The Fandom of the Opera: A Linebacker, a White Whale... and a Secret

Summary

Podcast Summary: “The Fandom of the Opera: A Linebacker, a White Whale... and a Secret”

Podcast: Pablo Torre Finds Out
Host: Pablo Torre, The Athletic
Guest: Brandon Jovanovich
Date: April 14, 2026
Episode Theme: The unlikely, operatic journey of Brandon Jovanovich—from Montana football linebacker and New York cater-waiter to heroic Metropolitan Opera tenor and, in a new twist, performer while secretly battling stage four cancer.

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Episode Overview

This episode is a talkumentary deep dive into the life and career of Brandon Jovanovich, a former college linebacker turned internationally celebrated dramatic tenor, who recently starred as Captain Ahab in the opera Moby Dick at the Met. Through humor, candor, and vulnerability, Pablo and Brandon explore the often-elusive crossover between sports and opera, the grandeur and grit of both pursuits, and, in a surprising turn, the secret Jovanovich was carrying throughout his Met debut: a fight with stage four prostate cancer.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Voice as Sport: The Physiology and Psychology of Opera Singing

• Opera singers don’t use microphones:

  • “It’s just projection. Just all voice, man. And your body’s kind of one big resonating space.” —Brandon (03:16)
  • Pablo marvels at the physicality and training required for opera, drawing analogies to athletic performance and noting the crucial role of lung capacity, breath support, and even skull size for resonance.
  • “I love that the opera combine, where they measure the prospects, they're like, yeah, this guy's skull's a little small.” —Pablo (03:48)

• Vocal disciplines:

  • Brandon describes himself as a “dramatic heroic tenor,” likens voice types to vehicles (speed bike vs. monster truck), and talks about the endurance needed for marathon operas like Parsifal (over six hours).
  • Live opera singing in the studio: Brandon delivers an impromptu performance, breaking new ground for the PTFO studio (06:00–07:34).

2. From Billings, Montana to Metropolitan Opera: An Unlikely Path

• Origin story:

  • Grew up in Montana, played linebacker, went to a small Catholic high school and NAIA college (University of Mary).
  • Got a choir scholarship to Northern Arizona University after failing to secure a football spot.
  • “So I had to abandon [football] and just go all in on the singing.” —Brandon (16:53)

• Strange jobs and New York culture shock:

  • Spent 10 years as a cater-waiter, including serving galas at the Met, before ever singing on its stage (09:57–10:58).
  • Pablo notes: “The only person in the history of the Met Opera House to go from serving at an opening night to starring in one, that alone would be heroic enough.” (10:58)
  • Got his break into opera via a series of fortuitous auditions and “block by block” career ascent (27:03).

3. The Athlete’s Mindset & Opera’s Secret Sports Parallels

• Scouting reports:
  • Pablo asks for a “scouting report” as both linebacker and tenor, drawing out parallels in mindset and preparation.
  • Both discuss nerves, preparation, and the all-or-nothing stakes of live performance: “There’s a point where you have to stop reading [critics].” —Brandon (31:08)
  • Shared sports-Opera lingo: “ diva” origins, “Here Comes the Bride” as Wagner, and opera’s influence on modern pop culture (20:38–21:46).

4. Cultural and Historical Oddities of Opera

• Opera’s misunderstood “elitism”:

  • Brandon dispels the myth that opera is only for elites: “It used to be for the kings and queens, but... you’d have commoners...” (18:28)
  • Pablo confides his own concerns about being underdressed at the Met (18:42).

• Castrati and the extremities of opera culture:

  • Detailed explanation of the brutal history of castrati—male singers castrated before puberty for their voice (22:58–24:16).
  • “They were just celebrated because they gave up their manhood for this art form.” —Brandon (24:16)

5. The Secret: Overcoming Stage 4 Cancer While Starring at the Met

• The big reveal:

  • Pablo sets up the episode’s “secret”: Brandon appeared as Captain Ahab amidst an undisclosed cancer battle.
  • “I was receiving chemotherapy... after opening night, I flew back home, got this chemo, and then I came back... I powered through it and I got up the next day and [my vocal cords] were trashed.” —Brandon (35:03–35:55)
  • He missed multiple Met performances as a result (34:53–35:54).

• Details of the diagnosis and fight:

  • Cancer journey began with misdiagnosed inflammation and autoimmune issues from Humira, leading to kidney, bone, and lung involvement.
  • Diagnosis: Stage 4 prostate cancer, with sky-high PSA, had metastasized to bone (41:49–42:36).
  • Underwent nine rounds of chemo and is now on an advanced targeted therapy.

• Performing through private pain:

  • “No one knew. No. No one knew what was going on.” —Brandon (36:36)
  • “The only one that’s been in this podcast studio. And for that reason, you’re gonna receive these flowers.” —Pablo (44:22)

6. Memorable Moments and Quotes

• On critics:

  • “I could have opened up and, like, the angels of heaven could have come out of my mouth... he doesn't know what he’s doing and he hates me to this day.” —Brandon on a Spanish reviewer (30:40)

• On method acting as Ahab:

  • “[Opera] is about obsession and ambition and the self-destruction... you're pushing through literally to play the character who pushes through at all costs.” —Pablo (41:34)

• On hope and performance:

  • Brandon closes with a song from a Mahler cycle, emphasizing life's resilience and joy after immense suffering (47:30–48:44).

