Gina Zollman was born in Long Beach but soon moved to Garden Grove, California, 3 miles from Disneyland. You could watch the nightly fireworks from her backyard! Zollman started singing at 6 years old, with a performance at a jam-packed PTA meeting. She sang in choirs from 4th grade through and beyond college.

She performed in numerous stage shows, including playing “Balin” in “The Hobbit” and ”Aunt Eller” in Oklahoma (with braces on her teeth!) while attending her private girls' high school Marywood in Villa Park. She graduated from UCSD Revelle College with a BA in Linguistics and a minor in Music. While there, she sang all the quintessential sacred and secular choir repertoire including “The Messiah” and “Carmina Burana”. Gina enjoyed standout performances in “The Magic Flute” and “Riders To The Sea” with the UCSD Opera Workshop and “Guys and Dolls” directed by Sabin Epstein of ACT San Francisco. Zollman studied voice with John Large at UCSD and while on her year abroad in Goettingen, Germany, and studied opera with Simone Rist, with the Deutsche Teater.

Upon graduation, Gina took a high-profile job as a stockbroker, training on Wall Street with Kidder, Peabody & Co. She was a retail registered representative with over 400 clients by the time she left to work for her family’s restaurant equipment consortium in Los Angeles. Zollman was Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Flame Gard, an innovative restaurant kitchen filter company that revolutionized kitchen safety and set the bar for future innovations. After a while, showbiz beckoned, and she quit to try her hand at singing again.

Zollman’s marketing background helped her sell out her first one-woman show at The Gardenia in Hollywood, after taking the class “How To Put On Your Own Cabaret Act” at UCLA Extension, taught by the renowned pianist and songwriter, Shelly Markham. Shelly would be Gina’s accompanist and Music Director for many of her shows.

Gina, who has long been challenged by weight issues, created funny characters to brighten her show and make people laugh, became “Svetlana, the Russian Runway Model Who Ran Away”, “Shmarilyn”, the illegitimate daughter of Marilyn Monroe and JFK, “Mambo”, motherhood’s send-up of “Rambo”, “Maxine, The Mall Reporter” and her titular character for many shows, “The PMS Poster Woman”.

She auditioned for “In Living Color” and made the casting rounds, finding a co-starring role in “LA Young Pal” as a singing nightclub owner, and other under-the-radar roles. On a lark, she auditioned for “The New Gong Show” and performed with a gal friend the R&B hit “Shout”, sung operatically, dressed as Wagnerian breast-plated, helmet-wearing Valkyries! You had to be there!

She also appeared as “The PMS Poster Woman” on the show. Both times she was “gonged” but these appearances were deemed “Principal” roles and qualified her for entrance into the Screen Actors Guild. She’s still a dues-paying member to this day.

Gina’s choir efforts culminated in a performance of John Rutter’s “Te Deum” and “Gloria” at Carnegie Hall with “The Marina Singers”.

During her years in LA, Zollman performed to sell-out houses at “The Hollywood Roosevelt Cinegrill”, with her name emblazoned on a 30-foot marquee; at M Bar, hosting “Look To The Rainbow” a benefit for Jerry Brown; Miceli’s; The Magic Castle; The Comedy Store; The Improv; The Rose Tattoo and many others. She was cast as an ensemble player in “The Three Penny Opera” at the Pierson Playhouse, and originated roles at The NoHo London Music Hall as Aunt Greta in “Heidi, The Musical” and as Susie in the country western musical “Lake Balboa”.

In LA she studied vocal technique with Broadway stars Marilyn Child and Udana Power, and with the incomparable Seth Riggs, who’s simply the best of the best. Gina studied acting at The Actor’s Center and took private comedy coaching from Second City alum Sandy Holt. Gina won runner-up in the KABC vocal competition for “Crazy For You” with her rendition of “Someone To Watch Over Me" which is featured on her CD.

Gina lost and gained back 100 pounds and finally got the gastric bypass in 1997, losing 120 pounds over 2 years, and keeping it off for 24 years and counting. She survived 2 divorces and vows never to marry again, the only sure way to never face another divorce! She has kept her sense of humor, notably in some of her original material, on display in her current show, “Anywhere With You”. She was going to call the show, ”Love, Loss and What I Weighed”, for a bit of comic relief.

Zollman is happily ensconced in her long-term relationship and chose the loving theme over the comedic one, but there will be plenty of laughs about the ups and downs of the scale anyway! Zollman has survived numerous health setbacks, including Stage 3 colon cancer, a stroke that left her deaf in one ear, a toxic drug prescription that landed her in the hospital, and a 14-year relationship that had to end, which was devastating. It all lead her to this place in time, ready to take on the world!

She is based on the west coast, living and singing in Southern California, and near Vancouver, British Columbia: she lives 7 months of the year in Point Roberts, Washington state, making her a proud snowbird.

As Joseph N. Feinstein of Showmag.com wrote, Zollman is “a song stylist par excellence”, who sings with “clarity, expression, and melody”. Derrik Lewis, a Palm Springs luminary and noted TV actor and performer remarks, Gina’s CD is “A wonderful first effort from a clear, fine new voice, with just the right song choices to please lovers of the American Songbook”.

Scott Yanow of LA Jazz Scene wrote, "Anywhere With You is a charming set that serves as an excellent introduction to the accessible and personal singing of Gina Zollman.”

Jonathan Widran of Music Connection Magazine wrote, "With her vibrant debut, Anywhere with You, soulful and charming jazz vocalist Gina Zollman weaves an intimate story that reveals her to be a romantic and optimist at heart."

Douglas Graham wrote, “Gina Zollman takes you on a delightful journey with a silky-smooth voice, unique and clever arrangements, and a love of her art that just permeates every song she offers us”. Douglas and Gina have since decided to work together, and they are both excited that he is now directing her show! Douglas was a Fosse dancer and toured with the first touring company of “Cats”, and still wows audiences wherever he sings and dances.

Darvy Traylor of “Darvy’s Music Showcase of O.C.” claims “Gina was just wonderful. A real asset to the program”. Gina performed, “Small Day Tomorrow” on the show which reaches out to a potential 5-million-person audience. “Small Day Tomorrow" is on her CD as well. But maybe a grateful fan put it best: “We enjoyed your music and singing but most of all, you inspired us with your courage and love and gratitude for all you’ve been given in life.”

In 2024, Gina’s single “Where I Begin” garnered 61,000 streams worldwide.

Click here to download Gina’s Resume.