- New Playwrights Foundation's first foray into feature-length documentary (we call it "Non-Fiction Comedy"), follows Casa Italiana Opera Company's divas with day jobs as they undertake the massive challenge of mounting one of Verdi's greatest works: DON CARLO.
- To mount their 30th Anniversary production of Verdi's DON CARLO, Casa Italiana Opera Company Director Mario Leonetti calls upon the talents of Korean-born homemaker Yunghee Kavanagh, to play 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 for King Philip of Spain; and cheerful mail carrier William Bartlett to portray a monk, a courtier, and the Grand Inquisitor.
Princess Eboli is played by kindergarten teacher Victoria Brago; screenwriter Jeff Bergquist appears as the Ghost of Charles V; Sylvanna Vienne is Countess of Aremberg; real estate appraiser Paul Junger is Count Lerma; Carolyn Rogoff is Tebaldo; Phyllis Elliott is the Voice of Heaven and Dr. George Murphy, professor of economics, is the entire Flemish Delegation. Scholar and patent engineer Walter Unterberg serves as music director and conductor.
From living-room coaching sessions through musical and staging rehearsals in a basement classroom, the monumental work is pieced together while costumes, props, and the Spanish Inquisition are assembled -- not without incident. The hall is double-booked on the night of the first onstage rehearsal, and the cast and orchestra run through the music crammed into a classroom. This leaves only the final dress rehearsal for the singers, chorus, and non-singing actors to find their way on- and offstage while also changing the set seven times.
There must be a guardian angel watching over people who are passionate about great opera. When the big day arrives, DON CARLO is performed to a packed house of enthusiastic (and well-fed) audience members.
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