Anders Froehlich is a sexy success in Bonjour M. Gouguin

Anders Froehlich in Bonjour M. Gouguin

One thing we love about the internet is that we can track which posts are of the most interest to our readers. Clearly, our readers like a little beefcake, as the posts with the most skin seem to consistently generate the most traffic. (Who said opera lovers were stuffy?). Our teaser post featuring Anders Froehlich in Fabrizio Carlone's Bonjour M. Gaugin at the West Edge Opera outside of San Francisco was no exception. It rivaled some of our top posts featuring Daniel Okulitch, Omar Ebrahim, Nathan Gunn, Michael Mayes, Gabriel Bermudez and our latest sensation snowboarder/barihunk Christiaan Smith Kotlarek.

Anders Froehlich and soprano Shawnette Sulker

We attended opening night, and the build up to the opera was worth the hype. West Edge Opera, which used to be Berkeley Opera, prides itself on "pushing the envelope" under General Director Mark Streshinsky, who also directed Gouguin. Their recent production of Monteverdi's L’incoronazione di Poppea with a fiendishly sexy Ryan Belongie in the countertenor role of Ottone was a huge critical success.

Anders Froehlich in Bonjour M. Gouguin

Streshinsky took a chance with Carlone's Bonjour M. Gaugin, in that the composer was virtually unknown and the story mixes French and English, dance and opera, and video projection with stage action. Froehlich was asked to perform extensive dance moves by choreographer Yannis Adoniou, which is usually a red flag in opera. But the 31-year-old baritone and amateur rock climber has extensive dance training and he moves as effortlessly as the other dancers. Even the music, which was scored for low instruments and no violins, had more hints of Debussy than modernism.

Anders Froehlich and soprano Shawnette Sulker

Next up for the company, is Benjamin Britten's Turn of the Screw, which runs from July 20-28. There are no baritones in the cast, so mark your calendars now. More information about West Edge Opera is available on their website.

We hope that you enjoyed the pictures!