VOLUNTEERS FOR VERDI

An Award-winning
documentary film by
Jo Christensen
and
Travis Edward Pike

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Located at the northernmost border of Los Angeles's Chinatown, the Casa Italiana is home to as eclectic a crowd as ever appeared in any major Hollywood production. Drawn together by unflagging passion, dreadful tenacity and the notion that opera goes down better with a plate of spaghetti, these VOLUNTEERS FOR VERDI embody the rich cultural mix of Southern California, where America's melting pot continues to bubble and individual dreams can and do come true, even into the twilight years.

To mount their 30th Anniversary production of Verdi's Don Carlo, the company called upon the talents of Korean-born homemaker, Yunghee Kavanagh, for the role of Elizabeth, Queen of Spain; Doug "Roberto" Falcone, owner of a local fence-building firm for Don Carlo, Infante of Spain; retired Argentinian mechanic, Mario Biscaldi, for Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa; David Odekirk as King Philip of Spain; and cheerful mail carrier Bill Bartlett tripled as a monk, courtier and the Grand Inquisitor.

Princess Eboli was played by kindergarten teacher Victoria Brago; Jeff Bergquist appeared as the Ghost of Charles V; Sylvanna Vienne as Countess of Aremberg; real estate appraiser Paul Junger as Count Lerma; Carolyn Rogoff as Tebald; business administrator Phyllis Elliot as the Voice of Heaven and Dr. George Murphy, emeritus professor of economics as the entire Flemish Delegation.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRODUCERS

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
JEFF BERGQUIST

WRITER-PRODUCER
DIRECTOR
JO CHRISTENSEN

WRITER-PRODUCER
EDITOR
TRAVIS EDWARD PIKE

When Jeff Bergquist, Artistic Director of the New Playwrights Foundation, began taking roles with the Casa Italiana Opera Company, he was struck by the many colorful characters and diverse backgrounds in the group. After singing in a few productions, Jeff approached Maestro Mario Leonetti, director of the opera company, to pitch his idea for making a film about them. With their 30th anniversay coming up, and the company planning to celebrate with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s grand opera, Don Carlo, the Maestro agreed.

Jeff recruited Danish-born director, Jo Christensen, with whom he had worked on previous New Playwrights Foundation productions, to produce and direct the project and she began videotaping rehearsals, interviews and finally the performance, itself. But after completion of principal photography, the production stalled for lack of funds and it became clear that what was needed was an old pro with the equipment, time and commitment to see it through to completion. So, Jeff approached fellow New Playwrights Foundation member, Travis Edward Pike.

Travis had the hardware, the software, the talent and the time, but was wary about committing to a feature film about the inner workings of a community opera company — until Jo explained her concept for the movie. It wasn't about the opera. It was about the people. And she didn’t want him to write a narrative. She wanted the principals to tell the story through their actions and in their own words, culled from the 55 hours of interviews and rehearsals already in the can. Jo’s approach made it an enormous undertaking, but Travis liked the idea. The music might be different, but the problems and personalities were certainly familiar. Jo was describing the same sorts of characters Travis knew from his years in rock 'n' roll!

Jo and Travis reviewed the original digital video of the interviews, rehearsals, behind the scenes activities and the actual Don Carlo performance, taped the year before. Then, over the next year and a half, meeting once or twice a week, they logged all the footage, captured and transcribed all the elements they hoped to use in the final cut, and managed to hone the material down to just over six hours. Finally, settling on simple chronology for the spine, they began crafting the movie, discarding mismatches and weaving together those special audio and visual elements that were to become their engaging 86-minute documentary, VOLUNTEERS FOR VERDI.

3 JUNE 2006: Chairman Lee Gluckman of the U.S. INTERNATIONAL FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL (left), presents Certificates of Creative Excellence to Producers Jo Christensen (center), and Travis Edward Pike (right), for their New Playwrights Foundation Production, VOLUNTEERS FOR VERDI. Those are not duplicate awards. The film won certificates in two separate competition categories - "Arts: Performing Arts," and "Documentary: 60:01- 90:00."