Biography
BIOGRAPHY
Michael Philip Davis is an award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter, stage director and former operatic tenor. In 2017 Michael made his first film; he wrote, produced and co-directed (with Robert Fredette) the documentary Regina Resnik: New York Original, broadcast and streaming on CUNY TV, New York.
Michael was born in New York City on October 14, 1952, to Metropolitan Opera singer Regina Resnik and attorney (later Judge) Harry W. Davis. Even as he absorbed opera at home, Michael was drawn to film and had a propensity for writing. He attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. While majoring in singing at Oberlin, he also directed his first opera workshop at age 19. To support his vocal studies after graduate school, he worked a day job in magazine publishing, honing his writing and editing skills on a daily basis. He made his operatic debut as Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly with the New York City Opera National Company in 1987. The following year New York City Opera General Director Beverly Sills personally chose him for the title role in The Student Prince.
In 1996 Michael conceived and co-founded the concert and documentary production company Remi Arts, Inc. with his mother, allowing him to transition from performing to producing, writing and directing. Michael was lead writer and co-producer of the cultural documentaries Colors of the Diaspora and Geto: The Historic Jewish Ghetto of Venice (also co-director), which were shown on public television from 2005 to 2016 and produced on DVD.
In 2013 Maestro Lorin Maazel chose Michael as video director of the Castleton Festival in Virginia. Over the next three seasons Michael filmed La Fanciulla del West (the last video performance of Maestro Maazel); La Voix Humaine (both the play and the opera); Madama Butterfly; Don Giovanni; Roméo et Juliette; L'Heure Espagnole; and the world premiere of Derrick Wang's Scalia/Ginsburg.
Upon Ms. Resnik's death in 2013, Michael became President and Executive Director of Remi Arts, and in that capacity conceived the film biography of his mother. The documentary traces Ms. Resnik's 70-year career as international opera star, Tony®-nominated Broadway actress, stage director, filmmaker and Jewish cultural figure. The program features on-screen interviews with Broadway legends Harold Prince and Joel Grey; opera stars Martina Arroyo and Teresa Stratas; Maestros Richard Bonynge, Zubin Mehta and Craig Rutenberg; and Jack H. Resnick, who is Mr. Resnik's brother. Ms. Arroyo introduces the film onscreen. Renowned mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves is the narrator. The film has won two Telly Awards, the Communicator Award, and Best Documentary from the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.
Michael's stage directing credits include: Die Zauberflöte (Westminster Choir College and Connecticut Lyric Opera); Yours, Anne (based on The Diary of Anne Frank, NY State Theatre Institute); the world premiere of Puccini & Coppola's La Coupe et les Lèvres (Hunter College) and L'Elisir d'Amore (Connecticut Lyric Opera). He also directed La Tragédie de Carmen, Trouble in Tahiti, Kurt Weill in Berlin, Down in the Valley, Gianni Schicchi, Madama Butterfly, Il Tabarro, The Merry Widow and The Medium, in the US and Europe.
Michael's other singing credits include Pinkerton (Central City Opera Festival); Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (Cologne); and Roméo (Houston). Other roles in the U.S. and Europe were: Alfredo in La Traviata, Faust, the title role in The Rake's Progress, Hoffmann, and Laça in Jenufa.
In 2013 Michael Philip Davis received the Cross of Officer of the Order for Merits of Lithuania for his artistic and cultural contributions to that nation.
Michael lives in New York City with his husband Alberto Bird.
