Whoaaaaahhh Nellie

Yikes. I guess it's true - if people keep telling you something over and over, eventually you'll start to believe it. Check out this article. Just have to chime in here with my 2 1/2 cents. I'll start with some quotes directly from the article.

"I'd like to take a little bit of responsibility for this nightmare." The source of that generous offer is far from evil. If anything, Nathan Gunn is the dimpled picture of Midwestern nice guy-ness -- think a younger, darker Russell Crowe without the edge. That's why he's volunteering to take the fall for men like himself -- opera's tantalizing new breed of baritone known as "barihunks."

Ok. Take responsibility for ... bloggers (not me) coining this phrase and applying it to you? Oh come on. No no no. Whoa Nellie! Reign in that horsie! That's so the opposite of nice guy-ness. Sorry. In fact, to me, the entire article has an undercurrent of "not such a nice-guy." For example, about teaching:

...when he encounters students who model themselves after Luciano Pavarotti's physical example, he gives them a talking-to.

Oh, that is SO nice. "Hey! I don't care how much talent you have. You're too FAT! Lose the flab or you'll never get hired!" OUCH.

Although I guess I do (or did, at one point) fit into the category of

breathless blogs written by devoted admirers.

But the stalkers - I can safely say I don't do any of that. I agree that it's spooky for people to take your picture on the street without you even knowing it. And then ask you to sign it. People have chutzpah! And they also forget that everyone is human. They think celebrities belong to everyone. I witnessed that first-hand at the Met Opera stage door when I met Juan Diego Florez. And got his photo. With his permission. Next to me.

Speaking of Juan Diego Florez. He and the Barihunk and Joyce DiDonato are doing Barbiere together in Los Angeles this month. I've finally gotten over the disappointment of not seeing them all together in Chicago as planned. Perhaps one day the three of them will perform it together at the Met.

Speaking of the Met, I called them. Again. Apparently my tickets for Carmen and Die Zauberflote weren't resent because they had printed the passes for me to pick up. So in my most recent conversation, the passes have been canceled and the tickets are allegedly in the mail, for real. Uh huh. We'll see.

So back to my original topic. Here's a clip from a recent production. Enjoy.