Liliane Montevecchi
Living legend, actress, dancer and diva, Liliane Montevecchi returns to San Francisco as Madame ZinZanni. Best known for her Tony Award-winning role in Tommy Tune’s Nine and in Grand Hotel, Montevecchi’s illustrious career spans four decades. Born in Paris, she joined Roland Petit Ballets as a prima ballerina at age 18, spent seven years under contract to MGM, appearing in movies opposite Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando and Fred Astaire, and more. Her most recent film is How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, with Matthew McConaughey. She has starred in musicals such as Irma La Douce, Gigi, Hello Dolly, and La Plume de Ma Tante. Audiences have applauded her performances at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and at Lincoln Center in a concert version of Follies. On TV she guest-starred in more than 20 shows, and was nominated for an Emmy for Child of Our Time. She has taken her own highly acclaimed show On the Boulevard around the world, and played in prestigious cabaret venues including the Algonquin, the Russian Tea Room and Rainbow and Stars. She recently performed her one-woman show in London and gave a concert in Palm Springs. In Paris she received the Boulevard Award for her role as Mistinguett at the Opera Comique. She was honored as “Entertainer of the Year” by the internationally renowned charity Boys’ Towns of Italy at their 64th Annual “Ball of the Year” Gala in April of this year. And yet she still has time for humanitarian work, for which the Knights of Malta knighted her.
Liliane Montevecchi
Living legend, actress, dancer and diva, Liliane Montevecchi returns to San Francisco as Madame ZinZanni. Best known for her Tony Award-winning role in Tommy Tune’s Nine and in Grand Hotel, Montevecchi’s illustrious career spans four decades. Born in Paris, she joined Roland Petit Ballets as a prima ballerina at age 18, spent seven years under contract to MGM, appearing in movies opposite Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando and Fred Astaire, and more. Her most recent film is How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, with Matthew McConaughey. She has starred in musicals such as Irma La Douce, Gigi, Hello Dolly, and La Plume de Ma Tante. Audiences have applauded her performances at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and at Lincoln Center in a concert version of Follies. On TV she guest-starred in more than 20 shows, and was nominated for an Emmy for Child of Our Time. She has taken her own highly acclaimed show On the Boulevard around the world, and played in prestigious cabaret venues including the Algonquin, the Russian Tea Room and Rainbow and Stars. She recently performed her one-woman show in London and gave a concert in Palm Springs. In Paris she received the Boulevard Award for her role as Mistinguett at the Opera Comique. She was honored as “Entertainer of the Year” by the internationally renowned charity Boys’ Towns of Italy at their 64th Annual “Ball of the Year” Gala in April of this year. And yet she still has time for humanitarian work, for which the Knights of Malta knighted her.
Frank Ferrante
Our irrepressible Caesar, Frank Ferrante, is an actor and director described by The New York Times as “the greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx’s material.” Frank originated the title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue written by Groucho’s son Arthur in New York, London and on PBS television. He earned New York’s Theatre World Award, a NY Outer Critics Circle nomination and London’s Laurence Olivier nomination for ‘Comedy Performance of the Year.’ The Chicago Tribune deemed his improv “masterful” and The New York Times called him “artful.” He has been profiled on The Today Show, Regis, CNN, Entertainment Tonight, the BBC, and recently was a question on TV’s Jeopardy. In 1995, he directed and developed the premiere of the Pulitzer finalist Old Wicked Songs. Frank directs and acts throughout the world and has been a regular at Teatro ZinZanni since 2001.
Ming & Rui, Alexa Hukari
Ling Rui and Fang Ming have been performing and training in the circus arts since they were very young. At the ages of 10 and 11, they moved to the city of Kunming in Southeastern China and joined the Flag Circus of China. With this troupe they traveled around the world to the Caribbean, Africa and Europe performing shows from government officials to Euro-Disney. In 2000 they joined Cirque du Soleil’s show Dralion. For the next five years they worked on and off with Dralion touring North America and Europe. In 2003 they began to develop their duo aerial straps act and in 2006 they again joined Cirque du Soleil, this time in the production of Delirium. The pair has presented their act at international circus festivals in China, bringing home numerous prestigious awards including the gold medal at the Wuhan International Acrobatic Arts Festival. Ming and Rui’s assistant (and Ming’s wife), Alexa Hukari, has been an international gymnastics competitor, a former U.S. National Champion and holds Doctorate in Physical Therapy. The group has been working on and off stage with ZinZanni since 2008.
Les Petits Frères
Les Petits Frères (Gregory Marquet, Mickael Bajazet, Domitil Aillot) was founded in 1993 at the internationally acclaimed Annie Fratellini Circus School in Paris, where master teachers, Davis Bogino and Nelly Rachman, trained them in the fine arts of the circus. The European press called them the “Floating Act” because of their unique ability to defy gravity with graceful aerial acrobatics. The wit and charm of their unforgettable act has been captivating audiences around the world for many years. In 1999 they toured the U. S. with Barnum’s Kaleidoscape. In recent years they have performed at some of the best venues in the world including Cirque D’Hiver Bouglione in Paris and Apollo Variété in Düsseldorf, Tiger Palast in Frankfurt, Winter Garden in Berlin and Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle and San Francisco.
Rachel DeShon
A Seattle native and BFA cum laude graduate of Western Illinois University, soprano Rachel DeShon has performed nationally and internationally. Highlights include winning Marvin Hamlisch’s Search for a Star competition with the Seattle Symphony, performing with the Boston Pops under the direction of Keith Lockhart, The Vietnam Gala at the Esplanade in Singapore and The International Cabaret Conference at Yale University. She received the Encouragement Award for The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, won First Place in the NATS & Paƒe Auditions in Classical and Musical Theatre divisions, Western Illinois University Concerto Competition, Seattle Civic Opera Guild Auditions and The City Opera Company Young Opera Singers Competition. Performance highlights include: Cunegonde in Candide, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Lucille Frank in Parade, Papagena in The Magic Flute and, of course, The Diva in Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle and San Francisco.
Vertical Tango
Sam Payne (U.S.) and Sandra Feusi (Switzerland) have received the highest possible acclaim for their astonishing, sensual “Vertical Tango.” They received a gold medal at the 2005 Festival Mondial de Cirque du Demain in Paris, a silver clown at the 2008 Festival International du Cirque de Monte Carlo, and the Bay Area's Isadora Duncan “Best Choreography” Award in 2005/06. The couple trained at the San Francisco Circus Center, and began performing with San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus in the mid-nineties. They toured worldwide for five years with Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco, spent a season with Switzerland's national circus: Circus Knie, and have performed for television and live events in Europe, the US, and Japan. They are the exceptionally proud parents of a new baby girl, Luca Selina, and are very happy to be back with Teatro ZinZanni.
Vita
A featured performer in the 2003 Tiger Lillies circus tour of Finland, France, England, Germany and Greece, the sensational Ukrainian contortionist Vita Radionova made her North American debut in Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle in 2004. She graduated from the legendary Circus School of Kiev in 2002, and since then has performed her elegant and sensual act at some of the finest venues in Europe, including the Apollo in Düsseldorf, Palazzo in Munich and Frankfurt and with Circus Salto Natale in Zurich. Vita most recently performed in Japan. Enchanting, mesmerizing, sexy and sensuous, Vita defies the laws of physics with her powerfully mesmerizing act. She has awed audiences in both the Seattle and San Francisco tents.
Featuring live music from the fabulous
Teatro ZinZanni Orchestra
Musical Director & Piano
Russ Long
Woodwinds
Karl Theobald
Bass
Wil Hendricks
Drums
David Rokeach
Guitar
Chris Carlson
