The tasty opera event you’ve been waiting for is finally here!
Verdi by Vegetables: the Movie
A Fundraiser for Resonance Works Pittsburgh
Now on demand!
Check out what we are pretty sure is the first-ever Vegetable Puppet Opera Movie™: Verdi by Vegetables, by the creative team of Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi.
Eat Your Greens
Greens are good for you, whether in the form of nutrient rich veggies, or the inspired music of the monolithic composer Giuseppe "Joe Green" Verdi. Verdi by Vegetables explores Verdi's life, loves, and losses in a time of Italian political upheaval and his music's profound impact on opera history. Rigoletto! La Traviata! Aida! Take a tour through his entire catalog of works all beautifully performed by… over 100 puppets made of produce. 38 of our favorite featured artists donated their time and talent to give voice to these veggies - all in support of Resonance Works!
ARTISTS
You loved them before - wait until you see them perform with produce!
Narrators - Anna Singer, Demareus Cooper, Jonathan Stuckey
Giuseppe Verdi - Robert Frankenberry
with Natalie Polito, Joshua Jeremiah, Rachele Schmiege, Stefan Barner, Lindsay Ohse, Christopher Lucier, Laurel Semerdjian, Ian McEuen, Benjamin Bloomfield, Helen Zhibing Huang, Maria Dominique Lopez, Barbara LeMay, Meghan DeWald, Matthew Scollin, Katy Williams, Charlene Canty, Joanna Latini, Joel Goodloe, Patrick McNally, Olga Perez Flora, James Flora, Rebecca Shorstein, Andrew Adelsberger, Lara Lynn McGill, George Milosh, Brooke Larimer, Lauren Emrich, Jenna Weaver, Rob Chafin, Sandro Leal-Santiesteban, Dawn Posey, Jason Hohn, Elise Feagley
Production Team:
Producer & Film Director- Maria Sensi Sellner
Principal puppeteer & Stage Director - Andrew Nienaber
Costume Design - Brigid Borka, Barb Fleck, Mary Sellner
Technical Director - Brennan Sellner
Scenic Design - Brennan Sellner, Andrew Nienaber
Video Editing - Maria Sensi Sellner
Audio Engineer - Kristian Tchetchko
The Creators
Composer Peter Hilliard and Librettist Matt Boresi are nationally recognized writers of operas specializing in timely, often comic, audience accessible opera. Their operas, including The Last American Hammer, Blue Viola, The Filthy Habit, and others, have been produced by Pittsburgh Opera, UrbanArias, Opera Memphis, Carnegie Mellon Opera, Lyric Opera of the North, Manhattan Opera Theatre, The Tanglewood Institute, Beth Morrison Projects, and many others. Upcoming works include “Verdi by Vegetables” with Resonance Works and projects with the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Lyric Theatre @ Illinois. Hilliard and Boresi met and began working together in the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU in 2000.
Peter Hilliard & Matt Boresi are the co-creators of the Decameron Opera Coalition and its inaugural production, “Tales from a Safe Distance”, now streaming on-demand!