Once Britten...

When Rodney Gilfry debuts as Demetrius in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream this month, the public will meet the Matthew McConaughey of opera That description makes Gilfry squirm. "I don't want to be known as the guy who is a pretty good singer but has a great chest," he explains. "I would like to go toward making my mark as an artist."

The six-foot-three Southern Californian started performing in high school—he was the wrestler who fell for a "blonde and gorgeous" girl who sang in musicals. "My future wife was the star," he says. "I sang in the chorus!" Married and the father of three young children, he has maintained his wrestler's physique with the help of his favorite offstage activities—jogging and scuba diving. Gilfry blossomed in opera as Britten's Billy Budd, singing the role in Geneva, Paris, and, sensationally, London, where the whole production won the Olivier Award.

A fine musician, Gilfry was a recipient last season of the prestigious Marilyn Horne Foundation award, and gave a recital in Kansas City under Home's aegis this past October. He knows more than 50 solo works by Bach. The dour John Eliot Gardiner, among the best-selling living conductors, chose Gilfry for his acclaimed Mozart CD and video series on Deutsche Grammophon. Gilfry stars in videos of The Marriage of Figaro and Cost Fan Tutte.

Gilfry would like to vary his repertoire, but his build helped him land his next big gig: Stanley in the world premiere of Andre Previn's opera of A Streetcar Named Desire in San Francisco in the fall of 1998. In the old days, that role would have gone to a famous tenor-say, Luciano Pavarotti. But the buff baritone remembers San Francisco Opera director Lotfi Mansouri saying, "I don't know of any tenors who look good in a ripped T-shirt."

ALBERT INNAURATO