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.

Kevin Puts' "Silent Night" wins Pulitzer Prize

Barihunk Ben Wager and a scene from Silent Night

Last November, we posted about Kevin Puts' new opera "Silent Night," which was being premiered at the Minnesota Opera. We were all atwitter, because not only did it seem like an amazing new American opera, but it featured a cast with more sexy men than a college water polo team. The cast included Gabriel Preisser, Liam Bonner, Mike Nyby, Andrew Wilkowske and Ben Wager and was named as our "Best Barihunk Feast of 2011" in our year-end wrap up.

Apparently, some other pretty impressive musical minds agreed that the opera was worthy of recognition, as the Pulitzer Prize for "Distinguished Musical Composition by an American" was awarded to composer Kevin Puts for "Silent Night." The opera was commissioned and premiered by the Minnesota Opera in Minneapolis on November 12, 2011, a company that we have long praised  for its heartfelt commitment to premiering new works, especially those by American composers. We would like to add ourselves to the chorus of congratulatory messages from the music world.  

The opera. with a libretto by Mark Campbell, recounts the true story of a spontaneous cease-fire among Scottish, French and Germans during World War I, displaying versatility of style and cutting straight to the heart. The story was based on the 2005 film "Joyeux Noël."

Composer Kevin Puts

Also nominated as finalists in this category were Tod Machover for "Death and the Powers," premiered by the Boston Modern Opera Project in Massachusetts on March 18, 2011 and Andrew Norman for “The Companion Guide to Rome,” premiered on November 13, 2011 in Salt Lake City.

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