Barihunk Zachary Gordin in Festival Opera double-bill

Zachary Gordin sporting his Barihunk tee shirt at the gym

Barihunk calendar model Zachary Gordin is replacing fellow barihunk Hadleigh Adams in the Festival Opera's double-bill on Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins.

Gordin will sing Nedda's lover Silvio, whose affair with Canio's wife leads to the play-within-a-play's tragic turn. He'll be joined by Hope Briggs as Nedda, Alex Boyer as the jealous husband Canio and Laura Bohn as Anna, who will be led by Michael Morgan in the pit.

The Seven Deadly Sins is a satirical ballet chanté in seven scenes. Setting out on a journey across America to aid her poverty-stricken family, Anna I - manifested as two facets of one personality, one who sings and one who dances - finds herself on a seven-year, seven-city quest where she ultimately encounters each of the seven deadly sins. Anna I will be sung by Laura Bohn, who will be joined by Gordin, Kirk Eichelberger, Jonathan Smucker and Robert Norman, with Bryan Nies conducting.

With a libretto by Bertold Brecht, The Seven Deadly Sins was an artistic triumph at its premiere in Paris, but was not performed in the United States until twenty-five years later in 1958, with Lotte Lenye singing the role of Anna I.

There will be two performances of the double-bill on Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, just a short train ride from both San Francisco and Oakland. Tickets are available online.

Barihunk David Castillo fuses music and food in Seven Deadly Sins

Barihunk David Castillo and his Chefs (photo by Matthew & Becky Noel)

Barihunk David Castillo is taking a night off from singing to become the Creative Director for "The Seven Deadly Sins" at the St. Charles Room at Loyola University in New Orleans on Friday, January 6th.

The fusion-arts event will pair the seven deadly sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride) with food prepared by some of New Orleans' top culinary artists.

Audience  membes will revel in the seven deadly sins through the chefs’ sinful artistic interpretations in a seven-course tasting menu. Music will include Bach BWV 54 “Just Resist Sin,” Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s “The Seven Deadly Sins,” and a performance by Counterclassic that fuses DJ, Instrumentalists, and Projection Mapping.

Efrain Solis, who has been featured on this site, will be joined by fellow opera singers Claire Shackleton, Benjamin Lee and Tyrone Chambers. Tickets are available online.

Castillo can next be heard as a singer on February 5th, when he performs Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion. Tickets are available online.