Pagliacci Teams Up With…Pagliacci!

To break it down, the local pizza chain and the beloved opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo being performed by Seattle Opera on select dates from August 3rd through August 17th are teaming up for a fun collab! I mean, it just makes sense, right? Pizza and Opera go hand in greasy hand!

The 45 year old pizza company reveals all on their website…including the skinny on why they named their company after the opera which centers on a tragic clown:

Sometimes it feels like destiny. To celebrate our 45th Anniversary, we wanted to do something splashy. But what? And then Seattle Opera announced they’d be opening the 2024/25 season this August with a production of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, the classic Italian opera and the origin of our name.  

Asked where the company name came from, Pagliacci Pizza founder Dorene Centioli-McTigue said, “It was the opera. My family is really big on opera. We have a cousin who was an opera singer. We just thought, what more buffoonery than to open a pizza place.” In Italian, Pagliacci means clowns. “[The name] sounded good,” Dorene continued. “We liked the idea of what buffoonery. And we figured we could do a lot with it.” 

So here we are. Forty-five years and 25 stores later. Millions of pizzas and satisfied customers later. And our namesake opera, Pagliacci, will be performed on the big stage by Seattle Opera. The production runs from August 3 – 17.  

They also created a fun new design for their pizza boxes that always feature their “Squatch” mascot…

Our 45th Anniversary T-shirt was created to honor our collaboration with Seattle Opera. Ames Bros, Seattle’s coolest graphic designers, created the design. Coby Shultz, one half of the dynamic duo behind Ames Bros, said, “It’s been impossible to work on this and not belly laugh — the thought of ‘Squatch’ being forced to perform and stuffed into an uncomfortable clown suit. He has stage fright and is really doing his best up there on the big stage.” Keep an eye out for an upcoming online sale of the coolest shirt of the summer. 

Pagliacci Pizza will also sponsor pre-show mixers for members of BRAVO! Seattle Opera’s patrons group for the 21 to 39 crowd (kids in opera fandom):

BRAVO!, Seattle Opera’s young patrons group, is the premier Seattle-area arts organization for young people between the ages of 21 and 39. Pagliacci will be sponsoring four pre-show mixers featuring pizza, hosted on the campus lawn near McCaw Hall on August 3, 10, 11, and 16. Enjoy delicious pizza while mingling with fellow arts enthusiasts in a relaxed, outdoor setting. 

For more info on the opera itself and to snag tickets to see it in August, go to the Seattle Opera website. https://www.seattleopera.org/pagliacci

Opera just isn’t for old, rich folks…there are tickets as low as $39. And, the music and theatricality are divine! Check it out.

Order yummy pizza at: https://pagliacci.com/