Mar 19, 2010 with Comments 0
Set along San Francisco’s historic waterfront, Teatro ZinZanni is a bewitching evening of European Cabaret and Cirque, Divas and Madmen, Spectacle and Sensuality with Live Music and a Gourmet Five-Course Dinner – set in the nightclub of your dreams!
Now Presenting…
Teatro ZinZanni presents Hearts on Fire featuring disco diva and Grammy Award® winner, Thelma Houston as Madame ZinZanni, owner of the jewel box theater. The show also features the outrageous Christine Deaver and the incomparable, “rock your mundo, baby!,” El Vez. A joyful love affair of the spirits conjured up by Madame ZinZanni, Hearts on Fire will put a spell on you and take you on a magical ride with soulful music, romance, dance, and comedy.
In the beginning…
When Artistic Director Norman Langill and his producing team at One Reel launched the world premiere of Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle in October 1998, their hope was that “Love, Chaos & Dinner,” with its unique blend of European cabaret, vaudeville, improv and pop music (including local artist Ann Wilson of Heart as the chanteuse), world merrily run through the holiday season of 1998. The show was a smash success and ran for 14 sold-out months.
Barcelona beginnings…
The original concept for ZinZanni was sparked by a visit to Spain. In 1992, Normal Langill strolled into a weather-beaten spiegeltent on a quiet Barcelona street and fell in love. Inside that tent it seemed dreams and reality converged and anything was possible. Inspired by great cabarets of Europe, spiked with fresh sense of American comedy, and steeped in absurdity, the first Teatro ZinZanni took shape in Langill’s mind.
Spiegeltent dreams…
The gorgeous antique tents that inspired Langill and that now house Teatro ZinZanni are authentic Belgian spiegeltents (mirror tent) devised and constructed at the turn of the 20th century by renowned craftsman Willem Klessens. There are only eight of these remarkable treasures in existence and currently two, San Francisco’s Les Palis Nostalguique and Seattle’s Moulin Rouge, are in use to house Teatro ZinZanni.
San Francisco bound…
New Year’s Eve 1999 found ZinZanni dimming those lights for the last time. After a run so successful the far off The New York Times heralded ZinZanni as “Seattle’s hottest ticket,” the show was forced to move from its perch on Mercer Street in Seattle’s Theatre District to make way for incoming construction. So, as the new millennium dawned, ZinZanni packed it all up and struck out for the Barbary Coast.
Waterfront smash…
With help from new Bay Area partners, renowned restaurateur Stanley Morris and Stars Restaurants, ZinZanni created its first permanent show on San Francisco’s historic waterfront.
The show debuted on Pier 29 on The Embarcadero in March of 2000 to rave reviews. The Chronicle hailed it as “heroic,” the Mercury News dubbed it “like the Kit Kat Klub on acid,” and the Oakland Tribune said simply, “terrific.”
What is the plural of Chanteuse?
As the show progressed in San Francisco, it began to draw from the city’s rich talent pool of legends like Joan Baez and Maria Muldaur joined the cast. Other great vocalists joined the cast over time, including Lilianne Montivecchi, Sally Kellerman and Duffy Bishop. ZinZanni continued to showcase the finest circus artists in the world and became a coveted slot the cirque circuit for the world’s premier artists and acrobats.
Teatro ZinZanni…
Today ZinZanni consistently looks to innovate and invigorate. Incredible artists and combinations of acts are brought into the show and worked into its intimate confines as reasonably as the laws of physics will allow. New culinary concepts are worked into the sumptuous menu and the presentation of the five-course feast that is integrated with each performance. To look into ZinZanni’s future, just join us any evening. We’ll show you a peek into what is to come while we transport you into a world without time.
For more information, showtimes and tickets, visit http://love.zinzanni.org/
BREVÉ – BRUNCH WITH A TWIST!
Enjoy a delicious three-course brunch while watching an abbreviated mid-day performance of our current production, HEARTS ON FIRE, starring Thelma Houston, Christine Deaver and El Vez. Set in a beautiful Belgian Spiegeltent located along San Francisco’s historic waterfront, BREVÉ is the perfect excuse to wear your tiara at Noon!
Filed Under: Featured
