Written, spoken and musical artistry comes to San Diego Bay

Will Bowen | Downtown News

There is nothing quite like being down at San Diego Bay at night. It’s usually comfortably cool, with a delightful light breeze, and you can watch the multicolored lights of the city reflecting in long lines across the inky darkness of the Bay.

Aside from Coronado’s Ferry Landing, another premier spot to view the nighttime reflections of the City on the water is Anthony’s Star of the Sea Room, which is right next to the old time Star of India sailing ship.

“The Star of the Sea Room is the most romantic and elegant waterfront venue in the city – it’s a room that offers the San Diego experience like no other,” said Franco Zigarelli (aka Franco Z), the overall entertainment producer of Stars at The Star.

The Star of the Sea Room is a lovely candlelit space built on wooden pilings right on the water. Two of the walls are actually very large windows, offering up views of the lights of Point Loma to the west and the Star of India close-up to the north. At one time, the room was a very elegant and expensive restaurant associated with Anthony’s Fish Grotto. Now the space has been transformed into an events center with an attached bar. Tapas-style dishes and desserts are still prepared at Anthony’s, which is right next door.

On May 16, a new and promising event was inaugurated at the Star of the Sea Room. Called “Stars at The Star,” the evening features one hour of live poetry reading and four hours of the best in local jazz. It happens every Thursday night from 7 – 12 a.m., and is the brainchild of Zigarelli, a youthful-voiced crooner himself whose songs will take you back in time to a more romantic era.

There is nothing like this is happening anywhere else on the waterfront and it’s a great place for a romantic date or an intimate night out with friends.

During the first hour of Stars at The Star, poets who have been published in the San Diego Poetry Annual read their poems aloud. This yearly anthology is the premier publication for local poetry and features the best of our local poets. It can be found in all San Diego County libraries, and is even used as a textbook at many of the local junior colleges.

Next, from 8 to 9 p.m. Franco Z and Z-Bop! perform classic jazz standards, with an emphasis on vocal ballads. Then from 9 to 11 p.m. a special guest musician or band will entertain, with Z-Bop! returning to close out the evening from 11 p.m. to midnight.

A five-dollar donation is requested to attend the poetry reading. There is no cover charge to stay for the music, but patrons are asked to spend a minimum of $20 on food and drink throughout the evening.

All profits go to the San Diego Entertainment and Arts Guild with the hopes of raising enough money to help finance workshops in poetry and music for high school and college students.

Opening night featured the highly regarded poet Diane Wakoski. On the following Thursday, May 23, the Full Moon poets – Trish Dugger, Jim Babwe, and Swami Bruce Stephens, all from North County – performed. Dugger has held the distinction of poet laureate of Encinitas since 1995. The special musical guest for the evening was the “Queen of Boogie Woogie,” keyboardist Sue Palmer, who was accompanied by vocalist Deejha Marie.

Stars of The Star poetry readings are coordinated by Rae Rose, Zigarelli’s daughter and a budding poet in her own right. Two years ago, at age 27, Rose had a stroke but has since made a miraculous recovery. It was while caring for his ailing daughter during this time that Zigarelli came up with the idea of a jazz and poetry club at the Star of the Sea Room.

Zigarelli was born in New Jersey and learned to play music in high school.  He joined the Navy in 1969 as an aviator and flew combat missions during the Vietnam era. After he left the Navy, Zigarelli began to write fiction and has since published the novels “Rainbow,” “Young Hart,” and “Mill Song,” as well as the children’s book, “Alvin’s Famous No-horse,” under his given name, William Harry Harding. He has been publishing the San Diego Poetry Annual since 2006, originally inspired by the fact his wife and daughter are poets.

Z-Bop! started as an offshoot of the band members’ mutual involvement in “The Sopranos Last Supper,” which was a long running local interactive musical theatre piece. Just Zigarelli and drummer Don Wiseman, a drum instructor at Allan’s Music in La Mesa, remain from the original lineup, but former members often join them on stage. Franco Z and Z-Bop! have played on Hornblower Cruises on the Bay, at The Flying Z in Oceanside, Tommie V’s in Del Mar, and at all the Italian festivals in Little Italy.

On Thursdays throughout June, expect to see Franco Z and Z-Bop! joining poets Seretta Martin, Terry Spolin, Olga Garcia, and Steve Kowit, along with local jazz groups Bob Thorsen Duo, Tripp Sprague, and the Manny Cepeda Trio, as well as the return of Sue Palmer & Deejha Marie.

For more information visit starsatthestar.com or sandiegopoetryannual.com. You may also email [email protected] or call 760-458-2704.

Will Bowen writes about arts and culture. You can reach him at [email protected].