Orville Peck's Man-Sprawl Sends the Internet Right Up the Wall

Out country music star Orville Peck has forsaken his trademark mask to play The Emcee in Broadway's "Cabaret," but a sprawling selfie is yanking eyeballs away from his face - which is, in any case, partially obscured by a ball cap that's been pulled low over his eyes.

But the ball cap can't cover up Peck's well-honed physique. Otherwise clad only in yellow-and-green striped boxer shorts, the singer sits in a chair, one arm slung over his head, showing off his well-developed lats, while his legs all but dangle in a wide spread - a posture that emphasizes their lines while pointing up his trim abs and ripped chest. The pose is comfortable, relaxed, and bold.

Fans and fellow celebs were left sweating.

"Dios mio," one person posted in the comments, adding three fire emojis, while another gasped, "Omg❤️! ❤️🔥❤️🔥 can't wait to see you in Cabaret next month!!!🔥❤️"

"Raw," another declared. "Next question."

Thirst and hunger seemingly combined for influencer Zach Rickel, who posted, "Suddenly I'm feeling PECKish!" Others echoed the sentiments: "GAWD DAAAAAAAAMN," one person posted, while another coyly hinted, "I like dropping hints that I'm single".

The jaw-dropping mirror selfie is part of a group of photos Peck posted on May 4. Captioned "Broadway dump," the collection includes a video in which two young men knock on Peck's dressing room door to beseech him to reveal his face. In another image, it's Peck's lower face that is obscured, while his eyes are clearly visible and yet effectively obscured by heavy makeup while ginger hair spills over his forehead. The final image is a screenshot of a notification advising that Broadway icon Audra McDonald is now a follower of Peck's Insta account.

The 37-year-old south Africa-born singer took over as The Emcee for a four-month run staring in March. Though he forsakes his mask on the stage, the character's elaborate makeup helps him maintain an air of mystique.

"Whether I would wear the mask or not was never a question," Peck told Billboard. "The real trepidation came when the offer came in, and I knew I had the opportunity to say 'yes' or 'no' to doing this.... But it became an easy 'yes,'" because, he told the music magazine, "Cabaret" is "one of my favorite musicals," with the Emcee being "the role I've wanted to play since I can remember."

A trained stage actor as well as musician used to the rigors of touring and concert performance, Peck has the stamina to shoulder the weighty role night after night. If the thrill of the greasepaint and his love of the role weren't fuel enough to sustain him, the tragic parallels between Weimer Germany's slide into the grip of the Nazis and the rapid decline of American democracy provide an impetus and urgency of their own to his portrayal.

The role is slyly accusatory, Billboard notes: "Most of [the Emcee's] time on the stage is spent encouraging those watching to 'leave your troubles outside' while slowly luring you in to the lurid lifestyles of his seedy nightclub," the writeup noted. "Eventually, he holds a mirror up to your complicity; while you were having fun at the Kit Kat Club, the Nazis took over."

"It's depressing, of course," Peck said of the show's unfortunate relevance to contemporary politics, "but I also think I'm really grateful that this show is running during a time like this - if even one person leaves that theater with a light bulb having gone off, or feeling any more compassion or empathy for what is going on for people right now, then that is all I can ask for."