Operas New Trend Barihunks

The Los Angeles Times is reporting on a new trend in Opera: "barihunks" -- men who are as well-known for their buff bods as they are for their singing chops.

The article profiles Nathan Gunn, a 39-year-old currently starring in the Los Angeles Opera's production of The Barber of Seville. When the opera ran last year in Chicago, he spent much of the first act of singing in nothing but boxer shorts.

"I'd like to take a little bit of responsibility for this nightmare," Gunn jokes to the Times. He and other opera stars such as Matthew Worth and Tom Forde are even the subject of a blog, Barihunks, devoted to "the sexiest baritone hunks from opera."

Gunn says in the article this trend of being cast for his looks as well as his talent started in the late '90s during a production of Iphigenie en Tauride.

"[The director's] like, 'Guys, in the beginning of the show, what's going to happen is you're going to be dragged in soaking wet and they're going to rip your clothes off and you're going to be bound together on this log. So if you're nervous, go to the gym,'" recalled Gunn, who was an athlete in college. "I went to the gym. Heck, yeah!"

Read the Times article here. And if you prefer tenors, check out their blog.