Barihunk duo join SF Symphony for semi-staged Ravel opera

Kelly Markgraf and Michael Todd Simpson

Barihunks Michael Todd Simpson and Kelly Markgraf will join the San Francisco Symphony in a semi-staged performance of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells) on June 27 and 29–30 at Davies Symphony Hall. They'll be joined by an all-star cast including Isabel Leonard, Anna Christy, Nikki Einfeld, Marnie Breckenridge, Ginger Costa Jackson, Jennifer Johnson-Cano and Ben Jones under the baton of Martyn Brabbins.

The semi-staged production has previously been seen at the Opéra de Lyon in 2012 and 2016, and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in 2013. Tickets for the San Francisco performances are available online.

In L’enfant et les sortilèges, Ravel captures the fanciful world of a young child. Set in a country house in Normandy, the story opens with a boy being scolded by his mother and left alone in his room. Rebellious and fractious, the boy causes mischief—ripping the wallpaper and tearing pages from his schoolbook, sweeping the teapot off the table, swinging from the pendulum of the grandfather clock, and even injuring his pet squirrel. The objects of his tantrum come to life and turn against him, admonishing him for his misdeeds. More accusations and frightful encounters follow when the boy runs out to the garden, until he finally learns his lesson—showing kindness to the injured squirrel—and the magic of the garden turns to moonlight enchantment.

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

Michael Todd Simpson replaces Eric Owens in ‘L’Amour de Loin’ at Met

Michael Todd Simpson

Barihunk Michael Todd Simpson stepped in as Jaufré Rudel for Eric Owens on Christmas Eve in Kaija Saariaho’s critically acclaimed L’Amour de Loin at The Met. Eric Owens returns to sing the final performance on December 29.

This season, Simpson has performed at the Metropolitan Opera in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell and returns as Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen on February 15 opposite Clémentine Margaine. The other Escamillo is barihunk Kyle Ketelsen.

Simpson made his Met Opera debut in 2009 in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann in a cast that included Joseph Calleja, Kate Lindsey and Anna Netrebko. He followed those performances with appearances as 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.

ALERT: FINAL DAYS TO ORDER YOUR 2017 BARIHUNKS IN BED CALENDAR BEFORE NEW YEAR'S DAY!!! 

 

Michael Todd Simpson to open Washington Opera season

Michael Todd Simpson in WNO's Carmen (Photo Credit: Scott Suchman)

 The Washington National Opera will open its 2015-2016 season on September 19th with a new staging Bizet's Carmen featuring barihunk Michael Todd Simpson as Escamillo.
Simpson is returning to the company after successful performances as Alvaro in Florencia in the Amazon and Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat. Simpson has sung Escamillo at The Met, Seattle Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival.

He'll be joined by thrilling heroic tenor Bryan Hymel as Don José. Clémentine Margaine as Carmen and Janai Brugger as Micaela. They will alternate with a cast that includes Aleksey Bogdanov as Escamillo, Rafael Davila as Don José, Géraldine Chauvet as Carmen and Jacqueline Echols as Micaela. Also in the cast is fellow barihunk Kenneth Kellogg who will sing Zuniga.

After his run as Escamillo, Simpson returns to his current home of Seattle to sing Cecil in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. He then heads off to Dallas to sing Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat with the Dallas Opera. 

Seattle Opera's "Four Barihunks" Model Tee Shirts

Sarah Larsen with  Michael Todd Simpson, Steven LaBrie, Joseph Lattanzi, and Colin Ramsey (Photo by Elise Bakketun)

 

We recently posted about the barihunk foursome performing in Menotti's The Consul at the Seattle Opera. The opera stars Michael Todd Simpson as John Sorel, Steven LaBrie as the Police Agent, Joseph Lattanzi as Assan and Colin Ramsey as Mr. Kofner. The four singers agreed to don their Barihunk tee shirts and take some shots on the set with soprano Sarah Larsen, who plays the secretary.

Sarah Larsen with  Michael Todd Simpson, Steven LaBrie, Joseph Lattanzi, and Colin Ramsey (Photo by Elise Bakketun)

The Consul was a huge hit during its initial Broadway run, earning both the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical and the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The original production featured the legendary performances of Patricia Neway as Magda Sorel and Marie Powers as the mother. The great Verdi baritone Cornell MacNeil sang the role of John Sorel.

