Nominations announced for DC Theatre Scene Audience Choice Awards

Solomon Howard

DC Theatre Scene has announced their 7th annual nominations for the 2012-2013 Washington area theatre season. A number of performers and performances that we covered were nominated for awards this year.

The DC Theatre Scene staff evaluated 291 professional productions in the Washington D.C. area in the following categories: Plays, Musicals, Family Shows, Operas, and Cabarets. This year’s awards recognize the outstanding work of 33 presenting companies, 133 individual performances and 15 ensemble cast performances.

Readers will choose the top five finalists in all categories in the first round of balloting which begins Monday, August 12th, and will determine the winners in the second, and final round, which ends Sunday, August 25th.

Hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock getting all barihunky

Nominated for "Best Opera" was Gregory Spears' Paul's Case! at UrbanArias featuring barihunk Keith Phares and hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock. The opera is based on the famous short story by Willa Cather. Blalock plays the lead role of Paul, the son of an businessman in early 20th-century Pittsburgh, who is played by Keith Phares. Paul, who is tired of his dreary existence steals money from his job and runs off to New York City to taste freedom and enjoy a life of luxury.

Also nominated was D.J. Sparr's Approaching Ali starring barihunk Solomon Howard. The opera based on the life of Muhammid Ali and 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.

Rod Gilfry and Michael Todd Simpson lent some muscle to Show Boat

Another nomination for "Best Opera" went to Show Boat with barihunks Rod Gilfry and Michael Todd Simpson alternating the role of Gaylord Ravenal at the Kennedy Center. Soloman Howard was also featured in the smaller role of Joe, alternating with Morris Robinson. The Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein classic was directed by Francesca Zambello, one of the founders of the term "barihunk."

Joining  Blalock and Howard in the category of "Best Male Performer in an Opera" is Giorgio Caoduro, for his performance in Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Washington National Opera.

Here are the complete nominations for opera. Sign up to vote and see all the nominations at the DC Theatre Scene website:

BEST OPERA  Anna Bolena, Washington National Opera
Approaching Ali, Washington National Opera
Manon Lescaut, Washington National Opera
Paul’s Case!, UrbanArias
Show Boat, Washington National Opera

BEST MALE PERFORMER IN AN OPERA
Davis Miller (Davis Miller), Approaching Ali, Washington National Opera
Georgio Caduro (Lescaut), Manon Lescaut, Washington National Opera
Jonathan Blalock (Paul), Paul’s Case, Urban Arias
Solomon Howard (Mohammed Ali), Approaching Ali, Washington National Opera

BEST FEMALE PERFORMER IN AN OPERA

Alyson Cambridge (Julie) Showboat, Washington National Opera
Aundi Marie Moore (Odessa Clay) in Approaching Ali, Washington National Opera
Patricia Racette (Tosca) Tosca, Washington National Opera
Sondra Radvanovsky (Anna) Anna Bolena, Washington National Opera

Preview of Gregory Spears' new opera with Joseph Lattanzi

Jospeh Lattanzi in his Barihunk t-shirt at the Seattle Opera (left) and at a Merola Opera performance (right)

Gregory Spears' new opera, Fellow Travelers, will receive a piano-vocal showcase at National Sawdust in Brooklyn on March 20th at 4 PM. This is the composer's first full-length opera, which follows Paul's Case and O Columbia. Paul's Case was a huge success at the 2014 Prototype Festival and subsequently at the Pittsburgh Opera. The opera was originally developed by American Opera Projects. O Columbia was presented last year by the Houston Grand Opera and featured barihunk Ben Edquist.

Fellow Travelers, which was written in collaboration with librettist Greg Pierce and director Kevin Newbury, was developed in a 2013 Opera Fusion workshop. It will feature former Barihunks calendar model Joseph Lattanzi, who will sing both the showcase and the world premiere.

Performances of Fellow Travelers will run at the Cincinnati Opera from June 17-July 10 at the Jarson-Kaplan Theater. In addition to Lattanzi, it will feature hunkentenor Aaron Blake, Mary Johnson, Alexandra Schoeny and Talya Lieberman. Tickets and additional information is available online. 

