Ryan Kuster to perform in Adler Fellows Concert

Ryan Kuster

Barihunk Ryan Kuster will join seven other Adler Fellows for a gala concert on November 30 at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. The ten singers are promising young artists wrapping up their activities in a performance-oriented program under the auspices of the San Francisco Opera Center. Tickets are available at the San Francisco Opera website.

Kuster will perform “Alfin questo Corsaro è mio prigione…Cento leggiadre vergini” from Verdi's Il Corsaro with fellow baritone Joo Won Kang, “Hai già vinta la causa…Vedrò mentr’io sospiro” from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and “Sì, tutto cangerà…Là del ciel nell’arcano profondo” from Rossini's La Cenerentola with mezzo Laura Krumm. You'll also get a chance to see the thrilling young tenor Brian Jagde sing “Forse la soglia attinse…Ma se m’è forza perderti” from Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera.

Former Adler Fellows include barihunks John Relyea and Mel Ulrich;  sopranos Nicolle Foland, Nancy Gustafson, Mary Mills, Patricia Racette, Ruth Ann Swenson and Deborah Voigt; mezzo-sopranos Zheng Cao and Dolora Zajick; countertenor Brian Asawa; tenors Alek Shrader and Thomas Glenn; baritones David Okerlund, Monte Pederson and Mark Delavan.

Next year's class includes two barihunks who we've covered extensively for their matinee idol looks, but also happen to be two incredibly gifted singers: Hadleigh Adams and Phillipe Sly.

You can help support young artists like those in the Adler program by purchasing our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Get in the holiday season early by purchasing it today. What are you waiting for?

Dead Man Walking Closes in Tulsa, Opens in Dresden

Michael Mayes (L) & John Packard (R) as Joseph de Rocher

Michael Mayes created quite a stir when we posted pictures of him on Barihunks as Joseph de Rocher in the Tulsa Opera production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. We followed it up with a post about his dramatic weight loss and workout routine that got him his "prison gym" body, which also generated intense interest. Mayes received rave reviews for his intense performance and became the talk of the opera world overnight even though he was performing in a city that is hardly considered an opera capital of the world. Such is the power of the internet.

Philip Cutlip (top) and Daniel Okulitch (bottom)

Heggie's opera has quickly become a mainstay of the operatic standard repertory, something that rarely happens this soon after a work's debut. The opera premiered at the San Francisco Opera in 2000 with an all-star cast led by John Packard as Joseph de Rocher, Frederick von Stade an his mother, Susan Graham as Sister Helen Prejean and Jay Hunter Morris as Father Grenville.

Mel Ulrich (L) & Teddy Tahu Rhodes (R)

Some of the hottest barihunks in the world have taken on the role of Joseph de Rocher including Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Mel Ulrich, Daniel Okulitch, Jordan Shanahan, Marcus DeLoach and Philip Cutlip.

Here is a promo piece from the Dresden Opera in German:

Dead Man Walking - Semperoper Dresden from Theater-TV on Vimeo.

Just over 5,000 miles from Tulsa, as the curtain comes down on the final performance of Dead Man Walking, another production is running at the Semperoper in Dresden with John Packard returning as the convicted killer. Remaining performance are on March 4, 9, 18 and 23 with Antigone Papoulkas as Sister Helen Prejean. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online. 

In related casting news about barihunks who played Joseph de Rocher, read our recent post about Daniel Okulitch, who is reprising Willy Wonka in Atlanta, a role that he created. Philip Cutlip opens two weeks from today as Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at New York City Opera in a cast that includes fellow barihunk Rod Gilfry. Michael Mayes heads to the Ft. Worth Opera Festival to perform in Mark Adamo's Lysistrata, Jordan Shanahan will be performing in La boheme with the Green Mountain Cultural Festival, Marcus DeLoach will be performing in Of Mice and Men with the Utah Opera and Teddy Tahu Rhodes will be taking his famous Don Giovanni to Bordeaux opposite the Leporello of fellow barihunk Kostas Smoriginas

And we leave you with Jordan Shanahan:

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Happy Birthday, Mel Ulrich!

