Teatro ZinZanni Appoints Patrick Markle As New Managing Director

Norman Langill, President of One Reel, the Seattle-based Production Company for Teatro ZinZanni, today announced the appointment of Patrick Markle as managing director for the San Francisco operation. The essential functions of the position include budget and business management, oversight of all staff as well as sales and marketing, interfacing with restaurant and show operations, and developing relationships with community groups and organizations in the City to positively impact Teatro ZinZanni.

"We are delighted to welcome Patrick to head the San Francisco team," Langill stated. "He has more than 20 years experience of working with some of the most prestigious arts organizations in the world, and his background is perfect for this leadership position."

After graduating from Yale with an MFA in Production Technical Design and Production Management, Markle spent five years at the Metropolitan Opera, and eight years at The Santa Fe Opera as production director/facilities manager, working closely with audience services areas as well. He then served as technical director and production director at San Francisco Opera from 1998 - 2005. Most recently he was operations director for Jack Morton Worldwide, a global experiential marketing agency. He is also one of the co-founders of Figaro Systems Inc. in Santa Fe, the global leader of multi-lingual text displays for the performing arts.

Markle's first love was in fact showbiz in a tent. "I was fascinated by magic and the circus as a child," he said, "and whenever a circus came to town, I would find a way to hang out with the performers. The fact that I am also a graduate of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Clown College and attended at the same time as our current clown, Peter Pitofsky, is true serendipity!"

Teatro ZinZanni opened in its elegant antique spiegeltent at Pier 29 on San Francisco's Embarcadero in March 2000, offering a bewitching combination of European cabaret, cirque arts, music, comedy, and a 5-course gourmet dinner. Now in its tenth year of performance, it has become a permanent fixture and an integral part of San Francisco's lively entertainment and culinary scene.

The show has appealed to the public and the critics alike. San Francisco Chronicle critic Steven Winn called it "Captivating entertainment," and had the Chronicle Little Man jumping off his chair. David Beck of the Mercury News raved: "An amazing spectacle, part circus and part nightclub ... like the Kit-Kat Club on acid. Plus you get dinner!" Hemispheres Magazine declared: "This zany, vaudevillian circus/cabaret sizzles with European sophistication and savoir-faire ... An endearing mix that truly captures the soul of San Francisco."

One Reel is one of the Northwest's most innovative non-profit arts organizations, producing such high profile public celebrations as Bumbershoot, The Seattle Arts Festival, Family Fourth at Lake Union, as well as a variety of educational and cultural projects. The company has a second production, Teatro ZinZanni: Dinner & Dreams in Seattle, where Love, Chaos & Dinner began.

The regular weekly schedule for Teatro ZinZanni is Wednesday - Saturday at 6:00 p.m., and Sunday at 5:00 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 are available at the on-site Box Office at Pier 29 on the Embarcadero daily from 12 noon - 6 p.m. or by phone: 415/438-2668 or at www.zinzanni.org.

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