A full evening of entertainment and dining, Teatro ZinZanni combines some of the world's most renowned cirque artists, contortionists, aerial artists, jugglers and illusionists with live music from a five-piece band and a gourmet five-course meal. Guests quickly discover that the entertainment is not confined to the stage as European clown characters engage and entertain the entire room. The show breaks new artistic territory with this intoxicating blend of interactive theater, spectacle, fine arts and fine dining, put together under the direction of One Reel's Norman Langill.
The splendid antique spiegletent, named Le Palais Nostalgique, is one of the few remaining hand-crafted traveling tents built in the early 1920s in Europe. Owned by a Belgian family, Le Palais Nostalgique came to the United States for the first time in October 1998 for Teatro ZinZanni. Originally these spiegeltents served as wine tasting pavilions and dance halls, traveling to thousands of European locales for over 70 years. Your reservation includes all ticket handling fees, taxes and service charges.
THE PERFORMERS (See below for Performer profiles)
Yamil Borges as Madame Sofia ZinZanni
Lutz Jope as Monsieur Lutz
Leon Kaufman as Mr. Gusti
Kristin Clayton as The Diva
Ron Campbell as Chef Cecil B. De Grille
The Collin Brothers
Les Petits Frères as Jacques, LouLou, and Edmond
Tuan Le as Fu Ling You (Bobby)
Vita Radionova as Mademoiselle Suzanne
Sabine Rieck as Frieda
Schedule Details
Teatro ZinZanni San Francisco: Love, Chaos and Dinner
Departure Dates:
January 1 to November 22 Wednesday to Sunday
Please note: Bookings can only be made up to 8 weeks in advance of preferred date Unavailable Dates:
February 14 (Valentines Day)
Departure Point:
Le Palais Nostalgique Pier 29, along the Embarcadero at Battery Street San Francisco
Departure Time:
Wednesday to Saturday: Doors Open: 6:00pm Show Starts: 6:55pm
Merchandise (available for purchase at Teatro ZinZanni)
Parking
Additional Info:
This show must be booked at least 48 hours in advance of show date
Confirmation for this show will be received at time of booking, unless you are booking within 7 days of show date. In this case, confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
Bookings can only be made up to 8 weeks in advance of preferred date. Seats are not released further than this period, so bookings made more than 8 weeks in advance will not be accepted
You will receive email access to your voucher documentation which must be printed. Your tickets will be held at the Teatro ZinZanni box office for collection on the day of the performance. You will be required to present your printed voucher, along with photo ID in exchange for your tickets.
All tickets provided by Teatro ZinZanni ensure premium seats with a full view of the stage. The premium seats are the best available seats at the time of booking, including many tables not available to the general public. Seating is restaurant style.
Dress Code: business casual to formal wear, retro chic to elegant. (Please, no sweat shirts, shorts, t-shirts, jeans or tennis shoes). Madame ZinZanni loves it when people dress up so feel free to use the evening as an excuse to have fun and dress to the nines!
The heated and air-conditioned spiegeltent doesn't require any metal hardware for assemblage. However, the lobby was built specifically for Teatro ZinZanni and there are restrooms, a coat check, and a full bar. Leonardo's Boombox, the musical contraption in the lobby, was created specially for Teatro ZinZanni by Seattle artist Trimpin.
Public Transport Directions: Take The "F" Market Historic Streetcar from either Fisherman's Wharf or Market St to the Battery St stop.
Parking Information: There is a public parking lot located behind the Teatro ZinZanni tent (enter at Pier 27). The cost is $10.00 per car. Tickets should be purchased at the automated ticket machine located in the lot. Teatro ZinZanni does not operate the parking lot and is not responsible for your vehicle.