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Important Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | Notes | |--------------------------------------------|-------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | Opera singing, projection, body mechanics | 03:05–05:53 | Physicality of singing, Pavarotti’s “big head” theory | | Opera performed live in studio | 06:00–07:34 | Brandon sings, makes PTFO history | | Brandon’s Montana-to-opera journey | 09:57–18:07 | Catering at the Met, football story, scholarship pivot | | Discussion of diva, sports lingo in opera | 20:38–21:46 | “Diva” origins, cultural crossovers | | Castrati and opera history | 22:58–26:12 | Surreal history, pre-modern opera stardom | | The big secret: singing with stage 4 cancer| 34:34–36:53 | Surgeries, chemo, vocal challenges, keeping it private | | Diagnosis, illness journey | 37:07–42:36 | 2015 onset, diagnosis, treatment stages | | On handling critics, vulnerability | 30:25–31:14 | Harsh world of opera reviewing | | Brandon’s post-cancer optimism song | 47:30–48:44 | Song closes the show on resilience and hope |

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Episode Highlights & Tone

• Light, self-effacing humor throughout: Bugs Bunny opera, “opera combine,” and the notion of operatic “scouting reports.”
• Candid vulnerability: The private strain of battling cancer while embodying public strength as Ahab.
• Rich cultural/historical anecdotes: Castrati, diva’s sports etymology, and opera’s omnipresence in pop culture.
• Inspiring personal journey: From a Montana football player/cater-waiter to an acclaimed international tenor performing through the most difficult circumstances.

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Standout Quotes

• On opera’s athleticism:
  “Singing starts with the breath, so you need to have really fantastic breath support... If you have really large lungs, that helps tremendously.” —Brandon Jovanovich (04:02)

• On method acting as Ahab:
  “I think we all have so many variations of a white whale... at one point or another, I’ve been chasing.” —Brandon (12:54)

• On overcoming:
  “You go out there, you mess up, you keep going. They can’t stop and, ‘let’s rewind, take that again.’ No, you do it.” —Brandon (30:25)

• On singing through cancer:
  “No one knew. No one knew what was going on… The audience, the reviewers, certainly, but the audience… They didn’t know that you were dealing with stage four prostate cancer.” (36:36–36:43)

• On hope:
  “[Mahler] wrote this really heartfelt song about suffering and such. But in the end, it says... the earth is always going to have spring… So, you know, life lives on.” —Brandon (47:30)

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Conclusion

This episode offers a moving, multidimensional exploration of the intersection between sports and high art, ambition and humility, masculine toughness and profound vulnerability. Jovanovich’s journey, as candidly recounted, transcends the world of opera, becoming a universal story about perseverance, identity, and the surprising harmonies that connect disparate worlds. The episode closes with a message—and melody—of hope, resilience, and, as Pablo puts it, the rare “happy ending” in opera… and in life.

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For a powerful, human, and unexpectedly funny look at ambition, art, and health—this is essential listening, whether you know Lohengrin from the wedding aisle or only from Bugs Bunny.

Transcript

[Pablo Torre]

Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre and today we're going to find out what this sound is. Right after this ad.

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[Pablo Torre]

I just heard something that completely shocked me, which is that 45% of girls and 32% of boys feel overwhelming stress from just being on social media. And together 25% of both feel worse about their own lives. Researchers found teens who spend more than five hours a day on their phones are at double the risk for suicidal thoughts. Bottom line, teens and phones don't mix. And with a daughter myself, I am constantly worried about when she reaches an age where we'll have to have the phone talk. But here's the good news. There is a solution. A company called Gab, which has solved the problem by doing something that no one else is doing. Their approach is tech in steps. Tech in steps works by providing safer phones and watches for kids with no social media. Tailored to every age, offering the right device at the right time. From GPS tracking enabled watches for younger kids to phones with parent enabled apps for tweens and teens. Each device allows kids to more safely grow their independence. You don't have to give your kid a device that was made for an adult. Get them Gab, which keeps them socially connected without social media. And right now you can use our code to get 60% off a kid's phone. That will make parenting easier and give you more peace of mind. That's why I am recommending GAB. Visit gab.comptfo and use code PTFO for an exclusive offer. That's Gab Gabb. One of the basic things that I did not appreciate about opera until I was doing some amount of research into it was that you guys don't get to use the thing that we're talking into right now.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Right.

[Pablo Torre]

And I felt like such a idiot. I've talked to singers before. The microphone does a lot of the work. And then I'm realizing, oh, traditionally in opera, you guys don't use microphones.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

It's just projection. Just all voice, man. And your body's kind of one big resonating space. And, you know, if you have a larger head, it helps a little bit because that sound bounces around.

[Pablo Torre]

Wait, is that right? Like, the skull actually creates an amplifying.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

As far as I'm concerned. That's a. That's a fact.

[Pablo Torre]

I'm.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I'm.

[Pablo Torre]

Now I'm gonna measure Pavarotti's skull shape.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's right.

[Pablo Torre]

I'm like, you.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

You don't get me. There's some smaller. I know there's some people. You don't have the largest heads, but I know that when you start singing, the bigger rep. Everyone that I talk to seems to have a big old noggin. So, yeah, I love.

[Pablo Torre]

I love that the opera combine, where they measure the prospects, they're like, yeah, this guy's skull's a little small.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Going to pass. I'll pass on that.

[Pablo Torre]

But just even upkeep of your voice. I was joking to you in the kitchen. But, like, that is the money maker.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I mean, it's a whole body thing, because singing starts with the breath, so you need to have really fantastic breath support. If you have really large lungs, that helps, you know, that helps tremendously. I don't. It's the craziest thing.

[Pablo Torre]

You have mediocre lungs.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, like, I have. Yeah, exactly. It's the craziest thing. But I know how to use the diaphragm and stuff. So because you train so much that you like walking, you don't think about walking, how to step and put the foot down and stuff. But when you start singing, you have to think that way, and then you just use that more and more and more, and then you. All of a sudden you're singing, and you don't have to think about the technique anymore.

