Bari-hunky Bizet in Met's Carmen

Kyle Ketelsen and Michael Todd Simpson as Escamillo

Bizet’s Carmen opens at the Met on January 19 with mezzo Sophie Koch making her role debut as the title character. But the big news for barihunk lovers is that both Escamillos, Moralès and Dancäire are all singers who have been featured on this site.

Barihunks Kyle Ketelsen and Michael Todd Simpson will take on the role Escamillo, while John Moore will sing Moralès and Malcolm MacKenzie will perform Dancäire. John Moore just set the opera world abuzz with his stunning (and nude) performance as Jan Nyman in Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's Breaking the Waves in both Philadelphia and New York.

Performances will run on January 19, 23, 27, 31 and February 3, 7, 11, 15 and 18. Tickets are available online.

Kyle Ketelsen sings the Torreador's Song from Carmen:

Michael Todd Simpson stepped in on Christmas Eve at The Met as Jaufré Rudel for Eric Owens in Kaija Saariaho’s critically acclaimed L’Amour de Loin. He is becoming a regular with the company, performing in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon and Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. From April 7-9, he'll perform the Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance in a cast that includes Stephanie Blythe as Ruth, Andrew Stenson as Frederic and barihunk Tobias Greenhalgh as Samuel.

This Fall, Ketelsen will return to the role of Escamillo at the Teatro Real in Madrid. In between New York and Madrid, he'll sing Golaud in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in Aix-en-Provence, France

Another Winning Season in Ft. Worth

Malcolm MacKenzie in Trovatore; Dan Kempson & Justin Hopkins in Hydrogen Jukebox

The Ft. Worth Opera Festival continues to establish itself as a major force among summer opera festivals internationally. The company continues to showcase some of the best emerging talent in the business today, as well as mixing standard repertory with operas that both challenge audiences and appeal to a new generation of opera goer.

Among the "second tier" of opera companies, Ft. Worth practically stands alone in terms of both innovation and quality of performance. Next season is no exception, when they will feature two standard repertory operas, Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" and Puccini's "Tosca," with two contemporary operas, Mark Adamo's "Lysistrata" and Jake Heggie's "Three Decembers."

This year's surprise hit is Philip Glass "Hydrogen Jukebox," which has been completely sold out for weeks. It also happens to feature two emerging barihunks, Dan Kempson and Justin Hopkins. The show also features them baring a bit of skin, so warn your grandma. It's no secret that we're huge Glass fans on this site where you can watch his opera "Kepler" in its entirety, so we're thrilled that Glass is being performed deep in the heart of Texas.

Emerging Barihunk Jesse Enderle and Director John de los Santos

This year's Fort Worth Opera Festival is also featuring a critically acclaimed production of Verdi's "Il Trovatore" with baritone Malcolm MacKenzie. Also on the program is an updated version of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Mikado" directed by our favorite young director/choreographer John de los Santos, who choreographed last year's hit "Before Night Falls." Fans of countertenors will be delighted with the production of Handel's "Giulio Cesare," which features two countertenors and a male soprano. Despite the high male voices, barihunk fans will be delighted to know that Achillas will sung by the stunning and gifted young singer Donovan Singletary, who was a standout in the Lindeman Young Artists program.

Donovan Singletary

Here is Singletary performing some Rachmaninov songs:



The festival runs through June 5. Check out the Ft. Worth Opera website for performance times and additional cast information.

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