David Adam Moore to reprise sexy Stanley Kowalski

David Adam Moore as Stanley Kowalski (Photo @dabva)

The Teatro Colón has announced its 2019 season, which will include barihunk David Adam Moore as Stanley Kowalski in Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, in what will be the South American premiere of the opera. Moore has had great success with the role at both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Virginia Opera.

The opera is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams and has become a showcase for barihunks, including Gregory Gerbrandt, Dan Kempson, Rod Gilfry, Ryan McKinny, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Jordan Shanahan.

A Streetcar Named Desire was premiered at the San Francisco Opera in 1998 with Rod Gilfry as Stanley and its become one of the most popular contemporary American operas in the repertory. It has gone on to see performances in New Orleans, Kentucky, Carnegie Hall in New York San Diego, Washington D.C., San Francisco (Merola Opera), Cleveland, Chicago, Santa Barbara, Honolulu and Virginia Opera. It had it European premiere in Strasbourg in 2001 and its U.K. premiere in 2003, with subsequent performances throughout Europe and in Tokyo.

The Teatro Colón cast will also include Sarah Jane McMahon, Eric Fennell, and Victoria Livengood. Performances run from May 7-14, 2019

Ryan McKinny returns to Los Angeles as Stanley Kowalski

Ryan McKinny

If there was any doubt left that Ryan McKinny has emerged as a major talent it was erased with the announcement that he'll sing Stanley Kowalski opposite megastar Renée Fleming in Andrè Previn's Streetcar Named Desire at the Los Angeles Opera. It also cements his budding reputation as a major barihunk, adding the notoriously sexy Stanley to his growing list of barihunk roles that includes Hercules, Escamillo and Jochanaan.

McKinny truly emerged last summer as the Dutchman in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at the Glimmerglass Festival under the direction of Francesca Zambello. McKinny's Dutchman was the sexiest portrayal of that role in operatic history and it worked masterfully. Regular readers know that we consider Zambello the "Queen Mother" of barihunks for her early and enthusiastic concept of casting baritones as not just villains and angry fathers, but as genuine sex symbols.

Ryan McKinny as the Dutchman

Streetcar Named Desire is being performed in a semi-staged concert production under the baton of Patrick Summers. The cast also includes the riveting tenor Anthony Dean Griffey as Blanche’s guileless suitor Mitch and the wonderful soprano Stacey Tappan as Stella. Performances are on May 18, 21 and 24 and tickets are available online.

It's nice to see Ryan McKinny return to the LA Opera, as it's the company that provided him many opportunities early in his career. He debuted there in 2008 as Montano in Verdis's Otello, and subsequently appeared as the Servant in Ullmann's The Broken Jug, Dr. Grenvil in Verdi's La Traviata, Don Basilio in Rossini's Barber of Seville and Leone in Handel's Tamerlano.

He can currently be seen in two productions at the Houston Grand Opera. He's currenlty singing Donner in Wagner's Das Rheingold, also conducted by Patrick Summers, which runs from April 11-26 and then he switches to Escamillo in Bizet's  Carmen from April-May 10. McKinny is a former participant with the Houston Grand Opera Studio. (We should also mention that you don't want to miss Stefan Margita as Loge in Rheingold. His is the definitive performance!).

L.A. Opera adds Streetcar with Ryan McKinny & Renée Fleming

Ryan McKinny in Der fliegende Holländer

The Los Angeles Opera has just announced that it is adding André Previn’s Streetcar Named Desire  to its 2013-14 season. Taking on the role of Stanley Kowalski will be Ryan McKinny, who just created a sensation in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at the Glimmerglass Festival. We didn't need much evidence, as our sexy photos of him almost doubled traffic to the site.

Joining the rising superstar barihunk will be Renée Fleming in the role of Blanche DuBois, instantly making this one of the hottest tickets in opera.  The performances are being presented in a semi-staged concert version on May 18, 21 and 24. 

Rounding out the cast are  soprano Stacey Tappan as Stella and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey as Mitch Mitchell, a role he performed at the opera’s 1998 premiere. Tickets will be available online beginning on October 20th.

David Adam Moore as Stanley Kowalski at Virginia Opera & Lyric Opera of Chicago

David Adam Moore as Stanley Kowalski (photo David Beloff)

American barihunk David Adam Moore looks like he'll be making a name for himself as Stanley Kowalski in André Previn’s opera A Streetcar Named Desire, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams. He opened in the role on February 16th with the Virginia Opera with performances running through March in Norfolk, Richmond and Fairfax. Click on the highlighted links for tickets.

He then takes the role to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for a performance on April 5th. The single performance is a special night for high school and college students, who can buy tickets for $20. The remaining performances will feature barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Stanley Kowalski.

David Adam Moore in Virginia Opera's A Streetcar Named Desire
(photo David Beloff)

After his performance in Streetcar in Chicago, Moore will remain in the Windy Cindy to portray Jud Fry in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Performances run from May 4-19 and tickets are available online.

David Adam Moore featured in The Examiner

David Adam Moore from the 2012 Barihunks calendar (photo Moses Jones)

Barihunk David Adam Moore received an extensive feature in the Southeast Texas issue of The Examiner, which you can read below.

Moore can next be heard on January 15th with the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Prior Walter in Eötvös' "Angels in America."The all-star cast also includes Brian Asawa, Measha Brueggergosman and Julia Migenes. Tickets are available online. In February and March, he'll be featured as Stanley Kowalski in Andre Previn's Streetcar Named Desire with Virginia Opera. On April 5th, he'll be featured in the same role with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The musical journey of Southeast Texas native  

David Adam Moore

From youth, people struggle to find their place in the world. They long to find their path, the road that leads them to the future. Students strive to decide what direction they want their lives to take. Once decided, obstacles in the path can cause people to choose to fork and leave completely the path they thought they wanted to follow, changing the course of their futures. Vidor native David Adam Moore faced obstacles and veered onto a path that would ultimately lead him to be a highly sought after operatic baritone.

The life of a performer, a life spent traveling, city to city, country to country, across continents, is a difficult yet rewarding one, according to Moore. He was raised in Vidor, born into a family with a musical background.

“I started making music from childhood because my family are all country and western musicians going back like five or six generations,” Moore said. “I think my grandfather, John Shirley Moore, actually had his own radio show as a teenager and started playing professionally locally in the nightclub scene from the time he was a teenager. My dad, John ‘Bubba’ Moore started working the nightclub scene in Southeast Texas when he was 13. Most of my aunts and uncles and my cousins play music…Most of them are nightclub musicians but some have played on the national level. My dad toured with Tracy Byrd for 15 years or so. So, I was around people making music.”

David Adam Moore pays homage to Leonard Bernstein

Moore said his interest was in electronic music, which had gained popularity at the time. He listened to bands like The Cure, The Smiths and Depeche Mode. He worked with synthesizers and learned about the technical side of music. He also started listening to classical music on KVLU while in high school. Moore said, at that time, he planned to go to college to study theology and possibly linguistics. A talent show at Vidor High School lead him to become a member of the choir, altering his course though he did not know it at the time. [Continue reading HERE]

By request: American barihunk Rod Gilfry

[Photo from Rod Gilfry's website]

I've received three emails asking me how I could forget Rod Gilfry in a tribute to American barihunks. Although I stated my list wasn't comprehensive, he certainly is worth looking at on a long holiday weekend. He also seems to be having a lot of fun in this video of The Barber of Seville.

You can see him earn his barihunk credentials on two wonderful DVDs, Iphigenie en Tauride and in Streetcar Named Desire.

You can contact this site at barihunks@gmail.com