The story is about a devoted wife and mother who clashes with the bureaucracy of a nameless police state while trying to obtain an exit visa for her family.

Sarah Larsen with  Michael Todd Simpson, Steven LaBrie, Joseph Lattanzi, and Colin Ramsey (Photo by Elise Bakketun)

The opera runs from February 22nd to March 7 and tickets are available online.

Barihunk foursome in Seattle Opera's The Consul

Michael Todd Simpson & Colin Ramsey

Joseph Lattanzi & Steven LaBrie

Michael Todd Simpson will be joining three of the hottest barihunks on the scene in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul at the Seattle Opera, which runs from February 22nd to March 7. Michael Todd Simpson takes on the major role of John Sorel, Steven LaBrie makes his company debut as the Police Agent, Joseph Lattanzi performs Assan and Colin Ramsey also makes his company debut as Mr. Kofner. We can't remember many instances when there's been this much pulchritude on the stage at one time.

Michael Todd Simpson is also the featured singer on the Seattle Opera blog where you can read an extensive interview with the Seattle based performer. 

Colin Ramsey will reprise the role of Mr. Kofner in a different production of The Consul with Opera Santa Barbara on March 25 and 27.  That production will feature barihunk Joshua Jeremiah as John Sorel.

Bass-Barihunk Colin Ramsey to make Seattle Opera debut

Colin Ramsey in L'incoronazione de Poppea at Opera NEO

We introduced bass-barihunk Colin Ramsey last summer as one of the guys on the Operaticus fitness site on Facebook. He just finished a run yesterday as Collatinus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with Vespertine Opera in Seattle. We didn't have any pictures from the production, which is a shame, as it's one of our favorite operas to showcase barihunk talent. If some emerge, we promise to post them.

However, we did find a few amazing pictures of Colin Ramsey as Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea with Opera NEO, the summer opera festival and young artist workshop in San Diego, California.

Colin Ramsey & Alyssa Packard in L’incoronazione di Poppea:

If you missed this emerging barihunk, you'll have another shot when Ramsey makes his debut with the Seattle Opera as Mr. Kofner in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul. The opera runs from February 22-March 7. If you attend operas based on the Barihunk Quotient, then The Consul is a "must see" production, as it features barihunks Michael Todd Simpson as John Sorel, Steven LaBrie as the Secret Police Agent and Joseph Lattanzi as Assan.

Ramsey will reprise the role of Mr. Kofner in a different production of The Consul with Opera Santa Barbara on March 25 and 27.  That production will feature barihunk Joshua Jeremiah as John Sorel. In May, he moves back a few centuries to portray Somnus and Cadmus in the Pacific Musicworks's production of Handel's Semele in cooperation with the University of Washington.

Colin Ramsey in The Marriage Tango (L) and
L'incoronazione de Poppea (R)

Ramsey graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 2011, where he received the Hugh Ross Award, awarded to singers with "unusual promise." An award winner with the Pasadena Opera Guild, he went on to become a studio artist at Opera Santa Barbara and the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program.

He made his debut with Opera Santa Barbara singing the Doganiere in La Boheme. At Wolf Trap Opera he was featured as Hermann in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, Jonas Fogg in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and as Figaro and Alidoro in a program of scenes.

Barihunks to alternate Show Boat role at Kennedy Center

Rod Gilfry (L) and Michael Todd Simpson (R)

If you like your singers tall - say about 6' 5" - you might want to head to the Nation's capital where barihunks Rod Gilfry and Michael Todd Simpson are going to alternate the role of Gaylord Ravenal at the Kennedy Center. Performances begin on May 4 for a three week run. Featured in the smaller role of Joe, is Soloman Howard, who has also been featured on this site. He'll be alternating the role with Morris Robinson. The Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein classic will be directed by Francesca Zambello.

The cast also includes Andriana Chuchman and Jennifer Holloway sharing the role of Magnolia, Alyson Cambridge and Talise Trevigne as Julie, and Angela Renée Simpson and Gwendolyn Brown as Queenie.

