Stage and Screen Stars Set for ACT Fundraiser to Benefit Joan Mankin, 10/5

Luminaries of the local and national theatre scene -- including Tony Award winners Bill Irwin and David Shiner, Geoff Hoyle, Marga Gomez, Lorenzo Pisoni and Diane "Pino" Wasnak -- will appear on American Conservatory Theater's Geary Theater stage on Sunday, October 5 at 7 p.m. in a one-night-only production to benefit beloved local actor/clown Joan Mankin, aka Queenie Moon.

The Queenie Moon Conspiracy Show is a unified effort on the part of A.C.T. and the local performing arts community to raise funds for Mankin's ongoing medical needs. She was recently diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and frontal temporal dementia (an early-onset form of Alzheimer's).

Tickets range in price from $30-$45 and are available now by calling 415.749.2228 or visiting act-sf.org/joan. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $150 and include a pre-show reception and premium seating.

Directed by Jeff Raz, the Queenie Moon Conspiracy Show is made possible by producer Dan Mankin and associate producer and writer, Sara Felder. Other performers for the one-night-only benefit include Company Cirque en Déroute, Sara Moore, Sharon Lockwood, Michael Sullivan, Calvin Kai Ku, Tristan Cunningham, David Roe, Ross Travis, Kelly "Texas" Holly, Andrea Snow, Emma Mankin, and Joan Mankin herself. Music will be performed by a live band featuring Mark Kennedy, Harvey Robb, Randy Craig, and surprise guests. Patrons will be greeted at the door by a troupe of professional clowns and musicians, many of them former students of Joan's. A short video highlighting Joan's career will be shown.

Joan Mankin, a longtime Bay Area performer, was lead clown and juggler with both the Pickle Family Circus and Make-a-Circus. She has worked at A.C.T., Aurora Theatre Company, San Francisco Playhouse, the Magic Theatre, TheatreWorks, California Shakespeare Theater, Marin Theatre Company, San Jose Stage Company, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe as well as many other theaters over the years.

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