“Teatro ZinZanni” long running Circus/Dinner show in San Francisco is unlike any other (11/07)
“Love, Chaos and Dinner” is the perfect self-description of Teatro ZinZanni. 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.”
Once we were ushered to our table we were happily seated close to the center of the tent where we had an up-close view of all the action. We were greeted by a server dressed more for a burlesque act than as a waitress. She had us choose one entrée from the menu and presented us with a drink list. The rest of the evening either she, the rest of the wait-staff or the performers served us the most delicious gourmet food. See menu below.
Antipasto Plate
Caramelized Onion Dip with Smoked Paprika & Salted Bread Sticks, English Cucumber, Beet-Pickled Carrots & Spicy Mixed Olives
Soup
Roasted Cauliflower & Tuscan White Bean Soup
Salad
Autumn Lettuce
with Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette, Black Grapes & Goat Cheese Croutons
Entrée
Flat Iron Steak with Beurre Bercy
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Braised Red Chard & Roasted Vegetables
~or~
Roasted Chicken Breast
Niman Ranch Pork & Mission Fig Stuffing Wilted Spinach & Wine Roasted French Fingerling Potatoes
~or~
Autumn Vegetable & Ricotta Salata Empanadas
Roasted Root Vegetables, Sweet Red Pepper & Wilted Spinach
~or~
Baked Ravioli
Filled with Roasted Autumn Vegetables Cashew Basil-Pesto, Tomato Ginger Sauce & Garlic Toast
Dessert
Molten Valrhona Chocolate Cake
Brandied Cherries & Vanilla Bean Crème Frâiche
Coffee Custom Roasted for Teatro ZinZanni by Caffé Vita
During the meal service we enjoyed spectacular juggling, hand balancing, acrobatics, oral ping pong juggling, rock and roll singing, opera, comedy, romance, foot juggling (where the performers juggle grown men and heavy cumbersome objects… WITH THEIR FEET!). Not only were we awed by all of the magnificent performances we also got to enjoy some audience participation involving juggling and various acts. At one point one unlucky patron actually juggled a huge wad of butter and a chicken. He was whisked away at the end of the act and cleaned up, but we were both thankful that we had not volunteered for that act! We did, however get up and dance to the live band.
Teatro ZinZanni’s cast includes world-class practitioners of some of the oldest and most time honored traditions in entertainment. See Cast list below for explanation of performances and bios.
Les Castors
as Toly, Eddy and Charly Dedessus le moutier-
Eddy, Charly and Toly are original Teatro ZinZanni cast members. Circus is a family business for these three French brothers, whose path was paved by five previous generations of acrobats and circus artists. Their specialty is a remarkable feat of agility known as Risley, or body juggling, which they combine with incredible foot juggling feats. Les Castors’ famous act starts small with the brothers hoisting, spinning, and passing kegs, trunks and other innocuous objects, but soon finds them flying through the air and juggling one another. The brothers appeared in a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth, and have performed for such luminaries as Genèral de Gaulle, President François Mitterand, President Ronald Reagan, and Charlie Chaplin.
These 3 brothers were out of this world and their foot juggling is not only unique but incredible! In the current show, they play Gypsies and here is one of them pictured below with one of the dancers.
Elena Borodina
Sensual and strong, artful and athletic, Russian hand-balancer Elena Borodina returns for another welcome engagement in the San Francisco ZinZanni tent. Her world-famous handstand routine is no mere feat of gymnastic expertise; it is a work of art – a moving sculpture in which the human body is transformed by a flowing transparent tissue. She has presented her fascinating and beguiling performance at many European venues including the Wintergarten in Berlin, the Apollo in Dusseldorf, Circus Princessan Festivan in Stockholm, and Teatro ZinZanni: Dinner and Dreams in Seattle.
Joe De Paul
Joe De Paul made his clown debut in Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion in 1999, and toured North America with critical success. The film version of Dralion went on to win an Emmy award for Best Comedy and Variety Show. Since that time, Joe’s delightful character has toured Europe: in Salto Natale circus in Zurich, Witzigmann Palazzo in Dusselforf, Los Galindos in Barcelona, Theatre Samovar in Paris, The “11 Fussball show” in Berlin, and summer of the FIFA world cup. He has performed in Cirque du Soleil’s O in Las Vegas, as well as aiding in the creation of clown routines for Cirque’s Las Vegas production of KA. Joe recently toured with Cirque Zanzibar throughout France, Austria and Italy. He made his Teatro ZinZanni debut last season in Seattle.
