Michael Mayes in Eugene Opera's Dead Man Walking (Photo: Cliff Coles)
Michael Mayes continues to wow both audiences and critics with his frightening, yet beautifully sung, portrayal of Joseph DeRocher in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. Tonight he wrapped up the reprisal of the role that made opera afficionados take note after his performance in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The latest critic to by wowed is Marilyn Farwell from The Register-Guard, who wrote:
As the killer Joseph DeRocher, baritone Michael Mayes has become what the composer himself calls the “definitive” interpreter of this role. His imposing physicality and menacing demeanor were frightening. And he sang the role impeccably. Two scenes highlighted his vocal and dramatic gifts: a beautifully rendered memory of being by a river with a woman on a hot Louisiana night, and his stunning solo scene in his cell, pacing with the anger and fear of a caged animal.
Mayes now heads to the Fort Worth Opera Festival
where he will portray Colonel Floyd James (Jim) Thompson, America’s
longest-held prisoner of war. The opera by Tom Cipullo looks back on
Thompson's years as a captive in Vietnam and features Mayes in the title
role.
Tickets and additional information about the Fort Worth Opera Festival are available on their website.Mayes opens
Philip Kalmanovitch and Etienne Dupuis are all smiles as opening night arrives
On February 24h, we mentioned the upcoming performance of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking in Montreal, Boston and Eugene, Oregon. We have rehearsal photos from two of those productions, as the much-anticipated opening night in Montreal is upon us.
Etienne Dupuis
Etienne Dupuis is a great example of how much opera is catching up to TV and movies with realistic casting. He hired two personal trainers to get in shape for the role of Joseph De Rocher, which has become a dream role for barihunks. 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. The performance in Montreal also includes Philip Kalmanovitch as a police officer. Many of you will remember him from last year's calendar and probably wouldn't mind being frisked by him.
Performances at Opera de Montreal run from tonight through March16th and tickets are available online.
Etienne Dupuis as Joseph De Rocher in Montreal
Dead Man Walking will open on opposite coasts on March 15th at the Eugene Opera and the Boston Opera Collaborative. If you ever get the chance to see the stage animal Michael Mayes perform this role, don't miss it. His workout photo from Tulsa, as he was preparing for the role a year ago, have rocketed into our ten most visited posts of all-time.
The opera will be performed at the Eugene Opera on March 15 and 17 and tickets are available online.
If you don't have time to schedule a trip to Oregon, there are still six weeks left to get to the Fort Worth Opera Festival where Mayes will portray Colonel Floyd James (Jim) Thompson, America’s longest-held prisoner of war. The opera by Tom Cipullo looks back on Thompson's years as a captive in Vietnam and features Mayes in the title role. If you've not been to this festival, we highly recommend adding it to your agenda, as it's one of the most innovative and entertaining festivals in America. Other operas this year include Puccini's La boheme, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment. Wes Mason, another of our favorite young barihunks, will be appearing as Marcello in La boheme.
Tickets and additional information about the Fort Worth Opera Festival are available on their website.
Michael Mayes getting in character in Eugene
Performances of Dead Man Walking with the Boston Opera Collaborative will run daily from March 15-18 with tickets available online.
We have a million reasons to love composer Jake Heggie, but perhaps we love him most for writing great leading roles for baritones. His opera Dead Man Walking has quickly entered the standard repertory and it's lead character Joseph de Rocher is invariably played by a barihunk. Yet another reason to love him.
Within three weeks, three productions of the opera will be running, one in Eugene, Oregon, one in Boston and the other in Montreal, Quebec. Michael Mayes, who transformed from bari-chunk to bari-hunk, to play the role at the Tulsa Opera, will reprise the role in Eugene. Etienne Dupuis will take on the role in Montreal, with Philip Kalmanovitch also appearing in the cast, who appears regularly on this site. John Arnold and Jonathan Stinson will alternate the role in Boston.