[Pablo Torre]

I want to get eventually to your actual past life as a football player.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Okay.

[Pablo Torre]

I do. I don't just want to metaphorically talk about football. I want to talk about that in real terms. But your scouting report as an opera singer. Yeah, what is it? Brandon Jovanovich and Thank you for being here, by the way.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, please, please, please. My pleasure, my pleasure.

[Pablo Torre]

What position do you play?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

So I'm a tenor. There's. There's all these subcategories. So there's a soprano, mezzo soprano, there's something called a counter tenor. There's a ten baritone base. And there's other. There's a bunch of different little categories within that. But I do a lot of analogies with bikes or, or automobiles. So with somebody's maybe a speed bike, somebody's maybe more of a Harley, somebody's maybe more of a race car, somebody's made a monster truck, a semi truck. I'm more of probably the semi truck or monster truck variety. You know, I've got to do these long haul operas that last, you know, some of the longest one, I think with intermissions is about six hours and there's a couple, you know, two breaks in there, but it's just you. It's a huge orchestra pumping out this sound and you kind of have to learn to ride right over that.

[Pablo Torre]

The physical upkeep.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

The power that the monster truck needs to generate.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, sure, yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Could you help convey to our audience what that might sound like? Some tastes of that.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Okay. Okay. So, you know, as, as a tenor, I'm. I'm kind of known as a dramatic heroic tenor is what I'm kind of called just the repertoire that I sing.

[Pablo Torre]

I should say that we have never had opera performed in our studio before.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Okay. Okay.

[Pablo Torre]

So you're breaking new ground and possibly glass. I don't know how this is going to go.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's right. That's right. I don't know if I should move back or.

[Pablo Torre]

You're looking at the wrong guy to give you advice on how to position this device that you'd normally never get to take advantage of.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, I wish. Oh, my gosh. This would be amazing. This would be a game changer. So I just did this thing recently out in San Francisco. It's called Parsefal. It's a Wagner opera. I've been singing for three days straight. But let me give you a little. Let me give you a little taste. So I go, I sing homophobic. And so that's kind of the start

[Pablo Torre]

of when I. I mean, I didn't. I forgot the bouquet to throw at you. That's right. I apologize. But damn. I mean, look, dramatic, heroic tenor is what you had said.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

I feel like. Okay, we believe you. We don't need to check id. We believe. I should admit that my Opera education primarily comes from, like, movies and also Bugs Bunny.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Exactly. That was mine when I was growing up. Yeah. I knew nothing about opera. Nothing. Last thing in the world I thought I'd be doing is this.

[Pablo Torre]

I vividly just remember the Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

What's Doc. Cartoon.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's right. That's right. Kill the wabbit. Kill the wabbit.

[Pablo Torre]

Kill the wabbit. Kill the rabbit. And then at the end, as he's being carried by Elmer Fudd up to the Celestial Forever, Bugs kind of turns at the camera and says, well, what did you expect in an opera? A.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's it. That's it. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

So at this point in the episode, you may understandably be wondering why in the. We are doing an episode that seems to be about opera, which is an understandable sentiment. It's no less than Timothee Chalamet told Matthew McConaughey before the Academy Awards earlier this year.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it's like, hey, keep this thing alive.

[Pablo Torre]

Even though no one cares about this anymore. All respect to the ballet and opera people out there, but I did not book Brandon Jovanovich, our guest today, simply to get you to care about opera, even though sports and pop culture have stolen from the opera house for a very long time. As you will see. I booked Brandon because he happens to be a former college linebacker whose own dramatic arc is as remarkable as any I have covered. Starting back when Brandon moved to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in the mid-90s.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I was a cater waiter for about 10 years, and I've worked some fantastic parties. I learned so much about New York.

[Pablo Torre]

Oh, you're getting a crash course in the highest rungs of New York hierarchy.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

It's nuts. And I'm from Billings, Montana, so I knew nothing about any of this.

[Pablo Torre]

And one of Brandon's very first gigs just happened to be at the largest and busiest opera house in the entire world, the Metropolitan Opera House right here in New York City, where he found himself serving at several opening night galas.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

And I remember the first time I had this big platter of. It was a salmon, and I had to serve it at this really high end. It was $10,000 a table. And I walked out there. I was in my tuxedo, and I was one of the farthest tables away, and I walked out there, and I went to the first person, and they were talking, and I leaned down and said, excuse me. And as I leaned down to say, excuse me, the tray Just tipped a little bit and all the juice went right down this guy's. He went jumping up and. Oh, my God.

[Pablo Torre]

And if Brandon were merely the only person in the history of the Metropolitan Opera House to go from serving at an opening night to starring in one, that alone would be heroic enough right there. But that is not even the story we're here to tell. Because when this married father of three debuted last year at the Met as Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, battling a form of marine life even more haunting than $10,000 salmon, Randy Jovanovich was also hiding a profound personal secret. A secret I am hoping he will ultimately discuss with us here today. Moby Dick. Speaking of happy endings, by the way, I guess for those who don't remember or know the character of Ahab.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Can you explain him to our audience?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah. Ahab is this captain aboard the Pequod, and he was injured by this whale, and it was a white whale. And he has this maniacal need to hunt that whale down and to kill it, And doesn't work. Doesn't work out for him.

[Pablo Torre]

Does not get the opportunity for a two camera, Bugs Bunny style wink and nod. That's spoiler alert. Being consumed by obsession and ambition does not work out. Yeah, go figure for old Captain Ahab.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah. No, no, by no means.

