Jarrett Ott in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers; Original cast in Hawaii

Jarrett Ott

Barihunk Jarrett Ott will be taking on the role of Charlie in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers at Opera Memphis on April 1st and 8th.  He'll be joined by Cree Carrico as his sister Beatrice and Phyllis Pancella as their mother Madeline Mitchell. The role of Charlie has become a popular vehicle for barihunks, including Keith Phares, Matthew Worth and Jesse Blumberg.

Three Decembers tells the story of a famous stage actress – Madeline Mitchell – and her two adult children: Beatrice and Charlie. Both children resent their mother's long absences on the road and her lack of concern for the tragedies in their lives. Charlie believes his mother is distant because he is gay, even as his partner, Burt, is dying of AIDS. Meanwhile, Beatrice, trapped in an unhappy marriage, feels Madeline resents her enduring affection for their deceased father. As the story unfolds over the decades, long-simmering resentments surface, accusations are hurled, and family secrets revealed, leading ultimately to a hard-won peace and forgiveness for both the living and the dead.

On March 30th, Ott will appear at OUT at the Opera, a preview night for Opera Memphis at Playhouse on the Square from 7-10 PM. The event is intended to connect the opera company with the LGBT community. Tickets for the opera are available online.

Ott next performs Zurga in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers with the North Carolina Opera on April 28th and 30th.

Keith Phares in Three Decembers

A few thousand miles to the west, the Hawaii Opera Theater has assembled the three main cast members from the original 2008 production from the Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera. Barihunk Keith Phares sings Charlie, with Kristin Clayton as his sister Beatrice and the indefatigable Federica von Stade as Madeline.

There are shows remaining on March 29th and 31st, and April 1st.  Tickets are available online. Next up is Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann with Wayne Tigges as the Four Villains, who we just posted about as a last minute substitution in Los Angeles.

Sexy photos of Soloman Howard in Approaching Ali

Soloman Howard in Approaching Ali

Bass-barihunk Soloman Howard just wrapped up a reprisal of his performance as boxing great Muhammad Ali in DJ Sparr's Approaching Ali with the North Carolina Opera. Howard sang in the world premiere of the opera in the Summer of 2013 at the Kennedy Center. 

Sparr's one-hour opera was created under the auspices of the American Opera Initiative, Washington National Opera’s program for commissioning contemporary American opera. The libretto is by Mark Campbell and Davis Miller, based on Miller’s own autobiographical novella.

Soloman Howard in Approaching Ali

Fortunately for our readers, a number of amazing pictures appeared in Raleigh's Indy Week magazine of the singer accompanied by this article.

The opera tells the story of a young boy in North Carolina in the early 1960s who overcomes the loss of his mother and the trauma of being bullied when he sees Muhammad Ali on television. More than 20 years later, as a writer on the brink of middle age, he seeks to rekindle that spirit by visiting his boyhood hero in person at the home of Ali’s mother in Louisville.

Soloman Howard had a successful debut this season as the King in Verdi's Aida at the Met. This summer he'll sing Banco in Verdi's Macbeth and Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Glimmerglass Festival. 

North Carolina Opera announces barihunky new season

A well-dressed Soloman Howard and an undressed Troy Cook in Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias

North Carolina Opera has announced their new season and it includes some of our favorite singers. Anytime an opera company produces Puccini's La boheme, odds are that at least one of the three baritones will be a barihunk. The company has not announced their Schaunard, but we're thrilled that Troy Cook will appear as Marcello and Soloman Howard as Colline. Cook, you may recall is one of six singers who have appears on this site in the "full monty." Performances are on January 24 & 26, 2014.

Sidney Outlaw

Mozart's Così fan tutte will feature the ridiculously talented and brilliant Sydney Outlaw as Guglielmo. You can see the Brevard, North Carolina native in performances on October 3, 5 & 6, 2013. Fans in New York can catch him on November 4th at Carnegie Hall performing Mendelssohn's Walpurgisnacht & Mozart Requiem. He'll also be making his debut with the Atlanta Opera next year as Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Their final offering is Antonín Dvorák's magical opera Rusalka. Although this isn't a barihunk vehicle, it does include two rising soprano talents who you won't want to miss: future Wagnerian mega-star Heidi Melton and Joyce El-Khoury. There is one performance scheduled on March 14, 2014.

North Carolina Opera was formed in 2010 from the merger of Capital Opera Raleigh and The Opera Company of North Carolina. Visit their website for tickets and additional cast information.

Timothy McDeviitt & Jessica Cates in Sexy Philip Glass Dance-Opera "Les Enfants Terribles"

Timothy McDevitt & Jessica Cates buff up for "Les Enfants Terribles"

Philip Glass has been giving us a good dose of barihunk material in recent years, including Hydrogen Jukebox, Orphee, Galileo Galilei and even Keppler. You can now add the dance-opera "Les Enfants Terribles" to the list.

Barihunk Timohty McDevitt who we remember as a cute beanpole in Poulenc's "Les Mamelles de Tiresias" at Julliard has been working out the gym with the adorable soprano Jessica Cates. And it shows!

The two singers are performing the Glass piece with the North Carolina Opera. McDevitt and Cates play a brother and sister who engage each other in a series of "games" when Paul is confined to bed after being hit by a snowball. The singers have dancers performing the non-singing parts.

There is one performance left, which is Sunday, January 22 at 3 PM.

Here are some highlights from "Les Enfants Terribles" with the voices of barihunk Philip Cutlip and soprano Christine Arand:

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com