Tickets are available online or by calling the Kennedy Center Box Office at (800) 444-1324.

Soloman Howard

In addition to his illustrious opera career, Gilfry has made a major mark singing musicals. He has sung the title role in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, appeared as Captain von Trapp in the Théâtre du Châtelet production of The Sound of Music, Lancelot in Camelot at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, and Emile de Becque in the U.S. National Tour of the Lincoln Center Production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, a production that garnered 7 Tony Awards in 2008. In November, he be performing in Mark Anthony Turnage Anna Nicole at the New York City Opera.

Musicals are also not new to Michael Todd Simpson, who made his London debut at the Barbican performancing in Carousel with Opera North. He can next be seen performing Vaughan William’s A Sea Symphony with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra on April 13 and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on May 23, 24 and 25.

Celebrating the anniversary of Carmen's premiere

Nmon Ford as Escamillo in Szeged

Georges Bizet's popular opera Carmen debuted on March 3, 1875 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. The opera was only mildly successful and the composer died almost three months to the day after the premiere. It's another one of those operas that we love for having three barihunk roles, the major role of the torreador Escamillo, the Lieutenant of Dragoons Zuniga, and the Corporal of Dragoons Moralès.

Escamillo arrives in Act 2 with his famous aria "Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre" (a.k.a. the Torreador Song). Bizet was reportedly contemptuous of the music that he wrote for Escamillo, remarking of the Torreador Song, "Well, they asked for ordure, and they've got it." We've had many baritones remark to us that it's a fiendishly and deceptively difficult aria to sing.

In the original play by Prosper Mérimée, Escamillo is a peripheral character, a picador named Lucas who is only briefly Carmen's grand passion. At the premiere, Escamillo was sung by the Belgian-born baritone Jacques Bouhy, who had already made a name for himself singing Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust and as Mozart's Figaro.

Kyle Ketelsen as Escamillo

Escamillo is a perfect barihunk role, as he's often portrayed as dashing and debonair, decked out in a uniform or other sexy costume, making him a particularly striking and attractive character. Some of the sexiest singers in the world today have Escamillo in their repertory, including Michael Todd Simpson, Mariusz Kwiecien, Nmon Ford, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Ildar Abdrazakov, Kyle Ketelsen, Alexander Vinogradov and Fernando Radó.

Lee Poulis sings Escamillo

Andrew Garland's Buff New Photos, his new CD and his upcoming Schaunard in Seattle

Andrew Garland

We recently posted a teaser about Andrew Garland's new CD "American Portraits," which we're thrilled to report has shot to the top of the Amazon classical music charts. We had the privilege of previewing the recording, so we were pretty certain that he had a hit on his hands.

Accompanied by Donna Loewy on piano, Garland sings four song cycles, Stephen Paulus' "A Heartland Portrait,"  Tom Cipullo's "America1968" (dedicated to Garland and Loewy), Lori Laitmen's "Men with Small Heads" and Jake Heggie's  and "The Moon is a Mirror."

Like tenors Peter Pears and Anthony Rolfe Johnson, who excelled in the music of British composers, Garland has seemed to master the American composers. He has previously performed works by Mark Adamo, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Lee Hoiby, Stephen Sondheim and Gian Carlo Menotti. Garland and Loewy previously collaborated on the masterful 2009 CD "American Folk Song Settings."

Order the CD HERE

You can next see Andrew Garland on stage at the Seattle Opera where he's singing Schaunard in a production of Puccini's La boheme with rotating barihunks as Marcello: Keith Phares and Michael Todd Simpson. Performances run from February 23 to March 10 and tickets are selling fast. You can reserve your seats online. We should also mention that the fabulous young tenor Michael Fabiano is alternating Rodolfo with Francesco Demuro.

Oh, and about those pictures. They are from a new photo shoot by the gifted photographer Matt Madison-Clark. By the way, if you're wondering about Garland's fitness regimen, it includes lots of bicycling and workouts at the gym. His colleague Michael Todd Simpson stays fit with a disciplined yoga regimen.

Seattle Opera announces new season with barihunk-laden Consul, Rigoletto

Donovan Singletary and Steven LaBrie

The Seattle Opera announced its 2013-14 season which includes two operas not generally thought of as barihunk operas, Menotti's The Consul and Verdi's Rigoletto.