 Joseph Lattanzi performs "Our Very Own Home" from Fellow Travelers: 

Fellow Travelers, set in Washington against the backdrop of the McCarthy-era "lavender scare," tells the story of Timothy “Skippy” Laughlin, an aspiring young journalist, and Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller, a handsome, profligate State Department official. A chance encounter with Hawk leads to Tim's first job in DC, and his first love affair. As his involvement deepens, Tim struggles to reconcile his political convictions, his religious beliefs, and his love for Fuller – an entanglement that will end in a stunning act of betrayal. The libretto is based on the novel by American novelist, essayist and critic Thomas Mallon.

On February 27th, Lattanzi will sing the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Arizona Opera with fellow barihunk Ryan Kuster as Masetto and the talented Matthew Burns as his sidekick Leporello. Barihunk Morgan Smith will sing the other performances of Don Giovanni. Additional cast and ticket information is available online.

Keith Phares in world premiere of Paul's Case!

Barihunk Keith Phares (with beard) and Hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock

Over the years we've made no secret that we occassionally have hunkentenor crushes. We understand that baritones don't always have a monopoly on hunkiness, so we like to sneak on a tenor once in awhile. Jonathan Blalock is a singer with outstanding musicianship and male model looks, so what's not to love? When we learned he was performing with barihunk Keith Phares, we knew that a post was in order.


The two singers are performing in the world premiere of Gregory Spears’ Paul’s Case! at UrbanArias at Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia. The opera is based on the famous short story by Willa Cather. Blalock plays the lead role of Paul, the son of an businessman in early 20th-century Pittsburgh, who is played by Keith Phares. Paul, who is tired of his dreary existence steals money from his job and runs off to New York City to taste freedom and enjoy a life of luxury.

There are three remaining performances this weekend and tickets are available at 888.841.2787 or online.

Upcoming performance for Keith Phares include the premiere of Eric Sawyer's The Garden of Martyrs, the title role in Elmer Gantry with Tulsa Opera and Marcello in La bohème with Manitoba Opera. Jonathan Blalock can next be seen debuting Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni at Nevada Opera on May 17 and 19.

Hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock & Bass-Barihunk Aaron Sorensen receive latest Barihunks Calendar Grant

Aaron Sorensen and Jonathan Blalock

Our latest grantees from the proceeds of our 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar may be a surprise to some people. We had a lot of interesting requests for the second grant, but none struck us as original as a concert featuring a tenor and a bass! That's what hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock and bass-barihunk Aaron Sorensen suggested and we loved the idea immediately.

We can't think of many times that we've ever seen that combination in a concert hall and we wanted to help make it happen. Although a place and time has not been set of this date, the discussion around the program is quite intriguing. We also believe that the recital will be paired with some other big announcements related to the two singers. Both singers are clearly on the cusp of major careers and theaters are taking notice.

Blalock as Lazaro in Before Night Falls, Photo by Ellen Appel.

Blalock recently premiered the role of Paul in Greg Spear's critically acclaimed opera Paul's Case with Urban Arias. He is reprising the role from January 8-13 with the Prototype Festival in New York. Barihunk Keith Phares is also reprising the role of Paul's father. The opera is based on the famous short story by Willa Cather. He first caught our eye with two stunning performances at the Fort Worth Opera Festival, appearing shirtless in both Jorge Martin's Before Night Falls and Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox. Last season, he was one of the many gifted young artists at the Santa Fe Opera.

We also first spotted Aaron Sorensen at the Fort Worth Opera where he appeared as Benoit and Alcindoro in La Boheme, as well as a hilarious turn as the Wigmaker in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. Sorensen is a true bass, which is a rarity in opera these days. We have a feeling that we'll be watching this amazing talent grow into a great Verdi/Wagner bass as his career advances.

