Michael Haynes is built like Adonis, with white-blond hair and skin the color of alabaster. Wearing a tight white T-shirt and standing stock-still beneath the two-story columns of the Civic Opera building, the 29-year-old resembled a marble statue in faded black jeans.
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Three groups of men were requested to make these moves while stripped to the waist. When the first group began the piston pantomime, the rippling of various skin tones, well-developed back and shoulder muscles, and glorious pecs fell into spontaneous harmony. Applause broke out from fellow auditioners as well as opera personnel.
The turnout was unlike any other audition at the Lyric, according to stage director Herbert Kellner. “We’ve gotten some nice responses for auditions before, but never like this. Who would have thought so many of these guys would be interested in opera?”
For all his protestations, Field was ripe for the attention, an ideal candidate for the jacket of a romance novel, with sandy hair, piercing blue eyes, and a Dudley DoRight jawline. His shoulders went from block straight to slack when he realized he hadn’t been chosen.
Clark already shaves his head, so it wasn’t an issue, but Patrick Teubner, a 34-year-old model from LA, is growing his hair out for an upcoming photo shoot, so he opted for the skullcap. He also possessed the most clearly defined set of abs in the room. They lined up like beer cans in a six-pack–both in person and on his promotional postcards, which featured pictures of Teubner in Calvin Klein underwear, working out in a gym, shirtless in unzipped jeans, and provocatively posed wearing nothing but body oil and an American flag wrapped like a bath towel around his waist.
“Forty-six.”