THE PERFORMERS
Yamil Borges as Madame Sofia ZinZanni
Puerto Rican-born Yamil Borges grew up in the South Bronx, New York, and studied at the High School of Performing Arts. From the time she was cast as Rosalia in the 1979 recreation of Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, she has never looked back. In 1985, she achieved a breakthrough as Diana Morales in Sir Richard Attenborough's film version of A Chorus Line. She went on to perform leads in several regional theater companies including the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Center Stage in Baltimore and La Jolla Playhouse, where she worked with Tony Award-winners Des McAnuff and Ray Davies in the musical Around the World in 80 Days. Since the early '90s, Yamil has lived and performed in Europe. There her career highlights have included Mina in Dracula; Aurora in Harold Princes's elebrated production of Kiss of the Spider Woman in Vienna; Velma Kelly in the Berlin production of Chicago; and Maria in Astor Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires. Most recently Yamil has established herself as one of the most sought-after jazz performers in Germany. This is her second engagement in San Francisco's piegeltent.
Lutz Jope as Monsieur Lutz
A cool head and rigid formality are the mainstays of the new Maitre D' at Teatro ZinZanni. At least that is the philosophy of "Mr. Lutz" played by Dresden-born actor Lutz Jope. He began his acting career in East Germany some twenty years ago in a pantomime group, and then co-founded the most popular troupe of the East German clown scene, "Salto Vitale", which toured the Netherlands, France and Austria. His character "Mr. Lutz" was developed at Panem et Circuses, toured in Pomp, Duck and Circumstance and also appeared in Viva Italia. In addition, he has worked as a freelance actor and director with numerous theater companies and variety shows.
Leon Kaufman as Mr. Gusti
While perhaps not well-versed on the virtues of vino, Teatro ZinZanni's manic wine steward knows how to get a laugh. Originally from Zürich, Switzerland, Leon Kaufmann began as a street performer and later joined Knie, the national circus of Switzerland. Kaufmann has appeared on German television and made several appearances with Pomp, Duck and Circumstance. When he is not traveling the world in the guise of his well-known waiter persona "Mr. Gusti", Kaufmann makes his home in Berlin. He has made several appearances in Teatro ZinZanni.
Kristin Clayton as The Diva
Kristin Clayton, was the original Teatro ZinZanni DIVA in San Francisco, and returns frequently to grace the tent with her golden voice. A veteran of the San Francisco Opera's Merola program and former Adler Fellow, she made her San Francisco Opera debut in the world premiere of The Dangerous Liaisons (1994). She was the featured soprano in the company's 1995 United Nations 50th Anniversary Celebration concert, performed for President and Mrs. Clinton, telecast live throughout the world. Other credits there: Das Rheingold during the 1999 Ring Festival, and Nedda in Pagliacci (2003). Notable roles elsewhere have been Mimi in La Boheme, Violetta in La Traviata and Norina in Don Pasquale. In Europe she has sung with the Leningrad State Conservatory Orchestra and the Belgrade Radio Symphony Orchestra. She is featured on a recording of Jake Heggie songs entitled "The Faces of Love" and performed the world premiere of Heggie's song cycle Eve Song, commissioned especially for her.
Ron Campbell as Chef Cecil B. De Grille
After working as a street performer in Europe, Campbell became a founding member of the Actor's Gang and Artistic Associate of The Los Angeles Theater Center. He is the recipient of the London Fringe One Man Show of the Year and both the Los Angeles and Bay Area Critic's Circle Awards. His many highly acclaimed one man shows include The Thousandth Night, R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe, and A Tale of Two Cities. Campbell is currently an Associate Artist at the California Shakespeare Theater and teaches Acting from the Outside In at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Other acting credits include Einstein in Picasso at the Lapin Agile; Waiting for Godot, and the leading roles in Richard III; Cyrano de Bergerac; Tartuffe; The Imaginary Invalid; The Inspector General, and Beckett's Eh Joe. His film credits include The Witches of Eastwick, and the independent Farewell to Flander's Field, for which he received the Moscow International Film Festival Best Actor nomination. Campbell recently returned from Japan, where he received the rank of shodan in the martial art of Iaido.
The Collin Brothers
Master trapeze artists and comedians The Collins Brothers are actually not brothers. One looks like a matinee idol and the other looks like a cross between Forrest Gump and Mr. Bean, but together as the Collins Brothers they continue to defy audience expectations with their combined acrobatics and slapstick humor. Trained at the Artists School of Berlin, they have performed at the Wintergarten in Berlin, in the Big Apple Circus, at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, at the Pallazo shows in Vienna in 2004 and in Munich in 2005. They make their San Francisco debut in this production.