The Consul includes three of the hottest singers on the scene, led by Seattle resident Michael Todd Simpson in the major role of John Sorel. Also in the cast are Steven LaBrie as the Police Agent and Joseph Lattanzi as Assan. LaBrie is making his Seattle Opera debut. Performances run from February 22nd to March 7, 2014. The Consul won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950.

Marco Vratogna

This year is the big 200th anniversary of Verdi's birth, so we're getting an ample supply of the Italian's operas. Usually it's Attila that features two barihunks and rarely is it Rigoletto. Seattle has cast the amazing Marco Vratogna as the hunchbacked jester and this is a portrayal that is not to be missed. We caught him at the San Francisco Opera and it was one nothing short of a masterful performance both vocally and dramatically. In the smaller, but important role of the Count Monterone is fitness guru Donovan Singletary. Gilda and the Duke will be performed by Davinia Rodríguez and Francesco Demuro respectively. The opera is being transported to 1930s Italy and performances run from January 11-25, 2014.

Michael Todd Simpson and Joseph Lattanzi

Speaking of anniversary seasons, the Seattle Opera seems to be marking a bunch of them this season, including their 50th anniversary, their 10th year at McCaw Hall and general director Speight Jenkins'  30th year leading the company.

Other operas for the upcoming season include Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment from October 19-November 2, 2013 with tenor Lawrence Brownlee and Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman from May 3-17, 2014 with tenor William Burden and the brilliant mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey. Visit the Seattle Opera website for additional information and don't miss their upcoming Ring Cycle featuring Greer Grimsley as Wotan.

Michael Todd Simpson's TV Interview

Michael Todd Simpson

Barihunk Michael Todd Simpson was featured on Dallas television station KXTD to promote his holiday concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately, the performances are over, but enjoy the interview.

You can next see Michael Todd Simpson live at the Seattle Opera in Puccini's La boheme with fellow barihunk Andrew Garland. Performances are on February 23 and 27, and March 2, 6 and 9. Visit the Seattle Opera website for additional information and tickets.

DON'T FORGET TO BUY YOUR 2013 BARIHUNKS CHARITY CALENDAR BY CLICKING BELOW. ONLY 7 DAYS LEFT!

Operagasm hosts "Sexiest Singer" online poll

Zachary Gordin as he appears on the Barihunks Calendar cover

Operagasm is hosting an online poll to see who the sexiest singers are in the world, as well as best afro, hottest red head, best "ma" in Una voce poco fa, best baritone claw and top bitch.

Three baritones are up for hottest male singer, including our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar oversize edition coverboy Zachary Gordin, Keith Miller and Erwin Schrott. They are pitted against tenor Noah Stewart and James Valenti (both of whom we've snuck onto Barihunks, because they are barihunk hot!).

The best baritone claw competition, has claw extraordinaire Michael Todd Simpson pitted against the less formidable claws of Luca Grassi, Gunther Groissboeck, Mariusz Kwiecien and Stephanie Blythe. 

You can go HERE to vote.

But before you do, click on the button below and order your calendar featuring Zachary Gordin and 13 other hotties.

Oversize version with Zachary Gordin on the cover:

Regular size version with Craig Verm on the cover and Zachary Gordin inside:

Pittsburgh's KDKA Features Don Giovanni Barihunks (and the Barihunks Calendar)

Two screen shots of KDKA's "Don Giovanni" feature

Pittsburgh Opera is opening their new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni on Saturday, November 3rd with a stellar young cast led by barihunk Michael Todd Simpson in the title role.

Pittsburgh's CBS affiliate KDKA Channel 2 ran a seven minute feature with Simpson and his sidekick Leporello, Wayne Tigges. In the middle of the feature, the conversation turned to the growing need for singers to look the part. The hosts then popped up an image of the 2013 Barihunks calendar as the female host ooh-ed and ahh-ed as shirtless and muscular pictures of Michael Todd Simpson flashed across the screen.

