I'm confused. Is his nudity somehow relevant to the storyline or did he just get naked to get our attention. It clearly worked, however.

He's Hercules. If a statue of Hercules were to come to life, what would it be wearing, cargo shorts and a tank top?

Well, that statue would be wearing a foreskin, which Mr. Stains does not have, but I don't want to nitpic.

BTW–How can these actors get naked in public like this guy?

During college, I was going to be in a friend's indie film and at the last minute she decided she wanted the shower scene to have nudity, (originally I was to be shot from the waist up, while wearing a Speedo. She decided I should be nude and shot full body.) She insisted on the full monty, I declined and was replaced.

Now I'm no prude, nor a pro actor, but goddamn! Getting naked in front of hundreds–or thousands of people seems off putting.

"Now I’m no prude, nor a pro actor, but goddamn! Getting naked in front of hundreds–or thousands of people seems off putting."

It's obvious you've never been to the Black Party!

He's beautiful, sings like a dream, and comfortable showing skin. Sounds like the perfect man for me.

hrm. No mention of the actual piece, just that he's hot and naked. Yay for the gay community.

It’s obvious you’ve never been to the Black Party!

Actually, that is true. As much as I love the male form, public nudity makes me uncomfortable, even other people's. I guess I really am a prude.

maybe nudity is new to opera, but we've had nudity in dance for years, decades, centuries now …

Hey Rowan, when I say I'm gay what does that tell you about me? It tells you what I like to do sexually. So in a forum that is about being gay, and therefore about sex you'll have to excuse me if his vocal cord weren't the first part of his anatomy I noticed. Stop hanging around gay sites if you don't want to hear about sexuality, that's the distinguishing factor here. If you want to discuss opera go to an opera website. Gay people who like opera are just opera fans, their sexuality doesn't matter; no need to sub-divide. Men who are comfortable with their sexuality who talk about the hot naked tenor singing opera are gay opera fans…you see how sex plays a role when you use sexuality as the defining factor of a subgroup?

As an opera singer I know stagers are usually controversial in there work but in this particular case I find nudity quite natural and never cause me to fault listening to the vocal lines or the melody or the general form of the opera. And let's not forget Opera is one of the most complete expression of art!

I was naked for Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out. Getting naked in front of an audience is easier than people think. Just do it, get into your character and live the play.

Everyone – there has been lots of nudity in opera productions – mostly female, starting with "Dance of the Seven Veils" in Richard Strauss' "Salome". This piece is over 100 years old. [Sidebar: Alla Nazimova made a silent film of the play with an all-gay cast in the 1920s, well worth searching out.]

In most cases, the nudity is female, and is done with straight men in mind, if not to sell tickets by all the buzz generated. This is just like the movies, where female nudity is "okay" and male nudity (particularly in sex scenes) tends to be obscured.

More recently, Jake Heggie's "End of the Affair" had a full-frontal with New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes. In this case (unlike the Vivaldi production above), the nudity served the libretto well and added to the delights of the opera.

There are probably many other examples. Opera singers aren't always known for being svelte or built like models, shall we say…I would enjoy a good-looking male OR female singer while we can…