[Pablo Torre]

When you were playing Ahab, were you a method Ahab?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, my gosh. I mean, I think we all have so many variations of a white whale. I, I've got, I've got all.

[Pablo Torre]

What part of you are haunted by the fact that you never made it?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, gosh. You know, back in the day. Oh, that was, that was a big. That was a big. That was a big deal. You know, I mean, don't get me wrong, I was never, I, I, it was all projection. I wanted to be something. There was no way I was going to make it, but I really wanted to. And happiness, financial security, you know, health, happy kids, you know, it's, it's, it's funny. I, I've got all these things that at one point or another, I've been chasing.

[Pablo Torre]

When I was hearing you describe the plot of Moby Dick, I was like, ah, so there's this guy who's obsessed with this quest, and he will do anything to get it. And in the meantime, all the people who work for him are kind of wondering, is this guy insane?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

And I'm like, I feel like the people behind the glass working on my show often think that of me. Like, hey, we're going to get the Opera guy in today. Is that a good business idea?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I'll be real honest. I was surprised as anyone. You know, I'm going, what the hell are you talking to me for? You know, but okay, hey, I'll do it.

[Pablo Torre]

Your scouting report as a football player? Yeah, you gave me one as the heroic, dramatic tenor. What were you like as a linebacker? Brandon?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Okay, so I. I'm from Billings, Montana, and this was back in the 80s. I, I was playing. I went to a little Catholic high school out there called Central. Central High School. And, and my dad, he was a big guy. He was about 6, 4, 6 5. He's probably weighed 300 pounds.

[Pablo Torre]

Big Skull, I think.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, he had a big old head. He had a. He had a big head. And I think they looked at him and they said, oh, oh, this guy's going to be. This guy's going to be something. And I got up to, you know, in high school and my one year I played in college, I was. I got up to about a 190. That's all I could. I capped out at that. And, you know, how was I. I was okay. I wouldn't say any. I wouldn't say great. I was good enough to get a scholarship to a minor. A minor college. NAIA college. The University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota.

[Pablo Torre]

That's right.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah. Their second. They only, they only had. Their program was up for two years and I got a scholarship and out of state scholarship to go there. So I just played there for one year. And it was, it was 80 below for three or four days. With windchill.

[Pablo Torre]

It was 80 below with windshield.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, yeah, 80 below for this one weekend. And I'm from Montana and it gets down cold. You know, it's 40 below there. I can remember vividly 20 below, 10 below. I mean, I, I'm used to cold weather, but that 80 below and on the inside of our dorm, there was probably an inch and a half, two inches of ice on the bottom as all the, the moisture goes down the, the glass. But I said after that weekend, I said, man, I'm getting out of here. So ended up going to school down in Arizona.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, you wind up at Northern Arizona University.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I, I contacted NAU and I said when I was still up at University of Mary and I said, hey, I'd like to come down and play football for you guys. And they said, well, you, you know, you need to try out and all that stuff. I said, okay. They said, you know, you could try out whenever you get down here and we could put you on Maybe the next season, whatever. So I went down, but I couldn't afford to go to school down there, like, you know, like, with the whole tuition and such and the way my family finances and such. So I needed a scholarship. So I had always sung in choirs. You know, my mom used to roll these chords on the piano and. And sing a lot of Christmas songs all year, all year round. And I would sit down and sing with her. So I thought, okay, let me send in a tape to the music department. And they gave me a choir scholarship. So I got down there and I thought, okay, I'm on this choir scholarship. I sing a choir in the afternoon. I'll go play football, you know, after that. And they said, no, no, no, you're here. You've got to start doing all the musicals, the operas. You've got to earn this scholarship.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. You got a roster spot. You got to justify.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's exactly right. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

I mean, they're scouts. Their reputations are on the line. They signed this kid sight unseen off of a VHS based on the chronology of. Of our civilization.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

And. And, yeah, you got to prove it.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I've got to prove. I've got to. Yeah. So I had to be there. So I had to abandon that and just go all in on the singing.

[Pablo Torre]

And when do you realize this is something that I might be doing for potentially the rest of my life?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

It wasn't until I came out to New York and people kept saying, your voice is so big and you should really try opera.

[Pablo Torre]

Cause you were trying to do at first what in New York?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I was on this, like, I did a little stint on Guiding Light, like just this little walk on, you know, little. Little tiny thing. I did these little student films. I did a little modeling for.

[Pablo Torre]

Please tell me it's some sort of product. That is deeply embarrassing.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, it was. It was a football. I was. I was Modells. Is that.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, yeah. The sporting goods store.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, the sporting goods store. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

What year was this, roughly?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

This must have been maybe 95, 96.

[Pablo Torre]

Okay, so 95, 96. I'm 11 years old. It's entirely possible that I buy a football at Modell's here in New York because of Brandon trying to be his best quarterback that he never was.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Exactly, exactly. You know, that's it. So I started getting into a little bit. Somebody said, go and try this opera apprenticeship out, which I went down to Santa Fe and did that. And. And people like my voice. And I started getting more and more work from that, and that slowly started taking off from There.

[Pablo Torre]

At what point do you realize that the culture shock of opera is something that you need to acclimate to?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

It still is.

[Pablo Torre]

You know, I mean, you're from. Look, I get. I'm a. I'm a New York elitist, as you now know. Montana is not a hotbed of opera.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

No, by no means.

[Pablo Torre]

And I think of, like, the fanciest, most elite circles in New York as well as Europe.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

It's got a bad rap. I would say that it's elitist. It really isn't, but it's this idea that it is. It used to be for the. For. Well, it used to be for the kings and queens, but there were, you know, you'd have commoners and such that could go and watch this also.

