Barihunk trio in Pocket Opera's Don Giovanni

Sara LaMesh and Anders Froehlich (photo: Pocket Opera)

American Barihunk Anders Froehlich is no stranger to this site, having appeared on this site rock climbing, as a shirtless Don Giovanni and in a sexy production of Fabrizio Carlone's Bonjour M. Gaugin with West Edge Opera.

He's back as the serial seducer Don Giovanni with San Francisco's Pocket Opera, for performances of the Mozart classic on March 1, 8 and 15. He'll be joined by fellow barihunks Spencer Dodd as his sidekick Leporello and Mitchell Jones as Masetto. Tickets and additional cast information are available online.

Froehlich previously appeared with the company as The Marshal in the premiere of the rarely performed Polish opera The Haunted Manor by Stanisław Moniuszko. He is also a member of the San Francisco Opera Chorus, as well as a trained actor and ballet dancer. He began his professional career at Los Angeles Opera, and has appeared with Opera San Jose, Opera Parallèle and in Ars Minerva's production of La Cleopatra by Daniele da Castrovillari.

Mitchell Jones and Spencer Dodd

Spencer Dodd previously appeared with Pocket Opera as Belcore in Donizetti's Elixir of Love. He has performed with the chorus at both the Sacramento Opera and the San Francisco Opera, and also works as a professional voice teacher.

Mitchell Jones is a former chorus member at the Atlanta Opera, where he also sang the role of the Jailer in Puccini's Tosca. He is a member of both the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Symphony choruses.

The remainder of Pocket Opera's season includes a double bill of Offenbach's The Cat Became a Woman and Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Wagner's Das Liebesverbot, Bizet's Carmen and Rossini's La Cenerentola.

Video from "Vincent" with David Adam Moore

David Adam Moore as Van Gogh

Back in April 2011, we posted about David Adam Moore performing in Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Bernard Rands' new opera "Vincent" at Indiana University.  The opera, featuring a libretto by the gifted writer J.D. McClatchey, explores all of the aspects of painter Vincent van Gogh's personality that ultimately drove him to madness. We kind of like the idea of a baritone getting to go mad rather than a soprano for a change.

We didn't have video at the time, but now it's available. 

Of course, Van Gogh isn't the only painter who has been featured as the subject of an opera. We recently posted some sexy pictures of Anders Froehlich as Paul Gauguin with the West Edge Opera in California.

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!

Anders Froehlich reprises sexy Don Giovanni; Showing skin in "Bonjour M. Gauguin"

Anders Froehlich: Babe magnet as Don Giovanni

We love regional opera, where some of the most innovative and exciting new theater happens. It's also a testing ground for the next generation of talent. Anyone who has been following the regional opera scene in the San Francisco Bay Area has probably heard the buzz surrounding Anders Froehlich.

Readers of this site will remember the sexy rock climbing photo and video that we ran when we first introduced him on our site two years ago. We first spotted him as the Grandfather Clock in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges at Berkeley Opera and Fiorello in the Barber of Seville at Opera San Jose.

Anders Froehlich as Don Giovanni with Cinnabar Opera

The latest regional company to engage Froehlich is the upstart Virago Theater Company in Alameda just outside of Oakland, California and across the Bay from the West Coast's opera capital, San Francisco. They have cast Froehlich as the title character in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Don Giovanni is being directed by the retired diva Olivia Stapp, who was one of the most thrilling singers of the last generaation. She is also the past artistic director of Festival Opera in Walnut Creek, another regional opera company in the area. Don Giovanni will be conducted by Jonathan Khuner, a well-known figure at the San Francisco Opera and West Edge Opera. There is one performance left on March 9th.

Froehlich's next big break will come next month when he returns to West Edge Opera to play the title role in the much anticipated performance of Fabrizio Carlone's opera Bonjour M. Gauguin. The opera has a parental warning because of "partial nudity," which we've been told involves Froehlich. You can get your tickets HERE and make sure to get your opera glasses before you go.

Rock Climbing Barihunk Anders Froehlich

Anders Froehlich as Don Giovanni at the Cinnabar Theater 
Photo by Eric Chazankin

We first spotted barihunk Anders Froehlich playing Fiorello in a production of the Barber of Seville at the San Jose Opera last year. He's now singing the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma, California. He's been seen in other roles in the San Francisco Bay Area, including as the Grandfather Clock in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges at Berkeley Opera, Silvio in Pagliacci at Project Opera and Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosí fan tutte at Cinnabar Theater.
 
The sexy singer in known for more than his work on the stage. He's also an accomplished rock climber who reached a goal of completing his first "free solo" climb last summer. Check out the view from his helmet cam as he climbs Matthes Crest in Yosemite National Park.

Matthes Crest_7 from Anders Froehlich on Vimeo.



"Rock climbing, especially free soloing, and performing in the classical arts share an interesting parallel," said Froehlich. "There's no room for error. Both provide an exercise in being present. Both demand that you must be in the moment - mentally."

Froehlich trained at the Connecticut Conservatory of Performing Arts and graduated from Indiana University. After working on his career in Los Angeles and New York City, Froehlich eventually settled in San Francisco.

For tickets or more information about the Cinnabar Theater production of "Don Giovanni," call 707-763-8920 or visit www.cinnabartheater.org.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Froehlich's Frolicking Fiorello

Anders Froehlich

Opera San Jose is one of those regional companies that we just love. It utilizes developing talent in a European type system that allows singers to work together and hone their skills. They opened a two week run tonight and the Fiorello of Anders Froehlich caught our eye. We had previously spotted him in a hilarious turn as the Grandfather Clock in Ravel's  L'enfant et les sortilèges at Berkeley Opera. 

The Connecticut native  began his training as a musician and performer at the Connecticut Conservatory for Performing Arts. After graduation he studied ballet at Indiana University and acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. This was his debut with Opera San Jose and we hope to see him in bigger roles in the future. 

By the way, another one of our favorite Bay Area performers, Paul Murray, is in the second cast as Basilio, which also features Froehlich.  

Even the local paper, the San Jose Mercury News, took notice:

It would be wrong not to mention a few of the singers in smaller roles: mellifluous baritone Anders Froelich, as Fiorello, the count's servant.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

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