SAN FRANCISCO, September 13, 2011 – After more than eleven years, 800,000 visitors, 40 different theatrical productions and 200 of the finest international performing artists, Teatro ZinZanni will offer its final performance in the Pier 29 Spiegeltent on New Year’s Eve 2011. Teatro’s current home on Piers 27 and 29 is scheduled to be a part of the upcoming America’s Cup and Teatro ZinZanni is working closely with the City to locate a new permanent home. (Pictured Left: Geoff Hoyle – Photo Credit: Michael Doucett)
Bay Area icon Geoff Hoyle and blues phenomenon Duffy Bishop headline On the Air – joining an acclaimed international cast in a brand new San Francisco production opening October 13 and closing December 31, 2011. In a storyline that echoes Teatro ZinZanni’s own struggles to remain in San Francisco, the plot revolves around the struggle to keep a local radio station on the air. ZinZannity quickly ensues with dazzling music, dance and acrobatic performances as magic blooms in the musical moonlight. ‘Tune in’ for a nostalgic journey of music, cirque and cabaret as “On the Air” ‘broadcasts live’ from Teatro ZinZanni. Taste Catering Chef Patrick Fassino Executive Pastry Chef and Bravo Top Chef Just Desserts Season One winner Yigit Pura will collaborate to create a special new “Americana” men u to complement the performances of On the Air. Audience demand will be unprecedented for these final shows and tickets are on sale now by phone at 415/438-2668 or online at http://love.zinzanni.org.
“We are proud to trace our lineage back to the very beginnings of theater in San Francisco,” said Norm Langill, Teatro ZinZanni’s President and Artistic Director. “From the Rowe Circus to the National Theater to the Tivoli Opera House founded during the Gold Rush, Teatro ZinZanni is one in a long line of high spirited San Francisco theatrical experiences combining the arts of vaudeville, cabaret, cirque and opera with great food and strong drink – a winning combination if ever there was one. Showbiz is unpredictable, but we can celebrate an amazing eleven year run on Pier 27 and 29. I’m constantly humbled by the enthusiasm of our audiences, the talent of our performers and staff and the support from the City of San Francisco. Working together with city leaders, we are determined to find a permanent home in San Francisco– for Teatro ZinZanni is now part of the terrific fabric of cultural institutions that give this city its unparalleled reputation for arts and culture. Our show mirrors the spirit of this city – a magical place that embraces silliness, frivolity, fun, intimacy and self expression. We’ll be back. This is home.” (Pictured Right: Norm Langill – Photo Credit: Drew Altizer)
Master comic actor and clown, Geoff Hoyle makes his 4th appearance with Teatro ZinZanni — delighting audiences with his outrageous physical comedy and clowning. “Teatro ZinZanni is one of San Francisco’s enduring treasures – a place where artists and audiences can come together to make memories and have fun,” said Hoyle. “The Spiegeltent lends itself to a special kind of theatre magic. I’m excited to be part of ZinZanni’s final show on Pier 29 and hope the city finds a permanent home quickly so the circus doesn’t have to leave town for long.” An acclaimed actor, writer and comedian, Hoyle came to the U.S. from England and joined Larry Pisoni and Bill Irwin as a clown in the renowned Pickle Family Circus. He has since gone on to perform in various roles throughout the Bay Area, notably at A.C.T., Berkeley Rep and The Eureka The atre, as well as featuring with Cirque du Soleil and Circus Flora. His varied artistry led to the creation of the role of Zazu in the original Broadway cast of The Lion King for which he was a Drama Desk nominee for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
Duffy Bishop, a Teatro ZinZanni favorite since 1999, takes center ring as Madame ZinZanni. A successful recording artist, Duffy has released eight albums in addition to performing with various legends such as Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Lou Rawls and Ruth Brown. Her performances have taken her across the U.S. and with numerous shows in both the Seattle and San Francisco Teatro ZinZanni productions.
Joining the cast of On The Air is Bernard Hazens who has been thrilling Teatro ZinZanni crowds for the past four years with his one of a kind act, a dynamically choreographed combination of acrobatics, juggling and Rola Bola; Elena Gatilova, also known as Lucky Moon, an aerial silk artist with more than 2500 performances over five years in Cirque du Soleil’s “Zumanity”; Wayne Doba, hailed by Donald O’Connor as a “throwback to the old Vaudeville days” and Cirque du Soleil veteran Andrea Conway Doba with her physical comedy and acrobatic mischief; resident opera diva Kristin Clayton, a gr aduate of the prestigious San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow Program and well known for her performances of contemporary works by composer such as Conrad Susa, Jake Heggie and Peter Ash; Manuela Horn, otherwise known as the Austrian Amazon, a yodeling, dancing, acting comedic force of nature; Christopher Phi, a San Francisco native and graduate of the prestigious Notre Dame de Namur University, who showcases his handbalancing and aerial artistry; and multi-media performance artist Mat Plendl, who brings his own form of magic to the tent in the form of a hula-hoop! (Pictured above: Elena Gatilova – Photo Credit: Mark Kitaoka)
Since March of 2000, Teatro ZinZanni has welcomed more than 800,000 people into the gorgeous Palais Nostalgique for a bewitching blend of European cabaret, cirque arts, music and comedy combined with a gourmet 5-course dinner created by renowned chefs with Restaurant TZ, an arm of Taste Catering. From the beginning, Teatro ZinZanni has featured the finest international talent in the business – bringing in performing artists such as Thelma Houston, Melba Moore, Liliane Montevecchi and Sally Kellerman in addition to welcoming acclaimed performers who live in the Bay Area such as Joan Baez, Kristin Clayton, Geoff Hoyle, and Keta Bill. The Company’s headline cirque artists come from around the world including Russian superstars Yevgeniy Voronin, Svetlana Perekhdova, Vita Radionova Duo Artemiev and Elena Borodina; Les Petits Frères and Les Castors from Fr ance; Chinese acrobats Ming and Rui; Die Maiers and the Collins Brothers from Germany; Italian acrobats The Randols; Krissie Illing from the UK; Australia’s Joel Salom; and Tobiass Larsson from Sweden among many other artists and countries. Comedic actors such as Kevin Kent, Frank Ferrante, Christine Deaver, El Vez, and Michael Davis have offered audiences their master improvisational comedy through a mix of performance and audience interaction. Through it all, Teatro ZinZanni has presented one of the finest in-house orchestras in the business led by pianist Russ Long and featuring Karl Theobald, John Morton, Alan Hall and Hardy Hemphill.
A 501c-3 not-for-profit arts organization, Teatro ZinZanni engages, transforms, educates and delights our audiences with a unique celebration of extraordinary cirque, comedy and cabaret in an intimate live experience. An esteemed member of the local arts community, Teatro ZinZanni is a not-for-profit arts organization with a mission to preserve, nurture and support the centuries-old traditions of European circus arts. Over the past decade, Teatro Zin Zanni has assisted other non-profit organizations in fundraising including Sean Penn’s Haitian Relief Organization, Bread and Roses Family Foundation, Huckleberry House, Suicide Prevention League and New Leaf Services — raising more than $2,000,000 for charitable causes through ticket donations and hosted events in the tent. (Pictured above L-R: Norm Langill, Sean Penn, Joan Baez & Frank Ferrante – Photo Credit: Drew Altizer)