Signs of the Times
“This is what we do best!” It’s a familiar refrain heard around the office these days as One Reelers breeze in and out to gather boxes of wires, files and zipties. With half the office gearing up for Bumbershoot at the Seattle Center, the other half is consumed with Teatro ZinZanni’s Move to Mercer Street. (You can always tell a Reeler by the slightly maniacal glint in their eyes as they trade their cubicle for a ride in the skippy, their laptop for power tools. Scratch any one of us and the adrenaline junky will be revealed.)
In the world of Teatro ZinZanni, the Belltown site is being systematically dismantled. Last week our signature neon sign was removed from the prow of the former Cadillac Dealership building.
Last week too a new banner was erected on the new site. TZ backstage managers Anne Gish and Lindsey Callihan joined the ranks of Shauna’s Special Forces (comprised of Shauna Frasier and Jake “the claw” Nelson). Their mission is to beautify the construction site and have done so by creatively recycling various signs from the Belltown site.
Mission complete, the crew assembles in front of the airstream trailer aka Teatro ZinZanni’s temporary box office along Mercer Street, and flashed the secret TZ gang sign.
Croissants, Champagne and Concrete
It was awfully early for circus folk but there a group of TZers were, gathered at 3rd Avenue North and Mercer Street, blinking but grinning at 7:30 a.m. in the early morning mist.
A hearty cheer was raised as Fruhling’s excavator started systematically smashing up the concrete parking lot as the official ground breaking commenced precisely on schedule. In three short months Teatro ZinZanni will be up and running again in our new home.
As managing director Markus Kunz passed around a bag of croissants, executive director Annie Jamison cracked open the bubbly, poured it carefully into dixie cups (”Should we just smash in on the ground? oh no, it’s the good stuff!”) and made sure everyone assembled for a toast.
By the end of the working day, the site was no longer a parking lot. Tune in tomorrow for further developments as our story unfolds.