Don Giovanni will have four performances on November 3, 6, 9 and 11. The cast also includes tenor hunk Sean Panikkar as Don Ottavio, Joseph Barron as Masetto, Caitlyn Lynch as Donna Anna, Jennifer Holloway as Donna Elvira, Sari Gruber as Zerlina and Hao Jiang Tang as the Commendatore. Additional information is available at the Pittsburgh Opera website.

Barihunks will be traveling to the Seattle Opera in February 2013 to see Michael Todd Simpson in Puccini's La boheme, where he'll be joined by fellow barihunk Andrew Garland. Wayne Tigges can next be seen as the Superintendent Budd in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring at the Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse in January 2013.

Michael Todd Simpson in Carmen & Messiah; Pop's Sexy Carmina Burana; Varnier in Rimini

Anita Rachvelishvili as Carmen & Michael Todd Simpson as Escamillo in rehearsal; (Bill Mohn, photo)

Michael Todd Simpson brought his swaggering Escamillo to Seattle Opera for their performances of Bizet's "Carmen." In a performance that included the riveting Carmen of Anita Rachvelishvili and a host of other hot men, the American barihunk managed to catch the attention of reviewer Jackson Holtz at the Everett Herald.

"Seattle Opera veteran Michael Todd Simpson was sexy and charming as the matador." 

You can read the entire review at the Everett HeraldNet website.

Bernard Jacobson of the Seattle Times wrote:

"Don José...projected just the nebbish air of indecision that makes José putty in Carmen's hands — no competition for the sexy Escamillo and Zuniga of Michael Todd Simpson and Donovan Singletary."

Donovan Singletary in his Barihunks tee shirt

Performances run through October 29th and tickets can be purchased online. Simpson next heads down the coast to California, where he will perform Handel's "Messiah" with the amazing San Francisco Symphony. Performances are on December 16, 17 & 18. Visit the San Francisco Symphony website for tickets and additional performance information.

By the way, if you haven't seen the Seattle Opera's "If Carmen and her friends were on Facebook...," then you missed one of the funniest and creative things that we've ever seen from an Opera Company (that was meant to be funny!). You can see the entire post on their wonderful blog. 

Kudos to the Seattle Opera, which continues to be one of the most creative opera companies in the world.

Cirque du Soleil performers and Marian Pop combine forces in Detroit

The Michigan Opera Theater hired some Cirque du Soleil acrobats to add an erotic touch to Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." The piece was part of a double-bill with Menotti's "The Medium." Barihunk Marian Pop, a regular fixture with the opera company, was singled out for his performance by the local press.

"Baritone soloist Marian Pop's expressive singing was the musical highlight of "Carmina."

You can read the entire review at the Detroit Free Press website.

Jérôme Varnier

Jérôme Varnier is wrapping up a run as Palémon in Massenet's "Thaïs" tonight at the Opéra de Tours. He now heads to the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz to perform Guido in Ambroise Thomas' "Francesca da Rimini," which opens on November 18. Tickets and additional performance information are available online.

Video: Daniel Okulitch's Nude Scene from "The Fly"

Daniel Okulitch goes "The Full Okulitch" (Screenshot from Arte)

According to our Google Analytics, two of our most popular posts of all-time continue to be those of Gabriel Bermudez appearing nude in Poulenc's  "Les mamelles de Tirésias" and Daniel Okultich appearing nude in Howard Shore's "The Fly." Until now, we've only had pictures and no video. But thanks to a European broadcast of the opera, we now have some video to share of the scene that prompted fellow barihunks Michael Mayes and Michael Todd Simpson on the Texapolitan Opera podcast to coin the phrase "The Full Okulitch" to describe a full-frontal nude scene in opera.



The Canadian barihunk can next be heard in recital at the Glenn Gould Studio on December 4th in Toronto. You can check out his profile on the CBC website where you can also listen to him discuss his status as a barihunk.

We also highly recommend that you add Okulitch's wonderful recital "The New American Art Song" to your CD collection. You can purchase it at the GPR Records website. 

For the record, the only other barihunk to appear on this site other than Bermudez and Okulitch performing "The Full Okulitch" is Troy Cook. We should use this opportunity to point out that we only publish nudity if it was performed on stage. We have pictures of Leigh Melrose from "Riders to the Sea" and Laurent Alvaro from the French production of "The Fly," but felt the quality wasn't good enough to post. We also hear that there are photos of Eugene Brancoveanu from "Little Caesar," but we've never found them. 

