Francesca Zambello
Encyclopedia
Francesca Zambello is a leading American
opera
and theatre director. Zambello lived in Europe when she was a child, learning to speak French
, Italian
, German
and Russian
. Zambello is of Italian descent, the daughter of Jean (née Sincere), an actress and Charles C. Zambello, a former actor who became head of flight entertainment at TWA
. She attended Moscow University in 1976 and graduated from Colgate University
in 1978.
Zambello began her career as an Assistant Director to the celebrated opera directors Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
and Nathaniel Merrill
. From 1984 to 1991 she was the Artistic Director of the Skylight Opera Theatre
in Milwaukee. In recent years she has worked at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York (Alfanos Cyrano de Bergerac with Plácido Domingo
), the Washington National Opera
(Wagners Ring, co-produced with the San Francisco Opera), Houston Grand Opera
, the Bolshoi
, Teatro la Fenice in Venice
, the Royal Opera
in London
and the Paris Opera
, as well as for the Seattle Children's Theatre
, BBC Television
, and the Bregenz Festival
. She is an Artistic Advisor to the San Francisco Opera
.
She has won awards for her work in France, England, Japan, Germany, Russia and Australia (the Helpmann Award
).
Zambello made her Broadway directorial debut with the musical production of Disney's The Little Mermaid
(2008). Zambello directed the regional production of the musical of The First Wives Club
at the Old Globe Theatre
, San Diego, California
in 2009, but left the project because of "prior scheduling commitments". She directed the musical version of Little House on the Prairie
, which premiered at the Guthrie Theater
in July 2008 and is currently touring the United States.
Zambello developed a stage version of The Master Butchers Singing Club
, the 2003 Louise Erdrich
novel, with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman
. The production premiered on September 11, 2010, at the Guthrie Theater
.
On September 1, 2010, Zambello took the reins of the Glimmerglass Opera
in Cooperstown, New York
, as its new general and artistic director. She immediately changed the company's name to Glimmerglass Festival and said that she would present a musical each season, starting with Annie Get Your Gun
in the summer of 2011.
In May 2011, she was announced as artistic advisor to the Washington National Opera
, after the departure of former director Placido Domingo
.
In the summer of 2011, she directed Richard Wagner
's complete Ring
at San Francisco Opera
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and theatre director. Zambello lived in Europe when she was a child, learning to speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. Zambello is of Italian descent, the daughter of Jean (née Sincere), an actress and Charles C. Zambello, a former actor who became head of flight entertainment at TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
. She attended Moscow University in 1976 and graduated from Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
in 1978.
Zambello began her career as an Assistant Director to the celebrated opera directors Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle was a noted French opera director.-Biography:Ponnelle was born in Paris. He studied philosophy, art, and history there and, in 1952, began his career in Germany as a theatre designer for Hans Werner Henze's opera Boulevard Solitude...
and Nathaniel Merrill
Nathaniel Merrill
Nathaniel Merrill was a celebrated American stage director and opera director. He was the resident stage director at the Metropolitan Opera from 1956-1985. During his 28 seasons at the Met he staged a total of 14 new productions in addition to directing several revivals. He also served as the...
. From 1984 to 1991 she was the Artistic Director of the Skylight Opera Theatre
Skylight opera theatre
The Skylight Opera Theatre is a professional light opera company located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1959, Skylight performs in the 358-seat Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center in Milwaukee...
in Milwaukee. In recent years she has worked at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York (Alfanos Cyrano de Bergerac with Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
), the Washington National Opera
Washington National Opera
The Washington National Opera is an opera company in Washington, D.C., USA. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performances are now given in the Opera House of the John F...
(Wagners Ring, co-produced with the San Francisco Opera), Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
, the Bolshoi
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
, Teatro la Fenice in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, the Royal Opera
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the Paris Opera
Opéra Bastille
L'Opéra Bastille ' is a modern opera house in Paris, France. It is the home base of the Opéra national de Paris and was designed to replace the Palais Garnier, which is nowadays mainly used for ballet performances....
, as well as for the Seattle Children's Theatre
Seattle Children's Theatre
Founded in 1975, Seattle Children's Theatre is the second-largest resident theatre for young audiences in North America and among the 20 largest regional theatres in the United States, with an annual operating budget of approximately $6.5 Million...
, BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
, and the Bregenz Festival
Bregenzer Festspiele
Bregenzer Festspiele is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz, Austria.Founded in 1946, the festival presents a wide variety of musical and theatrical events in several venues:...
. She is an Artistic Advisor to the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
.
She has won awards for her work in France, England, Japan, Germany, Russia and Australia (the Helpmann Award
Helpmann Award
The Helpmann Awards recognize distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in Australia's live performing arts sectors. The recognized disciplines include musical and physical theatre, contemporary and classical music, opera, and dance, with a comedy category introduced in 2006...
).
Zambello made her Broadway directorial debut with the musical production of Disney's The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (musical)
The Little Mermaid is a stage musical produced by Disney Theatrical, based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen...
(2008). Zambello directed the regional production of the musical of The First Wives Club
The First Wives Club
The First Wives Club is a 1996 comedy film, based on the best-selling 1992 novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith. Narrated by Diane Keaton, it stars Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler as three divorced women who seek revenge on their husbands who left them for younger women...
at the Old Globe Theatre
Old Globe Theatre
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons...
, San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
in 2009, but left the project because of "prior scheduling commitments". She directed the musical version of Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (musical)
Little House on the Prairie is a book musical adapted from the children's books, Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The creative team includes Rachel Sheinkin , Rachel Portman , Donna di Novelli , and Francesca Zambello...
, which premiered at the Guthrie Theater
Guthrie Theater
The Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
in July 2008 and is currently touring the United States.
Zambello developed a stage version of The Master Butchers Singing Club
The Master Butchers Singing Club
The Master Butchers Singing Club is a 2003 novel by Louise Erdrich. It follows the life of Fidelis Waldvogel and his family, as well as Delphine Watzka and her partner Cyprian, as they adjust in their separate lives in the small town of Argus, North Dakota...
, the 2003 Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich
Karen Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, is an author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American heritage. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance...
novel, with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play night, Mother...
. The production premiered on September 11, 2010, at the Guthrie Theater
Guthrie Theater
The Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
.
On September 1, 2010, Zambello took the reins of the Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.The summer-only season usually consists of four operas performed in...
in Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...
, as its new general and artistic director. She immediately changed the company's name to Glimmerglass Festival and said that she would present a musical each season, starting with Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun may refer to:*Annie Get Your Gun , a 1946 musical play*Annie Get Your Gun , a 1950 film version of the 1946 musical*Annie Get Your Gun , 1946, with Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton...
in the summer of 2011.
In May 2011, she was announced as artistic advisor to the Washington National Opera
Washington National Opera
The Washington National Opera is an opera company in Washington, D.C., USA. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performances are now given in the Opera House of the John F...
, after the departure of former director Placido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
.
In the summer of 2011, she directed Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's complete Ring
Ring
Ring may refer to:*Ring , a decorative ornament worn on fingers, toes, or around the arm or neck-Computing:* Ring , a layer of protection in computer systems...
at San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
.