[Pablo Torre]

Oh, I. So I should say that in my adulthood, I have gone to Metropolitan Opera, and I have been very concerned upon arrival that I have been severely underdressed.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Okay.

[Pablo Torre]

And then only to realize, oh, wait a minute. No, there are some people who are, like, wearing business casual. Not everybody's wearing a tuxedo.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, exactly. Yeah. But.

[Pablo Torre]

But on stage, I mean, truly, I think of Pavarotti.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, exactly. Oh, boy. That's. That's who I grew up with. To see in here.

[Pablo Torre]

And just like a white handkerchief, a white handkerch. This is just where I turn it into first take. But for opera, is he the goat who's the greatest of all time to you?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

You know, some people will say that he is. For me, there's a guy named Franco Corelli, and he had this voice. He was just an. An animal. And he's this Italian spinto tenor, they called him. And he could sing these notes like you wouldn't believe. A once in a lifetime, sort of a 10. But there's so many. There's another guy named James King, and he's more of a heroic tenor, like. Like. Well, like I am. But he's a goat in my field. You know, he just is a phenomenal voice.

[Pablo Torre]

It occurs to me also, as I'm reflecting on the language we use in sports to describe star athletes. I mean, one word is literally, it turns out, from opera, which is the word diva.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, yeah. Oh, exactly. Oh, sure.

[Pablo Torre]

Speaking of the. Your female counterparts here. But like, we got that wide receiver. Such a diva, right?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

It originates apparently from the Italian for goddess, and it was used in 19th century opera. This is from your culture, your ancient culture.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's it. That's. There's so. It's funny, there's so many references. There's so much opera that is in our society that we don't even bat an eye at. We don't know the. The wedding. The wedding song. Here Comes the Bride, all dressed. That's from Lohengrin. That's. That's from a Wagner opera.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, we're all doing Wagner at our weddings. That's right.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah. You had no idea. And, and I didn't know it until about. Heck, I don't even know 2010. Somebody said, you know, that's from. That's from the show you're going to be singing in a couple years. I said, oh, geez, you're kidding me. And, yeah, there's just ton of things the. You know, Carmen has so many songs that's. You just hear riddled throughout commercials and. And just in life.

[Pablo Torre]

Academy Award winner Tatum o' Neill is his secret weapon. Together, they turned the Bad News Bears into a team of superstars. You will never forget the Bad News Bears, the incredible story of how a disaster combined with a catastrophe and somehow became the greatest champs who ever played ball.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, it's. It's. It's crazy, all the little pieces. And when you're in Europe, it's more. Even more so. It's part of their language. You go into a grocery store and you hear opera in the background, but there's definitely a lot of opera here in the States that you just don't even realize.

[Pablo Torre]

So I did promise you a secret, and we are going to get to that. The thing that Brandon Jovanovich was carrying onto the Metropolitan Opera House stage as Captain Ahab in just a bit here. But in order to truly understand the devotion and the intensity that this particular art form is steeped in, I did want to try and explain something else first. The concept of the castrato.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. You have these. These young boy. Boy singers, and they. They sing and they have this high soprano sound, and it's really crystalline. And they still sing like this in London and in a lot of European countries, maybe over here, too. I'm sure there's one or two beautiful voices. And back in the day, you had a good voice and you needed a career. They would say, we're keeping that voice. Years before testosterone kicks in, we're going to go ahead and neuter you. And they would snip the testes off of these kids, and their voices are going to be like this their whole life.

[Pablo Torre]

And this was in part because in various parts of Europe under the control of the Catholic Church, such as Rome, women were banned from the stage altogether. Until about the 1800s. And so these men with the pre pubescent vocal structures and the adult lung power, despite that, came to be some of the richest and most famous celebrities in the whole world. The Timothee Chalamet's of their time, in fact, composers like Handel and Vivaldi and Mozart, maybe you've heard of him, they wrote operas specifically for castrato sopranos.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

And they were just celebrated because they gave up their manhood for this art form. I mean, it wasn't against their will. I mean, you know, maybe they wanted to. At the time. I don't know how many. 10 or.

[Pablo Torre]

I'm not here to turn a political. To make a political turn exactly. In terms of. We need to prosecute those. I. But. But the value.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Ascribed to people who could hit those notes.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

I mean, even into the turn of the 20th century, the man regarded as the world's first ever international recording star was an opera singer named Enrico Caruso, who was not a castrato, we should definitely point out here, but he was paid extraordinarily handsomely to use his physical gifts.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

So Enrico Caruso, he came over and he had this huge, huge, you know, probably the equivalent of singing for a million dollars a night. You. And that was. He was one of the most famous. But there was plenty of people that had the same sort of fanaticism behind them and want people wanting their autograph and whatever.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

And this was before we had a lot of sports in the United States and this was the entertainment for a vast majority of the country.

[Pablo Torre]

Live arena filling entertainment.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Exactly. You know, and. And they're up there doing their own sort of sports, like, you know. Yeah. Being able to pump out this sound for hours at a time.

[Pablo Torre]

The first time that the New York Times writes about you, it's 1996. You're doing the gondoliers, I believe.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Okay.

[Pablo Torre]

And here's the quote. But the true heir turned out to be the Duke's strapping attendant. Strapping attendant to your physical description, just now winningly played by the bright voiced tenor, Brandon Jovanovich, whose stiff demeanor was a refreshing contrast. Some of the mugging going on around him. And again, you've now typecast yourself as the big American oaf.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Right.

[Pablo Torre]

But you're on these stages and you're like infiltrating this, this company, this, this. This culture and the climb that was 96, 30 years ago.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

She's Louise.