Duo Artemiev- pictured below
High above the audience, the Russian acrobatic team Duo Artemiev (Dimitri Artemiev and Elena Mozgalevskaya) perform a graceful and physically demanding ballet on the trapeze. The pixyish pair began performing together in 1998, and have already graced the biggest halls in Berlin, Munich, Paris and their native Moscow with their gravity defying act. Their trapeze performance is unusual and quite beautiful as the athletic pair are in constant motion on the static trapeze – slithering and darting through daring holds and catches.
Sabine Rieck
as Frieda
Sabine Rieck is always a delicious addition to the chaos at Teatro ZinZanni. She has been astounding audiences with her comic acrobatics since the early 1980s when she began her career in circus arts with the German street theatrical group, Otti Complotti. Later, as a member of the acrobatic duo. The Kempowskys, she appeared with the Tempodrom Children’s Circus at the Berlin 750th Anniversary Celebration and at the European Cultural Capital Berlin Performance, among others. She later became a founding member of Circus Gosh, which toured throughout Europe. Two documentaries, three television programs, and a feature film were made of those performances during the 1990s. In 2003 she directed a circus show in Barcelona, in 2004 she was with Theatre Strahl in Berlin, and in 2005 she toured with the French circus show Cahincaha, and directed at the circus school in Battambang, Cambodia.
Svetlana Nikitenko
as The Diva
Svetlana Nikitenko returns to Teatro ZinZanni, having previously performed the role of The Diva in the company’s 2006-2007 productions. Ms. Nikitenko has performed to popular acclaim in important opera houses such as San Francisco Opera (most recently in 2007’s The Magic Flute); Mariinsky (Kirov Opera) Theater, St. Petersburg, Russia; Théâtre des Champs-élysées, Paris, France; Teatro Massimo, Palermo, Sicily; Teatro Regio di Parma, Italy; Greek National Opera, Athens; and Opera San Jose. Ms. Nikitenko was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Finalist, received an Encouragement Award given by the Licia Albanese Puccini International Voice Competition, and is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Opera Program, where she participated in master classes with Dame Joan Sutherland and performed the role of Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Stern Grove Festival.
Duffy Bishop- pictured below
Duffy Bishop joyously returns to the ZinZanni tent, adding to the show-pourri with her gutsy vocals and fiery stage presence, which have garnered her a following across the nation and around the world. Duffy has shared the stage with many greats, including the late Lou Rawls, Ruth Brown, and John Lee Hooker. She recently toured Japan with San Francisco’s own Big Brother and the Holding Company. With numerous recordings and dozens of awards to her credit (most recent the 2006 Muddy Award for Best Female Vocalist), she comes directly to Teatro ZinZanni from the premiere Ray Charles Tribute Show with the Oregon Symphony conducted by Charles Floyd, in collaboration with jazzmen Patrick Lamb and Thara Memory.
Frank Ferrante
as Chef Caesar
Our irrepressible Chef Caesar, Frank Ferrante, is an actor and director described by The New York Times as “the greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx’s material.” Frank originated the title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue written by Groucho’s son Arthur in New York, London and on PBS television. Frank earned New York’s Theatre World Award, a NY Outer Critics Circle nomination and London’s Laurence Olivier nomination for “Comedy Performance of the Year.” He has been profiled on The Today Show, Regis, CNN, Entertainment Tonight, the BBC and recently was a question on TV’s Jeopardy. In 1995, he directed and developed the premiere of the Pulitzer finalist Old Wicked Songs. Frank directs and acts throughout the world and has been a regular at Teatro ZinZanni since 2001.
1. Duffy Bishop as the Gypsy Singer
2. Russian trapeze artists, Duo Artemiev
3 Gypsy Dance — Elena Borodina and Eddy Castor
Photo credits: Marty Sohl.