Introducing Barihunk Malcolm Ulbrick

Malcolm Ulbrick

Back in November we posted about Rossini's Barber of Seville at the Boulder Opera Company with barihunks Andrew Potter, Michael Travis Risner and Garrett Smith. Potter and Risner are both returning for their upcoming performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni, with Risner as the stage director and Potter as the Commendatore.

Featured in the title role will be Malcolm Ulbrick, who is new to this site. When Ulbrick is not performing, he works as both a personal trainer/strength coach and a vocal coach. He received his Masters in Music from the University of Colorado, where he performed performed as Billy Bigelow in Carousel, Olin Blitch in Susannah, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Gideon March in Little Women and Marcello in La boheme. He recently performed in Handel’s Messiah with the Messiah Choral Society of Grand Junction, Colorado. He also directed the children's performance of The Barber of Seville with Boulder Opera.

Andrew Potter and Michael Travis Risner

Performances of Don Giovanni will be at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder on April 15th, the Broomfield Auditorium: on April 16th and the Dickens Opera House in Longmont on April 22nd. For tickets and more information: http://www.boulderoperacompany.com/don-giovanni/

Bevy of Barihunks in Boulder's Barber

Michael Travis Risner

The Boulder Opera in Colorado will be featuring three barihunks in the upcoming family performances of Rossini's The Barber of Seville. The opera will be sung in Italian, but narrated in English so that younger audience members can understand the story.

Andrew Potter, who has appeared on this site before, will be singing the comic role of Dr. Bartolo. Michael Travis Risner  and Garrett Smith, two singers who are new to the site will be rotating the title role.

Michael Travis Risner received his Masters in Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Colorado State University. He has been appearing on the stages of Colorado's Front Range for the past 20 years as a singer, actor, director, and stage combat instructor and choreographer (his resume even lists "fitness model").  He has performed the title role in Monostatos in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Dancaire in Bizet's Carmen, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Eddie/Dr. Scott in Rocky Horror Live!, Lancelot in Camelot, Anatoly in Chess and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Footloose (Chuck).

Andrew Potter (2 left) and Garrett Smith (2 right)

Garrett Smith was a student at the University of Colorado School of Music and works as Education Director at the Boulder Opera Company. He also moonlights as an emergency medicine scribe, medical school candidate, HIV prevention provider, researcher, Rolfer, and teacher t Music Together Boulder. His performance credits include Zoroastro/Narrator in Handel's Orlando; Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, as well as several musical theater roles.

There will be two performances on December 10, 12 and 13, as well as an early evening performance on December 11. Tickets and additional cast information are available online.

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Cover of our 2016 Calendar

Sexy La Fanciulla del West in Des Moines

From left to right: Harry Greenleaf, Andrew Potter, Alex Soare, Geoffrey Penar (seated) Joshua Jeremiah, Christopher Job, Tyler Alessi, Zach Owen, Cesar Mendez Silvagnoli (seated), Trevor Martin and Jonathan Harris

One of our favorite opera companies is the Des Moines Metro, which always delivers great repertory, high musical standards, amazing young singers and a liberal helping of barihunks. This season was no exception, as their production of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) including some of the hottest talent in opera (both vocally and physically).

Barihunks photographer Michael Yeshion

Fortunately, one of our Barihunks calendar photographers, Michael Yeshion, was working at the company as the fight director. He managed to snap some pix of the guys in costume and shirtless. He's promised us some more pictures, which we're looking forward to receiving. He also shot some pictures for this year's calendar.

Andrew Potter takes Handel to the Wild Wild West

Andrew Potter as the "mystic traveler" Zoroastro

The Boulder Opera Company, which sits at the foot of the beautiful Rocky Mountains in Colorado, has updated Handel's Orlando to the American Wild West.

In their re-imagining of the story the deputy Sheriff Orlando is desperately in love with Angelica, who is in turn in love with a cowboy, Medoro. In this hopeless situation, Orlando is driven to madness from which only the mystic traveler Zoroastro can save him. Zoroastro is being sung by bass-barihunk Andrew Potter, who we introduced to readers (with a shirtless selfie) last September when he was singing in Mozart's The Magic Flute with Opera NEO.

Performances are on April 4 and 5 and tickets are available online.

Introducing bass-barihunk Andrew Potter

Andrew Potter

We recently posted about barihunk Colin Ramsey singing The Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute at Opera NEO. The Sarastro in that production was Andrew Potter who we're featuring for the first time on our site.

Potter received his BA in Vocal Performance from Liberty University where he performed the Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, Poo Bah in The Mikado, and Baron Mirko Zeta in Lehar's The Merry Widow. 

Since 2012, he's appeared with Opera on the James in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, The Magic Flute, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Mr. Dashwood in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, and the Big Bad Bully in Stop Bully - an outreach opera performed in schools and community centers.

Since 2013, Potter has been a member of Opera Roanoke’s Young Apprentice Artist Program, where he sang the Sergeant the Pirates of Penzance and Curio in Handel's Julius Caesar. This year he'll sing the Second Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte and covering the role of Sarastro. He performed Ariodate, in Handel’s Serse and Le fauteuil/L’abre in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges with Bel Cantanti Opera in Washington, D.C.

Upcoming roles in the 2014-15 season for Andrew include Simone in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with Tidewater Opera Initiative, the Frog King in the World Premiere of Lori Laitman's The Three Feathers, Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Opera Roanoke, Ramfis with Undercroft Opera in Verdi's Aida, Mephistopheles in Concert Opera Philadelphia’s production of Gounod's Faust, Zoroastro in Handel's Orlando with Boulder Opera Company, Colline in La Bohéme with Connecticut Lyric Opera, and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Bel Cantanti Opera.