"South Pacific" Heads to the South Pacific

Teddy Tahu Rhodes to perform Emile de Becque

The Bartlett Sher-directed production of Broadway's "South Pacific," which won seven Tony Awards in 2008 and played to sold-out housed for two years is heading to the South Pacific. The successful show, which catapulted barihunk Paulo Szot to international prominence, will feature New Zealand barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Emile de Becque in the "down under" run.

The production will open in Sydney for a four week run on August 11, 2012 and then head on a nationwide tour of Australia.

Paulo Szot sings the classic "Some Enchanted Evening":

Also, don't forget that for the next two weeks we'll be taking submissions for our first-ever charity Barihunks calendar. Send High Res photos and bio to Barihunks@gmail.com.

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Jason Howard Crosses Over

We recently covered Paolo Szot's upcoming appearance in South Pacific on PBS. Now Barihunks has learned that Jason Howard has taken on the role in Toronto. The Welsh singer is returning to the city where he met his wife in 1994 after a Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert.

We first featured the big, beefy singer a little over a year ago after a long overdue absence on this site. Howard's run in the touring production of South Pacific comes after he's established himself as a great Wagnerian, including a recent run in the Ring Cycle at the Opéra National du Rhin directed by David McVicar.

Howard has also portrayed Billy Budd, Escamillo, Zurga, Jokanaan and Don Giovanni. In upcoming seasons Howard will portray Scarpia in Tosca and Jaroslav Prus in The Makropulos Case. He performs regularly with his native Welsh National Opera, as well as the English National Opera, Covent Garden, Scottish Opera and Seattle Opera.

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Paulo Szot is an out gay man

http://www.afterelton.com/blog/brianjuergens/tony-winner-paulo-szot-indeed-out-gay-man

http://parterre.com/

Barihunk readers should be reminded that we noticed barihunk Paulo Szot long before he took Broadway by storm. It's nice to see the world catching up. Here is the text from the blog www.AfterElton.com:

Here's some great news for theater lovers, supporters of LGBT visibility, and anyone with a weakness for a hot Brazilian gay hunk with a body carved from marble and a voice that could melt glass:

Gorgeous and talented Paulo Szot, who last week won the Best Actor in a Musical Tony for his performance in South Pacific, is an out gay man.

There had been some speculation about Szot (who was rumored to be openly gay in his native Brazil, where he is a celebrated opera singer), but not much was known about him in the States before he took the stage in Pacific. And of course the sight of him and sound of his pipes set tongues wagging and Internet speculation afire the day after the Awards. We contacted his publicist and were told that yes, he is gay, and we're welcome to say as much.

It is of course wonderful to have yet another openly gay actor winning the Best Actor trophy (last year, newly-out David Hyde Pierce took the prize in an upset win over bisexual actor Raul Esparza), a trend that we hope to see continue ... especially in stereotype-breaking, traditionally masculine roles like the one Szot plays in South Pacific. And folks hoping to snag Szot for themselves, you might be out of luck, as the handsome man who accompanied him is rumored to be the "Eduardo" that he thanked in his acceptance speech, and he may be spoken for.

Paulo Szot

Barihunk Paulo Szot won Best Actor in a Musical at the Tony Awards for his performance in South Pacific. One can find more pictures on this blog.