The Zoppe Italian Family Circus in Chandler
by Jessica Testa - Dec. 21, 2010 The Arizona Republic
The Zoppe Italian Family Circus has struck a chord with Chandler.
Soon after its first performance at the Chandler Center for the Arts in 2009, the programmers knew they never wanted to let the internationally acclaimed family circus go.
At first, assistant manager Michelle MacLennan booked the circus only because the center was closed for renovations and the Zoppes didn't need an indoor performance space. They bring their own tent and trailers.
"(But) people went crazy for the circus. Now it's become the priority on my list for when I book my season," she said. "It has changed our programming model."
The Zoppe Italian Family Circus will return to Chandler Sunday through Jan. 2.
Every European and major American city has a circus, Giovanni Zoppe explains. Now Chandler does, too.
"People welcome us greatly in Chandler. They know what we're doing," he said.
On the Zoppe Italian Family Circus website, a large portion of the guestbook entries are from people in Chandler, Zoppe said. The Chandler Center for the Arts also has received waves of correspondence in support of the circus from Valley residents.
"We've received more feedback in terms of e-mails and letters and phone calls than any show we've ever done," MacLennan said.
The circus was founded in 1842, by Napoline Zoppe, a French street performer who came six generations before Giovanni, who revived the circus in America three years ago.
Like any circus, it's a family show with laughter and awe. But unlike your average Barnum and Bailey show, the Zoppe Italian Family Circus is more of a tribute to circuses of yesteryear, or rather, yestercentury.
"We're very old-fashioned," Zoppe said. "We don't have flashing lights and we don't have smoke and mirrors. We do everything the way it was prior to the big huge corporate circuses of today."
In the Zoppe audience, no person is more than 25 feet away from the circus ring - even with the new tent. The tent, which took more than six years to build, will be used for only the fourth time during the show's Chandler run.
The tent was manufactured in Mexico and America, and engineered in Italy with material from France, Zoppe said. The new tent is larger, with more space for performers, but the intimacy of a one-ring circus remains.
"You fall in love with the family," MacLennan said. "You feel like you're going into their home. Literally - you're going into the same tent they perform in every night around the world. They live in trailers outside that tent. They're a very real family."
One member of that family was only three weeks old last time the circus came through Chandler. This December, there will be a 1-year-old in the show.Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2010/12/21/20101221chandler-zopper-circus-arts-center1221.html#ixzz18tUCcYTR
The Zoppe Italian Family Circus has struck a chord with Chandler.
Soon after its first performance at the Chandler Center for the Arts in 2009, the programmers knew they never wanted to let the internationally acclaimed family circus go.
At first, assistant manager Michelle MacLennan booked the circus only because the center was closed for renovations and the Zoppes didn't need an indoor performance space. They bring their own tent and trailers.
"(But) people went crazy for the circus. Now it's become the priority on my list for when I book my season," she said. "It has changed our programming model."
The Zoppe Italian Family Circus will return to Chandler Sunday through Jan. 2.
Every European and major American city has a circus, Giovanni Zoppe explains. Now Chandler does, too.
"People welcome us greatly in Chandler. They know what we're doing," he said.
On the Zoppe Italian Family Circus website, a large portion of the guestbook entries are from people in Chandler, Zoppe said. The Chandler Center for the Arts also has received waves of correspondence in support of the circus from Valley residents.
"We've received more feedback in terms of e-mails and letters and phone calls than any show we've ever done," MacLennan said.
The circus was founded in 1842, by Napoline Zoppe, a French street performer who came six generations before Giovanni, who revived the circus in America three years ago.
Like any circus, it's a family show with laughter and awe. But unlike your average Barnum and Bailey show, the Zoppe Italian Family Circus is more of a tribute to circuses of yesteryear, or rather, yestercentury.
"We're very old-fashioned," Zoppe said. "We don't have flashing lights and we don't have smoke and mirrors. We do everything the way it was prior to the big huge corporate circuses of today."
In the Zoppe audience, no person is more than 25 feet away from the circus ring - even with the new tent. The tent, which took more than six years to build, will be used for only the fourth time during the show's Chandler run.
The tent was manufactured in Mexico and America, and engineered in Italy with material from France, Zoppe said. The new tent is larger, with more space for performers, but the intimacy of a one-ring circus remains.
"You fall in love with the family," MacLennan said. "You feel like you're going into their home. Literally - you're going into the same tent they perform in every night around the world. They live in trailers outside that tent. They're a very real family."
One member of that family was only three weeks old last time the circus came through Chandler. This December, there will be a 1-year-old in the show.Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2010/12/21/20101221chandler-zopper-circus-arts-center1221.html#ixzz18tUCcYTR
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