Teatro ZinZanni Opens Their Spiegeltent At Pier 29 With UNDER THE GYPSY MOON 9/3

Anything can happen when Teatro ZinZanni opens its magical spiegeltent at Pier 29 on the Embarcadero to a troupe of wild gypsies! Music, comedy and romance abound when Under the Gypsy Moon opens on September 3, featuring fiery blues legend Duffy Bishop as Zara, Queen of the Gypsies, and the one-and-only character actor Geoff Hoyle as the Chef. Teatro ZinZanni, now in its tenth sensational season, continues to present its own blend of European cabaret and cirque artistry, intertwined with a five-course gourmet dinner designed by Chef Patrick Fassino. The show will run into the New Year.

Some ten years ago, Duffy Bishop first graced the Teatro ZinZanni tent in Seattle, when she stepped in for Ann Wilson of Heart. She has since appeared in both the Seattle and San Francisco productions several times to great audience and critical acclaim. With her guitarist husband Chris Carlson, she has garnered a loyal following at festivals, clubs, and theaters throughout the USA and abroad, and has performed with legends such as Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Lou Rawls and Ruth Brown, to name just a few.

Geoff Hoyle plays Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady for The Lamplighters this summer. On Broadway, he was the original Zazu in the cast of The Lion King, and appeared off-Broadway in his solo show, Feast of Fools. He was seen in Mr. Fox by Bill Irwin and in Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak's adaptation of the children's opera Brundibar, directed by long-time associate Tony Taccone. He trained with Marcel Marceau's teacher, Etienne Decroux, and has clowned with Circus Flora, The Pickle Family Circus and Cirque du Soleil. His award-winning shows Boomer!, Feast of Fools, The Convict's Return, Geni(us) and The First Hundred Years have been seen worldwide.

Returning to the cast for this production is San Francisco soprano Kristin Clayton, one of the original San Francisco ZinZanni cast members, who has appeared in a variety of singing roles in the tent over the past nine years. Other returning artists are German comedian Lutz Jope as the Maitre D'; the high flying buffoons, Sabine Maier and Joachim Mohr known as Die Maiers, who describe their trapeze and juggling act as "air/ground tomfoolery;" and diminutive Canadian actor and clown Joe De Paul.

Two sensational acrobatic acts complete the cast, both making their San Francisco debuts. Marie-Ève Dicaire began her artistic formation as a dancer before being accepted at the National Circus School of Montréal as a hand balancer. She has performed throughout Switzerland with Starlight Circus, in Germany with Palazzo Colombino of Freiburg, and for various companies such as Cirque Eloize in Cannes, and New Circus Asia in Japan.

Ben Wendel and Rachel Nehmer are former scientists who met as biology students, and decided to try out a new kind of collaboration -- this time in the air! As Duo Madrona, their stunning trapeze act has now been featured in Seattle at Teatro Zinzanni and the Moisture Festival, across the U.S. with Circus Flora and the Banana Moon Circus, and internationally at the prestigious 29th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris.

Set in an elegant, antique Belgian spiegeltent at Pier 29 on San Francisco's Embarcadero, Teatro ZinZanni offers a bewitching blend of European cabaret, cirque arts, music, and comedy, combined with a 5-course gourmet dinner. Since opening on San Francisco's historic waterfront in 2000, it has become a permanent, unique fixture and an integral part of the lively entertainment and culinary scene in San Francisco.

Teatro ZinZanni is a project of One Reel, one of the Northwest's most innovative non-profit arts organizations based in Seattle. One Reel's Founder and Artistic Director, Norm Langill first saw a speigeltent in Barcelona in 1992, and was immediately inspired to mount a show using the tent as a backdrop.

The regular weekly schedule is Wednesday - Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 5 p.m., at which time the doors open to a luxuriously appointed lobby and no-host bar. Seating in the spiegeltent begins a half-hour later. The approximate running time is three hours without intermission.

Tickets priced from $117 - $145 are available at the on-site Box Office at Pier 29 on the Embarcadero daily from 12 noon - 6 p.m., by phone: 415/438-2668 or online at www.zinzanni.org. Premium and Preferred seating is available. For Groups, call 415/438-2669 Ext. 211.