Katy Dickinson

Teatro Zinzanni for Valentine's Day

My husband John and I drove north to San Francisco yesterday to go to Teatro Zinzanni for Valentine's Day. (Yes, I know we were celebrating early but the show is sold out for today.) Teatro Zinzanni is at Pier 29 on the Embarcadero, under Coit Tower. Traffic was surprisingly light so got there early. Although I am a native born San Franciscan, I had never been inside Coit Tower. The murals around the inside were well worth seeing but watching the sun set from the top of the tower was even better.

Teatro Zinzanni has locations in Seattle (where they started in 1998) and San Francisco. They describe themselves as "...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!" It is hard to say who is a madman in San Francisco but the rest is true enough.

The dinner was very good and the courses were served long enough apart that we could enjoy both the food and the show. The performances reminded me of an upscale version of the circus, music, and dance shows offered by CounterPULSE. Teatro Zinzanni has the same energy and fun but with food, more expensive costumes, and less edgy or explicit humor.

Teatro Zinzanni's serving staff and performers were all in costume and character all 4 hours of the show. Someone would play a minor role in one skit only to be the star of the next. My two favorite acts were Andrew & Erika (who performed graceful and impressively athletic aerial acrobatics and dance) and Mat Plendl. Mat Plendl had a regular Teatro Zinzanni character named "Mr. Chou Chou" who was the silly and fussy Master of Ceremonies for the whole show. At the very end, he stripped off Mr. Chou Chou's costume to dance with hula hoops. Mat Plendl calls himself "The World's Greatest Hula Hoop Artist." He had about ten hoops whirling around his arms, legs, body and neck at one time. The different color lights on the metal hoops made delightful effects.

Members of the audience were brought into the show from time to time but those of us at the tables against the wall were thankfully spared the humiliation. The U-shaped back tables were a trick to slide into in a long dress but we had a good view. There wasn't much quiet time to talk so it was only slightly awkward spending 4 hours eating dinner with two very young couples we just met. I felt very old when singer Francine Reed sauntered by our table and said that the gentleman of the couple on our left looked like Bobby Sherman. I was the only one at the table who knew who 1970's teen idol Bobby Sherman was. (There was indeed a strong resemblance.)

With the cost of the tickets ($123/each) and ticket fees, and parking ($12 - exact change required for the ticket machine in the lot behind the theater tent), and drinks, the evening cost over $300. It is not too much for a very special night out.

Posted at 04:06PM Feb 14, 2007 by katysblog in News & Reviews  |