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Barihunk Switch at Glimmerglass

Michael Todd Simpson as Escamillo

Michael Todd Simpson has been asked to step in for fellow barihunk Keith Miller as Escamillo in the current run of Bizet's "Carmen" at Glimmerglass. Simpson recently sang the role at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China. 

Simpson takes over on July 15 for Miller who decided to withdraw from the production. Performances run through August 23 in the Alice Busch Opera Theater in Cooperstown, New York. Visit www.glimmerglass.org for tickets and information. 

We recently blogged about another barihunk in the production, the Morales of barihunk Wes Mason.

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Bantering Barihunks on Texapolitan Opera Podcast

Two Wild & Crazy Guys: Michael Mayes and Michael Todd Simpson

Two of the funniest and sexiest guys in all of opera have come together for the second podcast of the Texapolitan Opera. The podcast is the creation of Michael Mayes, who has been featured on this site with his hysterical videos. His guest Michael Todd Simpson has also been regularly featured on this site, including a popular post of him in his scivvies at the Eugene Opera.

You can hear the two talk about massage and "lady boys" in Bangkok, the taste of coconut water (funnier than it sounds), riding horses on stage and at the rodeo, Simon Keenlyside asking about speaking "Texan," MILF (look it up!) and, most importantly, going the "Full Okultich" on stage. The last bit included a discussion of caring for your willie on stage, balls, opera goers with binoculars. having a small butt, needing a fluffer and other barroom banter that you won't hear on most other opera podcasts.

Make sure to listen to the Texapolitan Opera podcast, which you can find on their website or on iTunes.

Simpson and Mayes were also wondering how Barihunks manages to get pictures in our possession so quickly for posting. The answer is that most of our pictures come from wives and boyfriends, opera staffers, fellow singers. fans and the singers themselves. Thanks to the iPhone, we often get pictures the night of a performance.

If you have pictures or barihunk tips, you can contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Tim McDevitt: Latest "Les mamelles de Tirésias" Sensation

Tim McDevitt backstage during "Les mamelles de Tirésias." What's the young lady looking at so intently?

If you were to look at which opera is most popular on Barihunks based on page views by readers it might surprise some to learn that Poulenc's "Les mamelles de Tirésias" edges out Mozart's "Don Giovanni." A good reason might be that barihunks tend to bare more in this opera than in Don Giovanni, Rape of Lucretia or Pearl Fishers. Gabriel Bermudez's nude scene remains the runaway leader in terms of page views on this site.

Perhaps only "The Fly," which we presume has seen its last performance, guarantees more skin. If "The Fly" didn't provide a good night of theater, it did provide us with the term "the Full Okulitch"for a baritone who bares all. Barihunk Michael Mayes, who is one of the most entertaining people in all of opera, says that barihunk Michael Todd Simpson coined the phrase on Maye's TexapolitanOpera.com podcast. In a subsequent episode, barihunk David Adam Moore used the term and we're pretty sure it's going to stick. Hopefully, we'll have plenty of more opportunities to use the phrase.

Tim McDevitt

Tim McDevitt didn't go the Full Okulitch in his recent performance of "Les mamelles de Tirésias"  with the Julliard Opera, but his appearance in his scivvies was enough to activate our inbox. One reader told us that the performances were free, making the four night run the "hottest" ticket in town. and the best bargain. McDevitt, who was recently featured on this site, played Le Mari, the same role that made Gabriel Bermudez an internet sensation. 

We look forward to seeing more of this talented young singer in the future.

For more information about performances at Julliard, please visit their website.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Todd SImpson's Messiah

Michael Todd Simpson

The National Arts Centre Orchestra will perform Handel’s Messiah on Tuesday, December 14 and Wednesday, December 15 with barihunk Michael Todd Simpson. The concerts are at 7 p.m. in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre.

Simpson will be joined by soprano Ann Monoyios, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Turnbull and tenor James Charles Taylor. Visit the National Arts Centre website for additional information and tickets.


Please send your Messiah listings to Barihunks@gmail.com