Les Petits Freres as Jacques, LouLou, and Edmond
Les Petits Frères (Gregory Marquet, Mickael Bajazet, Domitil Aillot) formed in 1993 at the internationally acclaimed Annie Fratellini Circus School in Paris where they were trained in the circus arts by master teachers Davis Bogino and Nelly Rachman. The European press called them the "Floating Act" because of their unique ability to defy gravity with graceful aerial acrobatics. The wit and charm of their unforgettable act has been captivating audiences around the world for many years. In 1999 they toured the U. S. with Barnum's Kaleidoscape; In recent years they have performed at some of the best venues in the world including Cirque D'Hiver Bouglione and Apollo Variete in Paris, Tiger Palast in Frankfurt, Winter Garden in Berlin, and Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle and San Francisco.
Tuan Le as Fu Ling You (Bobby)
Teatro Zinzanni welcomes back Juggling Artist Tuan Le. Born in Vietnam to a family of artists and entertainers, he is deeply infused with a heritage of theater and performance. This charismatic young man moved from Saigon to Germany in his teens. He has already garnered a number of awards, including the Gold Prize, the Prize "Vaudeville of the Future" at the European Circus Festival in Wiesbaden-Germany and the Junior Prize at the First International Vaudeville and Comedy Festival in Berlin. With his boyish smile and relaxed charm, he soon became the darling of the German vaudeville circuit, offering his own remarkable combination of hats whirling and ball juggling routines. Tuan Le has performed at some of the best venues in the world including Winter Garten in Berlin, Tiger Palast in Frankfurt, Apollo Theater in Duesseldorf, Pomp Duck and Circumstance in Munich and Monte Carlo, "Le plus Grand Cabaret du Monde" in Paris, "Just for Laughs" in Montreal and Teatro Zinzanni in San Francisco and Seattle.
Vita Radionova as Mademoiselle Suzanne
The sensational Ukrainian contortionist Vita Radionova made her North American debut in the Seattle edition of Teatro ZinZanni. She graduated from the legendary Circus School of Kiev in 1999, and since then has performed her elegant and sensual act at some of the finest venues in Europe, including the Apollo in Düsseldorf, Palazzo in Munich and Frankfurt, and with Circus Salto Natale in Zurich. In 2003, Vita was a featured performer in the Tiger Lilies circus tour of Finland, France, England, Germany and Greece. This will be her third San Francisco engagement.
Sabine Rieck as Frieda
Sabine Rieck is 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, 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 has toured extensively for the past ten years throughout Europe in three different productions. Two documentaries, three television programs and a feature film were made of these shows 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 a show in Cambodia at the circus school in Battambang.
SAMPLE DINNER MENU:
Antipasto Platter Manchego Cheese, Green Olive Tapenade Herb Crostini, Snap Peas South African Pickled Pepper and Toasted Almonds
Soup Carrot Ginger Soup Salad Bay Shrimp with Romaine with Classic Green Goddess Dressing
Entree Herb Marinated Lamb Sirloin with Lamb Jus, Roasted Potato and Fava Bean Hash with Baby Carrots or Chicken Cacciatore with Tomatoes, Mushroom and Capers Sardinian Cous Cous and Asparagus or Spring Vegetable and Ricotta Salata Empanadas with Sautéed Asparagus and Carrots or Baked Ravioli Pepper Pasta, Roasted Spring Vegetables Cashew Basil Pesto, Tomato Ginger Sauce and Garlic Bread
Dessert Lemon Mousse and Polenta Cookie Sandwich Coffee Custom Roasted for Teatro ZinZanni by Caffe Vita
Vegan Menu Items are Available on Request
Wines (by glass or bottle), Beer, Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Specialty Cocktails are all available for purchase.
Terms and Conditions:
All sales are final and incur 100% cancellation penalties, changes not permitted
Local Operator Information:
Complete Operator information, including local telephone numbers at your destination, are included on your Confirmation Voucher. Our Product Managers select only the most experienced and reliable operators in each destination, removing the guesswork for you, and ensuring your peace of mind.
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