[Pablo Torre]

How do you describe the climb?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

My career has had a very slow and steady Ascension. It's been slow, though. A lot of these kids nowadays, they're taking off a lot faster. Mine was small companies, small roles, small places, small houses. And I just kind of kept building block by block until I make it to the Metropolitan Opera or Paris, Vienna, you know, La Scala. And, yeah, it's a really wild. I never in the million years thought I was going to get there or that I deserved to be there, but. But that's the way it worked out for me.

[Pablo Torre]

What was the sort of I can't believe this is happening to me moment on Player podcast? In sports, what was your welcome to the League moment? Brandon Jovanovic, what was your welcome to Opera moment?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

So I was in Le Comte Hoffman, the Tales of Hoffman. And I had sung it in this little theater in Nantes, France. And then they needed a cover. Somebody was going to get one performance at La Scala in Milan. This is in 2004. So I went and auditioned for him and they gave me the role. I went. There was a rehearsing, horrible rehearsal experience. I mean, it was really bad. There was a. The director was just sheer hell. And the other tenor, the main tenor, he was on. He was on tour. So I was rehearsing with both people and. And then it came to the. The tenor arrived just before we opened, and he said, I cannot sing today. My. My voice is very tired. So the. The conductor at the time, his name is Gary Bertini, he said, brandon, come down here, sing. So I had to stand and really not. You don't do this. You sing with other tenor right there. So I sang the whole first. The prologue and the. In the first act. And the tenor walked down this other guy, and he came and he goes a little brown. And I. I don't know you. I'd like to meet you. And he goes, my name is so and so. And so I introduced myself. He goes, I want to let you know there's 95% chance. I know I don't sing opening night. I said, oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know. He goes, actually, it's a hundred percent. I'm going to quit now. And so he went and quit. And so I thought, geez Louise. So I ended up opening this huge production at La Scala, and I was pinching myself, you know, was I ready for it? Not necessarily. But was I up there doing it? You bet. I was.

[Pablo Torre]

Much like Tom Brady filling in for Drew Bledsoe.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's right.

[Pablo Torre]

On short notice. So, too, did you take the stage?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's it.

[Pablo Torre]

Front of the world.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

What are nerves like in opera, it's

[Brandon Jovanovich]

very nerve wracking, you know that you get still.

[Pablo Torre]

You still feel it.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Before I walk out on stage, I'm very nervous. As soon as I get out there. It's like being at home. It's. I, I feel so comfortable on a stage and, and I feel very secure and I like to, I like to pretend and, and I. You don't see when you're on stage, you don't see the audience. It's just bright lights in your eyes. And I become a character. I'm not Brandon. So it's much easier once you're on there. But, but beforehand. Oh, it's. It's very nerve wracking. And you know, you have one take. That's what I was telling my mom back live. I was saying, you know. Yeah, you know, this is a one shot deal. You, you go out there, you mess up, you keep going. They can't stop. And let's rewind. Take that again. No, you, you do it. And, and so there's a lot of nerves involved because, you know, no, nobody's perfect. You're going to mess up something, whether it's a word, whether it's a note, whatever, and you keep going again.

[Pablo Torre]

In my review of opera criticism.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Right.

[Pablo Torre]

It does not seem like these people are particularly generous.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

No, by no means. Oh, gosh.

[Pablo Torre]

I'm trying to imagine like what it sports parallels. Like, these columnists are really just like on my ass.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, please. I have this one guy, a Spanish reviewer, and he was in Europe and I tell you, I could have sung. I could have opened up and like, you know, the angels of heaven could have come out of my mouth and.

[Pablo Torre]

Horrible.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

You know what? What a sound. Oh, it's disgusting. He doesn't know what he's doing and he hates me to this day. I mean, I, he's probably reviewed me over 20 times. I've never gotten a good review from this guy, ever. And there's a point where you have to stop reading him. You know what I'm.

[Pablo Torre]

You literally could have castrated yourself and would not have done the job.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's right.

[Pablo Torre]

Quick question. Have you ever tried hiring someone in another country and thought to yourself, how hard could it be? Because with PTFO correspondence all over the world, we did, and yeah, it was much harder than we expected. What I didn't expect specifically was the chaos. Figuring out contracts, navigating local labor laws, juggling payroll in different currencies, constantly wondering if we were accidentally doing something illegal. Yeah, I mean, we had spreadsheets separate tools for payments, another for contracts. It was messy and honestly pretty stressful. That's why I wish we had pebble back then. Pebble is an AI powered global HR platform built for founders and operators hiring around the world. It lets you hire, pay and manage talent in over 185 countries and you can send offers and get people onboarded in minutes. No more stitching together a bunch of tools. Pebble brings contracts, payroll, benefits and compliance into one place with built in guidance so you're not guessing your way through international hiring. And if you're scaling fast, that clarity is everything. The fastest growing companies use pebble to stay organized and reduce risk without becoming HR experts themselves. Bottom line, it simplifies global people operations so you can actually focus on growing your business rather than chasing down compliance questions at midnight. If you're hiring globally or even thinking about it, make sure to check them out. Their new discounted pricing is just US$399 per month per employee and you receive 30% off benefits. Go to High Pebble AI to get a free estimate. That's hip hop EBL AI. Hey, Pablo Torre here. And this episode of Pablo Torre Finds out is sponsored by NerdWallet's new podcast, Smart Travel. You may be familiar with that One friend who always finds the best travel deals, picks the right cards, somehow ends up in first class for the price of coach. Well, Smart Travel is like that friend, but in podcast form. They cover things like the quick math for knowing when to pay with points or with your card, and how to book busy season trips without the busy season sticker shock. And they don't just tell you what to do, they explain the why behind it so you can make smarter calls the next time you're booking a flight or planning a trip. It's the kind of advice that sticks with you not just for one trip, but for all your future ones. So whether you're planning a big vacation or just trying to stretch your travel budget a little further, Smart Travel helps you get more out of every mile, travel smarter and spend less with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts and upgrade your getaways.

