Introducing bass-barihunk Andrew Potter

Andrew Potter

We recently posted about barihunk Colin Ramsey singing The Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute at Opera NEO. The Sarastro in that production was Andrew Potter who we're featuring for the first time on our site.

Potter received his BA in Vocal Performance from Liberty University where he performed the Pirate King in Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, Poo Bah in The Mikado, and Baron Mirko Zeta in Lehar's The Merry Widow. 

Since 2012, he's appeared with Opera on the James in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, The Magic Flute, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Mr. Dashwood in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, and the Big Bad Bully in Stop Bully - an outreach opera performed in schools and community centers.

Since 2013, Potter has been a member of Opera Roanoke’s Young Apprentice Artist Program, where he sang the Sergeant the Pirates of Penzance and Curio in Handel's Julius Caesar. This year he'll sing the Second Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte and covering the role of Sarastro. He performed Ariodate, in Handel’s Serse and Le fauteuil/L’abre in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges with Bel Cantanti Opera in Washington, D.C.

Upcoming roles in the 2014-15 season for Andrew include Simone in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with Tidewater Opera Initiative, the Frog King in the World Premiere of Lori Laitman's The Three Feathers, Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Opera Roanoke, Ramfis with Undercroft Opera in Verdi's Aida, Mephistopheles in Concert Opera Philadelphia’s production of Gounod's Faust, Zoroastro in Handel's Orlando with Boulder Opera Company, Colline in La Bohéme with Connecticut Lyric Opera, and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Bel Cantanti Opera.

Happy Birthday, Gregory Gerbrandt!

Gregory Gerbrandt

August 19th is barihunk Gregory Gerbrandt's birthday, so it seems like a good time to check on his upscoming schedule, which runs from Broadway musical to opera. 

From October 2-26, he'll be performing in Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones' Broadway musical The Fantasticks at the Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, Tennessee. He'll be performing the role of El Gallo who sings the hit tune, "Try to Remember." The role El Gallo was originally played by Jerry Orbach (of TV's Law & Order), who asks the audience to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. A boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart, and finally find their way back to each other after realizing the truth in El Gallo's words that "without a hurt, the heart is hollow."

Jerry Orback sings Try to Remember from The Fantasticks:

Gerbrandt will then return to his native state of Colorado when he appears at the Arvada Center. He'll be playing the lead role of Stephen Kodaly in Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's Broadway musical She Loves Me. The musical was written by the same team that created Fiddler on the Roof. Performances run from November 25 - December 21 and tickets are available online.

Next year, Gerbrandt returns to opera as Stanley Kowalski in André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire joined by one of the most exciting tenor voices in opera, Casey Candebot, who is singing Mitch.  Performances are on April 24 and 26 and tickets are available online. We have a feeling that he's going to be one of the sexiest Stanley's to hit the stage in the history of the opera.

Before he dons his white tank top in Streetcar, he can be seen in the title role of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at Opera Idaho on February 13 and 15, followed by Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro on March 20 and 22 at Opera on the James in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Michael Mayes: Rockabilly Cowboy or Flexin' Texan?

Michael Mayes rehearses “Die Fledermaus” with the Opera on the James

Michael Mayes was not only one of our most popular singers featured in last  year's calendar, but he became an inspiration for other singers after he appeared in our "BariChunk to BariHunk" feature. The Texas baritone lost fifty pounds and buffed up to play the role of Joseph de Rocher in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking." The post has become one of our ten most visited posts of all-time.

Chris Carr's transformation was inspired by Michael Mayes

His workout routine consisted mostly of a fierce dedication to the Spartacus workout program. While at the Des Moines Opera earlier this year, he inspired countless singers, especially fellow baritone Chris Carr, who went through an amazing transformation.

Mayes also started a Facebook site called Operaticus where singers can go and post their progress with the Spartacus workout, ask questions or post workout tips.

Michael Mayes using a rock for his workout when there were no barbells

Mayes is curently preparing to open as Gabriel Eisenstein in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus with Opera on the James in  Lynchburg, Virginia. The cast also includes fellow barihunk and 2012 calendar model Jordan Shanahan as Dr. Falke. There is one performance on Sunday, November 11th. Tickets are available online.

A recent feature article on Mayes in the Lynchburg Burg newspaper referred to Mayes as the "Rockabilly Cowboy" (or as we'll call him, Rockabilly Baritone). However, he's also been dubbed the "Flexin' Texan." We want readers to decide which is the best nickname for Mayes. You can vote in the sidebar to the right.

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