The Italian-born, U.S.-based Zoppé Family Circus returns to Tucson’s west side for its 13th annual winter residency Jan. 6-21.
The family circus, led by Giovanni Zoppé and his wife, Jeanette Prince-Zoppé, is bringing its new show “Carnevale di Venezia” (Carnival of Venice), a hilarious journey through time to the intrigue and extravagance of Venice during carnevale. Carnevale is the final hurrah where comedy and art are celebrated often to excess in preparation of Lent.
That’s the beauty of the Zoppé show, which descendants of the famous Italian circus family have been performing for 200 years. This is not your run-of-the-mill big top circus; the Zoppé is constantly changing and introducing audiences to new storylines and characters to enhance the cirque majesty and marvel.
Children are big fans of the Zoppé Family Circus, a big-top tent circus that has had a winter residency in Tucson for the past dozen years. They pull into the Mercado District on the west side Jan. 6 for their 13th annual run, that continues through Jan. 21.
This year’s show is a coproduction with Luca Colferi, director of the Venice-based Compagnie de Calza, one of the oldest theater companies in the world, and features four new acts:
Circus trainer Jennifer Herriot Walker, a fourth-generation performer from the famous Herriot Family Circus, bounces into the Zoppé ring with her dog and pony act, which has always been a fan favorite.
Equestrian trainer Aurelius Loyal joins the Zoppé with his horse Persephone, who was rescued from the wild and trained by Loyal. Persephone trots around the ring with an American flag to honor her breed as an American Mustang.
Sorelle Zoppé — Chiara Zoppé-Meyer and Audrey Prince — are tag-teaming the duo lyra, acrobatic excellence on giant rings suspended above the tent floor. The lyra has been a mainstay of circus tradition gong back to at least 1893 and continues to be an act that thrills, mesmerizes and likely scares audiences as the performers appear nearly weightless twisting and swinging from the rings.
Classically-trained mime and actor Mace Perlman joins the show as ringmaster, bringing some of the skills he learned under the master, Marcel Marceau, to the stage. He also specializes in the practice of commedia dell’arte when he’s not performing great works of Shakespeare, Molière, Marivaux and Goldoni.
Duo Lyra — Chiara Zoppé-Meyer and Audrey Prince — is one of the highlights of the Zoppé Family Circus’s new show, “Carnevale di Venezia” (Carnival of Venice), coming to Tucson Jan. 6-21.
The Tucson Zoppé residency, presented by Haversack Productions, will feature 24 performances at the Mercado District, 125 S. Avenida del Convento. Admission is $25, $45 for ringside seats; children 3 and younger are free. Shows at 10 a.m. Fridays are $15, $30 ringside, and all tickets are available through mercadodistrict.com/events.
Performances are at 4 and 7 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 4 p.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Thursdays, and 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Fridays.
Learn more at zoppe.net.