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[Pablo Torre]

One of the things that. And you were just referencing this, how you were. You got this experience in Europe where suddenly you were the understudy, having to fill in.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

There were a number of performances of you doing Moby Dick at the Met Opera in New York City, where your understudy turned out to be needed.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, a bunch. A bunch. Three in a row.

[Pablo Torre]

And so for those who don't know why that is. Which is. I think everybody listening to this.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Why?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I was receiving chemotherapy, and so I was supposed to have six rounds of chemo. They added three rounds for me. And so on the seventh round, it was going to be after open opening night. And it was. I flew back home, got this chemo, and then I came back and I think I was done. The show was on a Sunday, I believe. I flew out Monday morning, got this chemo, flew back on Tuesday. And then I think we had a show on Thursday or Friday, I forget. And my friend from college was coming in, so I wanted to be sure to sing for him. He and his daughter. He had just lost his wife recently, so I wanted to make. It was a big thing for him. So I was feeling a little funky because it does something to your cords. It kind of dries you out. So I. So my cords weren't working quite right, but I. I powered through it and I got up the next day and they were trashed.

[Pablo Torre]

Your vocal cords?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, my vocal cords, they were just fried. So I thought, okay, I'll take this next one. I'll let Alex. He was my. My cover at the time, and I. I was going to let him take this performance. And so he sang it. And then I was hoping I was going to be ready for the next one. No way. So he sang the next one. Then I was hoping I was going to be bad. Good enough for the next one. Nope. No way. So then I was able to do the last ones, but, yeah, it was trying experience. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

I have a habit of burying leads on this show, but this one, I. I do. I did want to withhold. Just because your story, everything we've described took place in this context, which, again, the Audience. The reviewers, certainly, but the audience.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

You're.

[Pablo Torre]

They didn't know.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

No, no. No one knew. No. No one knew what was going on.

[Pablo Torre]

They didn't know that you were dealing with stage four prostate cancer?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, no. No one knew it at the time. Yeah. And. And for the most part, no one knows now. You know, maybe. Maybe the few listening to this now will.

[Pablo Torre]

But the people who have made it this deep in.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pablo Torre]

Are realizing. They're realizing. One of the reasons why I was like, immediately. Yes. I want to understand how the. This guy did this.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, yeah. It was something.

[Pablo Torre]

I don't understand how you showed up to play that game.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Let's go back a few years.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah, please. It turns out that the story of how Brandon Jovanovich became the first person to take the stage of the Metropolitan Opera while Secretly fighting stage four prostate cancer starts in 2015.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

In 2015, I was singing. Oh, gosh, it was Die Meistersinger out. And this is another Wagner opera. This was the longest one, I'd probably say that I sung. And this was out in San Francisco, and I ate something bad, and I got really sick, and. And it just kind of no big deal. I went. We were now working with the orchestra and stuff. And so I was on stage, and my knee started hurting. Thought that was odd. Maybe I moved wrong. Then my ankle started hu. Then they both started swelling. This went over a little short period of time, and I kept going to the doctor over and over again, and he said. Finally he said, you know, when you get home, go see a rheumatologist.

[Pablo Torre]

And a rheumatologist, by the way, is a doctor who specializes in autoimmune diseases in muscles and joints and connective tissues, some of the more confusing mysteries of the human body.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

So I went to a rheumatologist, and they said, you have something called ankylosing spondylitis. It's a disease that you get swelling of, a lot of swelling in your. And your joints kind of start in. Your back, especially, starts fusing. And he said, you know, you can get on something. And it took about three months, but it was this. This biological drug called Humira. Wonderful drug, I tell you. It was like. It was like I. The first time I took it, it felt like glass was breaking in my

[Pablo Torre]

body, which was a positive development at that point, because Brandon could just loosen up those swollen joints and finally start moving his body again.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

And this was a game changer. But what it does, it suppresses the immune system.

[Pablo Torre]

And then years later, something else felt like it was breaking.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I was singing in Europe. I sang a production in Barcelona, and I had this harness on me. They had to. It looked like a big washing machine. I strapped onto this thing, and they lifted me up high in the air when I was dead. It's about 20ft, 25ft in the air and hanging upside down by the strap. And the first time they put it on on, it felt like I broke a rib. I felt something snap. And they did an X ray. And he said, well, I don't think it's broken. He goes, but it. It could be now. And I. I was supposed to go to London and sing something, and. And I just couldn't get my breath to work. This is in early 2024. I just couldn't get my breathing right. My breathing had been off. I just. You can tell it when you use all the time. And it was just a little bit off. And so I had to withdraw from this production. Didn't know what was going on. Then I went to Munich, back to back, and I did another show, that's a Russian opera called Peak Dump. And I did one performance, and then I got sick with COVID So I went home.

[Pablo Torre]

And so this is where I just need to say that I talked to one of Brandon's high school classmates, the writer Patrick Sauer, whose delightful profile of Brandon in Montana Quarterly is how I first learned about this story in the first place. And what Patrick also made clear, if is not clear by now on account of Brandon's continued global itinerary, despite the fact that his lungs had apparently stopped functioning normally, is that the dude never wanted to sit out games, like, ever. But this time went home.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

We're there for about a week, and I woke up one night just this killer pain in my stomach. And I told my wife, I said, I'm gonna drive myself to the hospital. I think I've got. I think my appendix burst. It's freaking killing me. They did some CAT scans and such, and this doctor comes in. I was, like, laying and laying in the sub bed, and he said, I don't want to give you bad news, but I think you've got cancer.