Etienne Dupuis and Jeanette Kelly from the CBC
When Mayes transformed his body during his Tulsa run it created a sensation on Barihunks when we ran the before and after pictures. Apparently, Etienne Dupuis has taken serioulsy the physical demands of the role, as well. He's hired two trainers to get in shape, including helping him develop the skills to sing and do pushups at the same time. You can listen to his interview on the CBC where he talks about getting in shape for the role. Dupuis and hot Jeanette Kelly also spend a good deal of time talking about the concept of barihunks and the increasing need to look the part on stage. We recommend that you play it to the end, so you can hear him sing "Hello" by Lionel Ritchie.
Performances at Opera de Montreal run from March 9-16th and tickets are available online. The opera will be performed at the Eugene Opera on March 15 and 17 and tickets are available online. Performances with the Boston Opera Collaborative will run daily from March 15-18 with tickets available online.
John Adams is one of the best known and most often performed of America's composers. Adams was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 15, 1947. During his youth, growing up in Vermont and New Hampshire, he was strongly influenced by the intellectual and cultural institutions of New England. He received both his BA and MA degrees from Harvard University, where he was active as a conductor, clarinetist, and composer. His principal teachers included Leon Kirchner, David Del Tredici and Roger Sessions.
Gerald Finley sings the aria "Batter, my heart"from Doctor Atomic:
In 1971, Adams began an active career in the San Francisco area, teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (1972-83) and serving as new music adviser and composer-in-residence for the San Francisco Symphony (1978-85).
A number of his pieces have leading roles for baritones, including J. Robert Oppenheimer in Dr. Atomic, Nixon in Nixon in China and the critical roles of the captain, terrorist (Rambo) and Klinghoffer in The Death of Klinghoffer. He also wrote the Walt Whitman-inspiredpiece The Wound-Dresser, which is scored for baritone voice, 2 flutes (or 2 piccolos), 2 oboes, clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, trumpet (or piccolo tpt), timpani, synthesizer, and strings.
Thomas Hampson sings John Adams's The Wound-Dresser:
His creative output spans a wide range of media: works for orchestra, opera, video, film, and dance, as well as electronic and instrumental music. Such pieces as Harmonium, Harmonielehre, Shaker Loops, and The Chairman Dances are among the best known and most frequently performed of contemporary American music. In these works he has taken minimalism into a new and fresh terrain characterized by luminous sonorities and a powerful and dramatic approach to form. He was the winner of the 2003 Pulitzer prize.
Joseph Maddalena sings "News, news, news..." from Nixon in China:
Ad for "Nixon in China" at the Eugene Opera
Upcoming performance of operas by John Adams include Nixon in China at the Eugene Opera on March 16 and 18. The role of Nixon will be played by barihunk Lee Gregory.
From March 10-18, the opera will be performed at Lyric Opera of Kansas City with James Maddalena reprising his definitive performance as Nixon, and barihunk Daniel Belcher playing Chou En-Lai.
Nixon travels to France in April as the Théâtre du Châtelet produces the opera with barihunks Franco Pomponi in the title role and Kyung Chun Kim as Chou En-Lai.
Sidney Outlaw and Franco Pomponi singing John Adams
The Death of Klinghoffer opens at the English National Opera on February 25th with Alan Opie as Klinghoffer, Christopher Magiera as the Captain and rising young talent Sidney Outlaw as Rambo. If you haven't heard Outlaw perform yet, he is not to be missed.
Here is a video of barihunk Michael Mayes being made up in 45 seconds for his portrayal of Don Giovanni at the Shreveport Opera. The makeup artist is Sondra Nottingham. Make sure to check out his special Don Giovanni pose at the end.
The Texas native next appears as Marcello at the Eugene Opera on December 30, before heading off to portray Valentin in Faust with Opera Birmingham.
If emails are any indication, I'd say that more people are attending the Eugene Opera than The Met. It seems like Michael Todd Simpson's two performances of Don Giovanni in Oregon stirred up quite a bit of excitement.
Simpson has been featured on this site before and he's clearly built up a fan base that is closely watching his rapid ascent. He now moves on to sing Escamillo in Carmen with the Chicago Opera Theater and on tour with Opera Australia.
