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.

David Adam Moore shirtless as Silvio; Debuting Dead Man Walking this summer

David Adam Moore as Silvio and Adina Nitescu as Nedda

The long-awaited production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci has opened at the San Diego Opera and there are still three performances left to catch barihunk David Adam Moore heat up the stage as Silvio. This production is being directed by Australian stage director Andrew Sinclair, who thankfully has the popular Barihunks calendar model shirtless. Moore is returing to the company after his heralded 2010 swashbuckling company debut as Mercutio in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet.

The role of Silvio is not new to the American singer, as he's performed it with the New Orleans Opera. Music critic George Dansker praised those performances in Opera News: "Moore offered a gorgeously sung Silvio, and his acting, particularly his harrowing reactions to what was happening during the commedia, was top notch."

Remaining performances are tonight, Friday January 31 and Sunday February 2 and tickets are available online. 

 Interview with David Adam Moore:

Moore will be taking on what is arguably the sexiest barihunk role this summer, when he debuts as death row inmate Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking at the Des Moines Metro Opera. Performances will run from June 28-July 6 and tickets are currently only on sale to subscribers. We'll keep you posted about individual tickets sales.

Next on his agenda is a return to Israel, where he will sing Dr. Malatesta in Donizettis comedy Don Pasquale at the Israeli Opera from February 18 - March 1.