The Nebraska native honed his craft at Yale Opera Program and has gone on to sing Masetto in
Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Father Trulove in Stravinky’s The Rake’s Progress at the Wolf Trap Opera, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen and Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Tosca, and The
Rake’s Progress with Des Moines Metro Opera.

He'll be returning to the Fort Worth Opera Festival next season as the French General in Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night.

Hadleigh Adams in New York's latest indie opera success Orlando

Hadleigh Adams in Orlando (and at rehearsal)

It seems like every season, one of New York's innovative smaller companies produces a show that sets the international opera world on fire. Last season it was Gregory Spears' Paul's Case that Beth Morrison produced and starred barihunk Keith Phares.

This season, the buzz is surrounding R.B. Schlather's innovative opera/art installation of Handel's Alcina at the Whitebox Art Center starring barihunk Hadleigh Adams. The opera, which wrapped up tonight, also included soprano Kiera Duffy and the countertenor Drew Minter in the cast. Last season Schlater scored a huge success with another Handel opera, when he produced Alcina in the same
space.

Hadleigh Adams in Orlando

The innovative director has opened up these rehearsals to the public and live streamed the rehearsals. The rehearsals have become NY mini-social scenes, even attracting Yoko Ono, Justin Vivian Bond and rapper Big Dipper.

Word is that is only the second part of a trilogy, so there will be another chance to catch his latest work next season. 

Keith Phares reprises Elmer Gantry with Tulsa Opera

Keith Phares in Tulsa Opera's promotional material for Elmer Gantry

Keith Phares in going to reprise his role as Elmer Gantry in Robert Aldridge's opera about the womanizing, hypocritical religious figure who attains great heights before being exposed and disgraced. The opera will play for two nights at the Tulsa Opera on February 28 and March 2. Tickets are available online.

Also in the show is Casey Yeargin as the Revival Worker. We recently featured him for his dramatic BariChunk to BariHunk transformation, which has been extremely popular and inspirational with readers.

Keith Phares sings, "When you hear the truth do you know it?"

Keith Phares sings,"Of course, I mean nothing to her"/"She is the sign to me"

Keith Phares in Elmer Gantry

Phares performed the role with the Nashville Opera in 2008 and in his debut with the Florentine Opera in 2010. The latter performance was recorded live and released on Naxos records and named Opera News' top opera recording of 2011.

Phares recently scored a huge critical success in Gregory Spears' chamber opera Paul's Case with the PROTOTYPE festival in New York City.

Rare Hunkentenor-Bass/Barihunk concert in East Bay

Jonathan Blalock and Aaron Sørensen

One of the recipients of our proceeds from the Barihunks calendar was the team of hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock and Bass-Barihunk Aaron Sørensen, who came up with the novel idea for a concert with this rarely seen vocal combination.

The duo will perform music by George Gershwin, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Glen Roven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioacchino Rossini. The performance will be at Duende on Wed., May 21 at 7 PM  in the heart of Oakland's burgeoning arts district, The Uptown. Duende has become a popular destination for aficionados of alternative jazz and they've been eager to expand their musical offerings to include classical music. This will debut what we all hope is a regular feature on their calendar. A stones throw away from Duende is the restored Fox Theater, which features some of the biggest names in the music industry.  Tickets for the Blalock/Sørensen recital are available online.

This recital will also be the West Coast debut for two of the most talked about young artists in opera. Jonathan Blalock received rave notices from the New York Times and Alex Ross in the New Yorker for his riveting performance in Gregory Spears' Paul's Case, which featured barihunk Keith Phares. Aaron Sørensen is the bass voice that the opera world continuously clamors for and he recently appeared as the French General in Fort Worth Opera's production of Kevin Puts' Silent Night.

Efrain Solis in an ad for West Edge Opera

Blalock will be returning to the East Bay this summer in West Edge Opera's production of Philip Glass's Hydrogen Jukebox, featuring barihunk Efrain Solis and bass-barihunk Kenneth Kellogg. You can watch a preview of their exciting and innovative upcoming season above and get more information on their website. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you'll want to add their summer festival to calendar.