Teatro
ZinZanni: Love, Chaos & Dinner
Pier 29
San Francisco, CA 94111-1028
(415) 438-2668
http://love.zinzanni.org/
While many folks love Beach Blanket Babylon, the
zany musical spoof of pop
culture with extravagant costumes and outrageously huge hats, another
fantastic dinner show that rivals this 30+ year phenomenon is Teatro
ZinZanni.
Set along San Franciscoo’s historic
waterfront, Teatro ZinZanni is a bewitching evening of European cabaret,
cirque, divas and madmen, spectacle and sensuality with live music and a
gourmet five-course dinner—set in the nightclub of your dreams!
As you enter the cabaret tent
lobby with a huge bar where cocktails are sold, you meet some of the
exotic women and men who set the mood for a night of fun. Colorful, sexy
costumes, humorous acts and subtle injections of vaudeville shtick
sandwiched between mesmerizing contortion and acrobatic feats (in which
you ponder if the actor in the spotlight is a woman or man) sets the
tone for a truly San Francisco-style experience. The performers utilize illusion, surprise and
music to entertain, making the 3-hour show fly by far too fast.
Now in its Sixth Smash Year! Teatro ZinZanni is uniquely staged in a
luxurious European Spiegeltent. Teatro ZinZanni was created by Pacific
Northwest non-profit arts and events producer One Reel in 1998 and
enjoyed a sold-out 14 month run in Seattle before bringing its antique
“spiegeltent” to San Francisco in 2000, now located at its permanent
home on Pier 29 along The City’s Embarcadero.
Teatro ZinZanni breaks new artistic territory with this intoxicating
blend of interactive theater, spectacle, fine arts and fine dining, put
together under the artistic direction of One Reel's Norman Langill.
The antique tents that inspired show creator Norman Langill are authentic
Belgian spiegeltents (mirror tent) devised and constructed at the turn
of the 20th century by craftman Willem Klessens. There are eight in
existence and two of them are used for the Teatro ZinZanni show--one in
San Francisco's Les Palis Nostalgique and the other in Seattle's Moulin
Rouge.
For more than a century, the spiegeltents toured Europe. They hosted
dances, cabarets and celebrations. Buried within the sparkling mirrors
and hand-carved booths lie years of laughter and celebration.
The ever changing cast at Teatro ZinZanni features world-class
practitioners of some of the oldest and most time honored traditions in
entertainment. It is truly an extraordinary ensemble, of a caliber
unlikely seen anywhere else in the world.
Throughout the show's years of success, it has featured Joan Baez, Maria
Muldaur, Sally Kellerman and a host of celebrity performers. While the
dinner show ranges in price from around $125 - $150 per person,
it's a great tourist attraction, date or event to attend for a
celebration.
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