Tickets on Sale Today for Anna Nicole at NYCO; Broadway and Opera Barihunks Abound

Joshua Jeremiah lends some additional muscle to Anna Nicole cast

Tickets for the long-awaited US premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole at New York City Opera are going on sale today. The opera will open the company's 2013–14 season on September 17, with performances running through September 28. The co-production with the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) launches the 2013 Next Wave Festival. Click HERE for tickets.

The opera is based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith, but also features two of our favorite barihunks. The tall and seemingly age-defying Rod Gilfry will play Anna Nicole’s lawyer, Howard Stern. Gilfry returns to NYCO after a critically acclaimed run as Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte with the company in 2012. NYCO has already announced that he will return  in 2014 in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

Rod Gilfry and James Barbour

Also returning to the company is Joshua Jeremiah, who worked for the company as covers for the roles of Junior in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. He also performed with NYCO in an all-Bernstein concert.

 Joshua Jeremiah sings "Voilà donc la terrible cité!" from Massenet's Thais:

The opera Anna Nicole mixes comedy and tragedy with a score that draws on jazz, blues, musical theater and traditional operatic structures. The company has enlisted both Broadway stars and opera singers for the cast.

Those who love a nice "Broadway baritone" will be thrilled that James Barbour will play the role of Daddy Hogan. Barbour received the Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Awards nominations for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Sydney Carton in the Broadway musical version of A Tale of Two Cities. Other Broadway credits include Carousel, Jane Eyre (Drama League Award Nomination), Beauty And The Beast, Urinetown, Assassins, and Cyrano The Musical. This will be his New York City Opera debut.