has also participated in numerous seasons on Opera Nuova's summer opera programme performing the Vicar in Britten's opera Albert Herring.

Paulo Szot

Barihunk Paulo Szot won Best Actor in a Musical at the Tony Awards for his performance in South Pacific. One can find more pictures on this blog.

Curtis Sullivan

It looks like Neptune is carrying two big spears in the bottom photo. Stunning barihunk Curtis Sullivan sings primarily in Canada, but made his debut with the San Francisco Opera alongside barihunk Bo Skovhus in The Merry Widow. He may be the first singer to turn Mozart's Idomeneo into a barihunk opera.

Other barihunk operas that he's performed in are the Magic Flute, Carmen and A Midsummer Night's Dream. We look forward to seeing much more of this singer...much, much more.

Mikolaj Zalasinski

Polish barichunk Mikolaj Zalasinski seems to enjoy singing in various stages of undress. Above are photos of him as Jokanaan in Salome in his Depends and in his birthday suit as Don Giovanni. The latter role has become his calling card role and he's sung it in Vienna, Tokyo, Warsow, Lodz, Bytom, and Bydgoszcz. Other barichunk roles include Escamillo and Papageno.

Phillip Sulzberger

German barihunk Philipp Sulzberger studied at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Munich, the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute and at the University of Nebraska. He studied with longtime Met soprano Ariel Bybee.

It seems like Pittsburgh is joinging Sante Fe as a hotbed for barihunks, as Sulzberger has become a regular with the Pittsburgh Opera. Pittsburgh has already invited back Nathan Gunn and previously hosted Greer Grimsley and Michael Todd Simpson, all of whom can be seen on this blog. Sulzberger's barihunk roles thus far are Escamillo and Papageno.

Christopher Johnstone

California native Christopher Johnstone’s career took off when he was cast in the uber-sexy production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, choreographed by Mark Morris at Tanglewood.

Johnstone studied voice at Arizona State University, was offered a slot at the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory Opera Program in Italy, partook in the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program and now has landed roles with Opera Pacific in Costa Mesa and the San Diego Opera.

Thanks to Barihunks reader Jamie for the great pics.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes featured in Opera News

The feature in this month's Opera News is titled, "Too Darn Hot."

Truer words were never spoken.

We Have a Weiner, er, Winner!

Barihunks regular PercivalPete correctly guessed that the mystery crotch was no weiner, but a Polish sausage belonging to my personal favorite, Mariusz Kwiecien.

If anyone else has saucy barihunk photos, please send them to barihunks@gmail.com.

Pomponi & Circumstance

The great thing about Google analytics is I can see who Barihunks readers think is hot. Right now it seems to be Franco Pomponi, so feast your eyes on these pictures from his website (www.francopomponi.com). The homoerotic pictures are with German tenor Rainer Trost from a production of Henze's "The Bassarids." Everything else is just Pomponi & Circumstance, so enjoy.