The Royale Treatment

It’s that time again at Teatro ZinZanni. We call it “changeover” and it’s when one show closes and another one opens. For about two weeks, two different casts mingle backstage. During the day the spiegeltent is busy with the rehearsal of the new show, and at night, the tent glows with the final performances of A Suitcase Named Desire.

Meanwhile across town, the Teatro ZinZanni Prop and Costume Shop is jumping. For the show about to open this week, Quest for a Queendom, the need for a life mask of comedienne Krissie Illing came out of the rehearsal process. So Krissie made her way over to the shop for the Royale Treatment.

Here she is, putting lotion on her face.

Straws firmly embedded in nostrils, Krissie gets a special hello from Shop Cat, Love (or is this one Chaos?) ZinZanni.

Prop Shop Magicians Shauna (on left) and Jake mix up the mask formula and apply it to Krissie’s face.

Jake evens out the mask medium and makes sure Krissie can actually breathe.

Finally, the mask comes off.

And Krissie is rewarded with a visit with Jake’s new bulldog puppy, Diane Velour.

Meanwhile, out in the Costume Shop, every machine is humming as stitchers get costumes ready for Quest for a Queendom, opening at Teatro ZinZanni this Thursday, June 26.

Photos by Korum Bischoff. Copyright Teatro ZinZanni 2008.

Teatro ZinZanni Cinema

ZinZannis About Town

Monday, January 14th is Teatro ZinZanni Night at the Sonics/Lakers Game
Disco Diva Thelma Houston is on tap to sing the National Anthem while our very own Parisian pixie sprites, Les Petits Freres are the featured half-time entertainment. We can’t wait to see Thelma in costume up on the jumbo tron at Key Arena or see how the crowd reacts to the comedic antics and athletic feats of the Freres. Check back for photos.

Christine Deaver Continues the Tradition of a ZinZanni Artist at Gage Academy’s Annual Drawing Jam
On December 1, Seattle’s own Christine Deaver posed in costume at Gage Academy’s 8th Annual Drawing Jam, following in the footsteps of Voronin and Kevin Kent. Dressed in her Voluptuous Panic costume and accompanied by live music, Christine posed for an hour as students and members of the general public made sketches.

El Vez Participates in McSweeney’s 826 Writing Program for Youth.
Also in December, El Vez stepped in at the last minute to participate in the highly successful 826 Writing Program.

Sergiy Krutikov Helps the Moore Celebrate 100 Years
Beloved Gentleman Juggler Sergiy Krutikov  was part of the marathon  Moore Theatre’s 100th Anniversary Celebration on Monday, December 10th.

Picture of the Day 11/12/2007

Pouring the stairs to our new grand entrance in the wee hours of the night.

Picture of the Day 10/31/2007

Do You Like My Hat?

Move Manager Catherine Kent strikes a pose behind the old Belltown site after a few grueling weeks of packing and shipping. Now the project switches into build mode as the project makes progress toward opening at 222 Mercer Street this fall.

TZ Goes on the Road

No sooner had the lights dimmed for the last time in the Belltown tent before Teatro ZinZanni was up again, this time for one night only in Tieton, Washington.

Last Saturday night, August 12, performers from Teatro ZinZanni were the headliners at Fortissmo!, a fundraiser for the Yakima Symphony Orchestra and the Yakima Valley Museum. The Mighty Tieton Warehouse was transformed for an elegant evening where a handful of artists performed an hour long slice of Teatro. A 16-piece big band, featuring a number of Yakima Symphony Orchestra musicians, performed with TZ’s musical director and resident piano player, Norm Durkee, and provided live music for the five acts under the baton of YSO’s music director Brooke Creswell.

Seattle’s own Chef-Comedienne Christine Deaver whose performance as Chef Penelope Wilde is truly mesmerizing, was joined by California-based Mat Plendl as Mr. Chou-Chou. Mr. Chou-Chou’s tour de force hula hoop performance as usual has everyone spinning with delight. Together they sang, laughed and cracked jokes

Gentleman juggler Sergiy Krutikov, an original cast member, performed his extraordinary juggling feats with the encouragement of the capacity crowd. He also serenaded the 200 guests during the cocktail hour with his accordion.

Vaudevillians Dick and Mitzi finally got a chance to play Yakima, as tap dancer Wayne Doba (Dick) and real-life wife acrobat and comedienne Andrea Conway (Mitzi) warmed the crowd with their silly chandelier antics and soft-shoe croon.

And as expected, Duo Artemiev, the romantic Russian acrobats, brought the crowd to their feet with their electric tango on the static trapeze.

For Teatro ZinZanni creative director’s Norm Langill, it was old home week as he was reunited with long-time colleague Trimpin at the dinner table. Trimpin is a sound-installation artist world reknown for his magical musical machines. People may remember Remy Demy which greeted patrons in the lobby of the first Teatro ZinZanni in 1998 and which now resides down on the Embarcadero at Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco.

How did feel to perform without a tent? “Marvelous,” said TZ Managing Director Markus Kunz.

“TZ’s special blend of magic is infinitely transportable. We definitely succeeded in casting our spell.”

Night to Day

Photo by William Anthony

Elise Durocher is known as “Mo” to her friends. The petite French Canadienne production stage manager/director has been working with Teatro ZinZanni since 2002 when the spiegeltent popped up in Belltown. For the past five years, she has run rehearsals, called the shows, orchestrated the “changeover” between casts, and been part of the creative team developing and directing the next new show. Since TZ performances are at night, Mo is in a period of adjustment right now.

“Right after the tent closed on August 5th I had my first weekend evenings free in 20 years and I didn’t know what to do first.” Soft spoken with a mega watt smile, she reassures us that she got over it quickly and is making up for lost time by having dinner with friends and going to movies. “Just shopping whenever I feel like it is a wonderful experience. There’s a whole other world out there.”

Still she won’t allow herself to switch totally to working days. “You won’t see me in the office until 11:30 or noon. I can’t do that to my body - adjust to the days and then in two weeks, I’ll be back in San Francisco rehearsing the new cast. Too brutal a change. But it is wonderful watching sunsets right now, especially on a Friday or Saturday night.”