Mel Ulrich

We've never understood the early retirement of American barihunk Mel Ulrich, who was still burning up the stage when he prematurely called it quits. He teased us in January, when he performed a concert 90 miles outside of Ft. Worth, but it didn't lead to any additional engagements. We want Mel to know that we truly miss him on the stage and that we are going to celebrate him on his birthday.

Come back, Mel! We miss you.

The always sexy Mel Ulrich

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Philip Cutlip Leads All-Star Cast of "Dead Man Walking" in Houston

Philip Cutlip in Houston's "Dean Man Walking"

The Houston Grand Opera has assembled an all-star cast for Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking" that would make La Scala or the Metropolitan Opera envious. Heading the cast is barihunk Philip Cutlip as Joseph De Rocher, who has created a buzz on opera blogs and in the mainstream press [see the feature from Houston magazine below]. Joining Cutlip will be the legendary mezzo Frederica von Stade, who will make her farewell to the stage as De Rocher's mother. Two of the world's greatest Rosina's from the Barber of Seville, Joyce Di Donato and Susanne Mentzer, will portray Sister Helen Prejean and Jade Boucher respectively. Measha Brueggergosman will make her Houston Grand Opera debut in the role of Sister Rose.

"Dead Man Walking" has become one of the most popular contemporary operas and has quickly made it into the standard repertory. Like Simon Boccanegra, Don Giovanni and Boris Godunov, it has become a vehicle for the greatest baritones of our time. Because the character works out in prison and has to look impressive physically, the role has always been portrayed by barihunks. The Canadian premiere featured Daniel Okulitch, who also performed the role at the Ft. Worth Opera. Other barihunks who have sung the role include Mel Ulrich, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Marcus DeLoach and John Packard, who will perform the role of Owen Hart in Houston's current production.

Philip Cutlip sporting his prison mustache

Performances will run from Saturday January 22nd through Sunday February 6th. Tickets and additional cast information are available at the Houston Grand Opera website. Here is the highlight video from the opera's website:

Here is the #1 feature of Houston magazine's "Best of Culture," featuring the star of "Dead Man Walking":

Barihunk Philip Cutlip: Best of Culture (Photo by Dorothy Hong)

DEATH  Becomes HIM 

Best o f Cu lt u r e

#1 Opera stars die many deaths. But for “barihunk” Philip Cutlip, 44, facing execution in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking for HGO—based on the same true story as the 1995 Sean Penn movie—is different. Tougher than performing in boxers in H-Town fave Heggie’s The End of the Affair. “I’ve never been squeamish about exposing all of myself onstage, [but] portraying a man being executed will be far more internally emotional,” says Cutlip. “With every breath he takes, word he utters, person he sees, he knows that he will die.” Besides poignancy, the now 10-year-old show is rife with milestones: Joyce DiDonato reprises the role of Sister Helen Prejean, in which she debuted in New York, and world-renowned Frederica von Stade will retire after playing Cutlip’s mother. “A very moving passing of the torch,” says San Francisco-based Houston fan Heggie, 49, “and to be here for the 10th anniversary is so special.”

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A Mel Ulrich Comeback?

Mel Ulrich as Stanley in Previn's "A Streetcar Named Desire"

One of our greatest regrets at this site is that Mel Ulrich retired from opera just as we were launching. There is no doubt that he would have been a regular on this site and extremely popular. He was one of our first posts and people still send us emails about him, but there has been nothing new to report.

That's why we were thrilled when we received a message that Mel Ulrich was performing in Graham, Texas. It may be a long way from San Francisco where he performed with Anna Netrebko in the Merola Opera program and then burned up the mainstage there and elsewhere with his searingly sexy performances.

We're not sure if this a comeback, but we know that the opera world would eagerly welcome his return.

Graham, Texas is about 90 miles northwest of Ft. Worth, so if you're in the area on Monday, January 10th. The concert is at the Graham Memorial Auditorium at 7:30 PM and will feature American music. We hear that the town also has an airport.

Here are a few tidbits about the singer:

• Born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico
• Among the places that Ulrich performed were the Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera Lyric Opera Cleveland, New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.
• His final performances took place in 2007 at the Los Angeles Opera in Kurt Weill’s “Mahagonny” opposite Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald.
• He retired to Graham to spend more time with his family.

Ulrich as a Merola student (L) and backstage in Puerto Rico (R)

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