[Pablo Torre]

But after the doctors ran a battery of tests, plus blood work over the next couple days, they could not immediately find the cancer. One theory was that Brandon was suddenly having an intense allergic reaction to his own Humira medication, which we mentioned before. And so Brandon Jovanovich simply decided to keep pushing through.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

So I went home, and actually I flew out here and I took photos for this big photo shoot for the Met opera, the Ahab thing and got done with that.

[Pablo Torre]

I gotta say, at this point in the story, I know you said you're not a method Ahab.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's it.

[Pablo Torre]

But allow me to observe that. We were talking about obsession and ambition and the self destruction. Oh yeah. And you're, you're do. You're pushing through literally to play the character who pushes through at all costs.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's it. Yeah, yeah. It was crazy. I, I went over to Zurich. I was supposed to show over there and some blood work came back and it said my psa, which is the prostate antigen that they measure in your blood supp to be between 0 and 4. And that's like the normal range. Mine came back at, I think at the time it was 172. So I went to a doctor in Zurich, they tested again. Sure enough, it was then, by then it was like 196 or something like that. And long story short, it ended up coming home. It was 2:12 at that point and, and they started me on chemo right away. And it was, it spread throughout my body. My prostate kind of burst open. It was pushing up again against all my guts and such. It was really horrible.

[Pablo Torre]

But in all sincerity, I'm now reading this quote from the editor in chief of Opera Wire, David Salazar. Quote, brandon Jovanovich is a force of nature. I loved his Ahab, a man you aren't exactly supposed to love.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, right.

[Pablo Torre]

And that I think is a fantastic scouting report on you. Yeah, he made me love Ahab.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's right.

[Pablo Torre]

And how are you doing now?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah, you know, I'm doing pretty good. I've got a. So I, I did these nine round of chemo. There's still, I've got these things called bone mats. It's, it's these, it's metastasized and it's sitting on some bones. So to kill it faster, these, so that these die a little bit faster, I'm taking something, it's this newer drug, it's called Pluvitko. And you get six rounds of high intensity radiation that is specifically attracted to the prostate cancer itself. So they douse you with this thing and for six weeks they let it float around in your body and it's just attacking the prostate cancer killer it more. And then I go back and get another one. I'm right now I'm in three rounds. I've got three more to go.

[Pablo Torre]

Wow.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

And, and hopefully that's going to clean up a lot of this stuff. Just let the body heal itself and, and do it. Do the thing. So, yeah, I'm doing all right.

[Pablo Torre]

It's incredible, man. I mean, you look. I believe you are the first cater waiter to go from cater waitering to the stage at the Met Opera. But certainly this added level of like, who has ever done anything quite like your life that. And who has better resembled in a quite real way this theme of opera, which is profound strength but also like legitimate vulnerability.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I'm sure there's other people don't. I'm not trying to say that I am the, you know, but you're the

[Pablo Torre]

only one that's been in this podcast studio and for that reason, you're gonna, you're gonna receive these flowers.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Oh, gosh. That's it.

[Pablo Torre]

You're gonna receive these flowers. Damn it.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

That's.

[Pablo Torre]

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[Pablo Torre]

As a last parting note, is there anything perhaps that feels like it channels something like joy that you might give us? What should we go out on?

[Brandon Jovanovich]

You know what? There's the thing that I'm singing right now up in Boston. It's this. It's. It's really sad, actually. This, this, this. This guy named Mahler. His wife died, his mom died, and his kid died, all in one year. And he wrote this really heartfelt song about suffering and such. But in the end, it says, you know, but the earth is always going to have spring, and spring was going to come again and again and again. So, you know, life lives on. But the mezzo gets to sing that.

[Pablo Torre]

I'm.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

I'm more the composer and I say if things get crappy, have another drink. Pretty much. And so that's what I'm singing. So I'll give you a little bit of what I just. I'll give you a start of one of these. Please, let me think here. Yeah. Okay. So this is the. This is the little thing from that.

[Pablo Torre]

Again.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

So there's a little bit.

[Pablo Torre]

Brandon Jovanovich, the official. You're now being conferred this title, the official dramatic heroic tenor of Pablo Torre finds out.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

It's been a pleasure.

[Pablo Torre]

I don't know, man. Maybe operas do have happy endings.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

Yeah. My gosh. I'm going to take it. I think that sounds good.

[Pablo Torre]

There's.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

There's some that do. There are some that have happy endings. So, you know, I'll take it. I like that. I like that ending.

[Pablo Torre]

This has been Pablo Torre finds out a Meadowlark Media production and I'll talk to you next time.

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[Brandon Jovanovich]

ACAST powers the World's best Podcasts Here's

[Pablo Torre]

a show that we recommend.

[Monday.com Announcer]

Welcome back to two Judgy Girls. It's Mary from the Bay and it's Courtney from la. Every week we're talking about the only things that truly matter, matter. Bravo, pop culture, reality tv and of course, our very own chaotic lives. If there's a feud, a scandal or messy drama, we've got thoughts. Lots of them. We break down all the episode like it's our job. Because honestly, it kind of is. From Beverly Hills to New York summer house to Southern Charm, if they filmed it, you better believe we're gonna talk about it. Expect hot takes, unfiltered opinions and a lot of laughter. We're like your best friends who never stop talking about tea tv. So pour yourself something strong, maybe a teeny or a big cup of coffee, and join us every week for two Judgy Girls. Because being judgy has never been this fun.

[Brandon Jovanovich]

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[Pablo Torre]

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