Zamacona Productions LLC

09/19/2024

Last night I was a judge for the San Francisco Comedy Competition at Biscuit and Blues in the City. It brought back fond memories of my series Comedy Tonight (1981-1991). Here’s a photo of me and Jackie Flynn who hosted the Competition last night. He’s very funny and you might have seen him on the comedy series, Loudermilk on Netflix.

04/27/2024

Looking forward to directing The Goldman Environmental Prize Ceremony on Monday, April 29 at 5:30 PT. Watch it live at:

Celebrating 35 years of grassroots environmental leadership, the 2024 Goldman Prize winners will be announced on Monday, April 29, 2024.

10/21/2023

Lots of popcorn for this opera!

09/03/2021

Check out Tosca at San Francisco Opera. Had a great time directing the Opera Vision. Good luck to Mauricio and Christine on the simulcast and the other operas!

05/06/2021

Check out these young opera stars of the future May 6 , Thursday night at 8 pm in Marin! Tickets at sfopera.com

04/30/2021

Check out the Adler concerts on May 6 , Thursday night. Get your tickets to watch the stars of the future at Sfopera.com.

04/25/2021

Directing for the screen, 2nd 90+ minutes Barber of Seville tonight! Come see if you can. It’s entertaining!

10/23/2020

This Weekend, You’re Invited — to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro

Strap yourself in for the wildest wedding of the season as Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro streams for free this weekend on https://sfopera.com/streaming

Meet Figaro, faithful valet to a very, very unfaithful man — as Figaro is about to find out when he discovers his employer is planning to bed his fiancée right on his wedding night!

Patrick Summers conducts a glittering cast, including Philippe Sly as the quick-witted Figaro, Lisette Oropesa as his fiancée Susanna, Nadine Sierra as the jilted Countess Almaviva, and Luca Pisaroni as the lustful Count Almaviva, in a production the San Francisco Chronicle describes as calls “a perfect union” of theatrics and music.

Don’t miss one of the funniest romantic comedies of all time: Streaming starts this Saturday, October 24, at 10am Pacific, but the wedding party ends midnight the next day. Tune in! Directed for the screen, captured live by Frank Zamacona.

https://sfopera.com/streaming

Show your support for the incredible Company members that make up San Francisco Opera. Donate today and your gift will be doubled. GIVE NOW.

10/16/2020

A blast from the past! Attila the Hun is about to meet his match. When he spots a beautiful warrior among his captives, he recognizes someone who might be his equal in bravery — someone who might finally conquer his heart. Little does he know that she harbors murderous schemes of her own.
Witness history when Attila marches onto your screen in a free online broadcast, starting Saturday, October 17, at 10am Pacific and ending Sunday at midnight. Directed for the screen by Frank Zamacona.
Run time: 1 hour and 50 minutes
https://sfopera.com/streaming?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=M2021StreamingReminderATTILAEM2&utm_content=version_A&uid=7019747&sourceNumber=51394

Show your support for the incredible Company members that make up San Francisco Opera. Donate today and your gift will be doubled. GIVE NOW.

10/10/2020

Kicking off the fall season of San Francisco Opera’s free Opera Is ON streaming series is Tosca starting today, Sat. Oct.10 at 10am Pacific until 11:59pm Sunday. Puccini's timeless tale of love in a time of tyranny, featuring Lianna Haroutounian as Tosca. The SF Chronicle described her as “A virtuoso display of vocal prowess.” Directed for the screen by Frank Zamacona
https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

It’s all-out war with Giuseppe Verdi’s early triumph Attila. Legendary bass Ferruccio Furlanetto leads the charge with a blazing performance as Attila the Hun.

08/18/2020

07/24/2020

The Makropulos Case

Streaming free all weekend, July 25 – 26, from the Vault of San Francisco Opera - Emilia Marty is the ultimate diva. Never in a hundred years could anyone match her skill and talent — perhaps because she’s had three times that long to hone hers.
Unravel the mystery at the heart of The Makropulos Case, the opera the San Francisco Chronicle hails as “unforgettable” and “triumphant,” streaming for free this weekend.

With a magnetic performance from Finnish soprano Karita Mattila, under the baton of the late Czech maestro Jiří Bĕlohlávek.

With brisk humor and s*x appeal to spare, The Makropulos Case is a tour de force. Stream it for free this weekend, starting Saturday at 10am Pacific. Directed for the screen by Frank Zamacona.

https://sfopera.com/streaming?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=M2021StreamRemPausMAKROPGEN&utm_content=version_A&sourceNumber=50549

Her name packs theaters. Her looks melt hearts. And her voice brings together the generations. Emilia Marty is the ultimate diva. Never in a hundred years could anyone match her skill and talent — perhaps because she’s had three times that long to hone hers.

07/15/2020

CINDERELLA
STARTING JULY 18 AT 10am PACIFIC streaming free at
https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/
Forget the glass slipper, and ditch the fairy godmother. Prepare yourself for a new spin on a classic tale: Gioachino Rossini’s Cinderella. Frank Zamacona said , "We had great memories when we captured this opera in July 2014. The humor and musical joy were awesome!"

Your Prince Charming awaits this weekend!

Directed for the screen by Frank Zamacona.

Cinderella streams from Saturday, July 18 at 10am Pacific through Sunday till midnight, free at https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/!

Rumor has it that three of the most eligible bachelorettes in Italy live in the house of Don Magnifico, the great baron of Montefiascone.

05/20/2020

This weekend San Francisco Opera's Moby-Dick Streamed Free.

The seas are calling. Journey into the depths of madness for our latest streaming event, Moby-Dick. Composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Sheer bring Herman Melville’s great American novel to the stage, a towering work that plunges opera-goers into the twisted mind of Captain Ahab.��

With the low, haunting rumbling of a nearly all-male cast, Moby-Dick is a high-octane operatic thriller, featuring the unforgettable Jay Hunter Morris as Ahab, the tormented soul whose quest for vengeance against a monstrous white whale is bought in human lives.��

This 21st-century masterpiece, Moby-Dick is an adventure you won’t want to miss. Stream it for free this weekend, at sfopera.com from Saturday, May 23, at 10am Pacific to Sunday, May 24, at 11:59pm Pacific.

Directed for the screen by Frank Zamacona.

This weekend San Francisco Opera' Moby-Dick Streamed Free.
https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/

05/05/2020

A friend sent this to me. You will see a younger frank zamacona - last century young!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGl67zveqOU&feature=share

Standup Comic Linda Hill performs a 20 minute set for the PBS show "Comedy Tonight."

03/23/2020

While working at KQED in the early 80s, I was introduced to Mal Sharpe. We connected on comedy and our mutual love of jazz. Through the 80s, 90s and into the early 2000s, we produced hidden camera/man-on-the-street specials that aired on KQED and nationally on Public TV and the Discovery Channel.

Mal’s humorous premises (he had a bible of premises) and the camaraderie of working on the streets with a small crew was a joy ride. Mal’s comedy timing was an improvisational dance. To watch Mal catch a person’s attention and get them to play along or laugh at themselves, was wonderful and sometimes extraordinary. No matter how extreme or zany the bit, his good nature drew in participants and audience alike.

Mal’s humor even touched the Los Angeles education system. He collaborated with his wife Sandra Sharpe on producing a French vocabulary film. It was funny and bizarre. Something you have to see for yourself.

There are lots of great stories and great times. He was a kind and generous man, a mentor and a good friend. I miss him.