Better Late Than Never: Pictures from Teatro ZinZombie

A few weeks ago, Teatro ZinZanni was overrun with ghouls and goblins of all shapes and sizes. Here is a selection of photos from our spooky evening at Teatro ZinZombie!

Mr. and Mrs. Lucifer

A clumsy knife thrower and his assistant.

Mulder and Scully helped keep an eye on things around the tent.

The grand prize winners of the costume contest: Sherrif McCheese and the Hamburglar!

The Queen of Hearts and Cheshire Cat kept Alice company before the show.

Another group of crazy characters getting ready for the show.

Kevin and Christine show off 2 of their victims for the evening!

Holiday Shopping Advice from the Good Dr. Vivian Beaumount

Listen to the ZinZanni “gifted” radio spot:

We really had a blast making this radio commercial for Teatro ZinZanni Gift Cards. The spot airs throughout November on Star 101.5, KING FM and KVI AM. As we move into the Holiday season soon, we wanted to make sure people remember what a great experience the gift of Teatro ZinZanni can be. So we thought radio would give us a little extra visibility boost – well, in this case, an audio boost.

At our brainstorming session, our good friend writer Palmer Pettersen wondered out loud if we could recreate the whole show in 60 seconds. That lead to digging out some music that Maestro Norman Durkee wrote when we first created Teatro ZinZanni in 1998. The music we selected is a piece entitled “Clown Inspection.” The character of Dr. Vivian Beaumount is inspired by a comedy sketch by Christine Deaver called “Voluptuous Panic,” where Christine plays a German spy – in this case she’s sort of an Austrian female Freudian analyst clown announcer type. Durkee’s music was already liberally punctuated with penny whistles and whoopee cushion sounds, but that didn’t stop Palmer and sound designer/audio engineer Paul Goldberg from going to town with the sound effects.

As the good doctor says, Teatro ZinZanni’s gifted gift cards are verrry available. Good anytime of year for tickets, beverages and/or shopping in our fabulous boutique, Gift Cards are available in any amount.

Special thanks to the fabulous Christine Deaver, Palmer Petersen, Maestro Norman Durkee, Paul Goldberg of Pure Audio, Jason Jones at Fisher Radio, and to the littlest diva, Rachel DeShon for suggesting the idea in the first place!

It’s a Mud, Mud World!

Ian Jamison, Teatro ZinZanni's Technical Director since 1998.

Teatro ZinZanni’s Technical Director Ian Jamison may be one of the oldest Teatro ZinZanni employees – well, not in age and certainly not in spirit, but in actual length of time working on this project. As Technical Director, Ian’s job is to solve problems for artists and to assure their safety all the while racing the clock towards curtain. Here, Ian shares some of his first memories of early mud to magic:

“My first TZ memories are of surveying this very site in the early Fall of 1998 when it was geese migration time. The geese were still hanging out in the “pond” which covered most of this block though …we had to scare them off so not to be attacked! Steve Quinn (Site Construction Manager) and I were measuring the depth of the pond with a stick, laughing pretty hard about starting our new jobs wading in a goose pond.

“I have many fond but muddy memories of loading in the site, getting tractors stuck …repeatedly! Dolo (Doloreze Leonard) was the first performer I met and she was not too pleased to walk in just after the diesel heater failed and had smoked out the entire tent. The place was cold and stunk of diesel smoke. It’s funny now, but in the moment…  well, we actually we thought it was pretty hilarious then as well!

“There was a very good atmosphere in the creation of a new project, learning about the performers, the crew, the neighborhood, the site, the equipment and the mud! I was new to the Circus world and it was real challenge to understand Voronin’s lighting needs, all the performers’ rigging needs, and the timing with the kitchen service. I remember walking into the site one day after the painters had done the interior painting – they had painted everything as it lay in its place including ladders,  building materials, tools, doors, the floor … paint was everywhere and we were all tracking it everywhere… at total nightmare for Steve Quinn….and again at 7:00 a.m. it was all pretty hilarious. And we laughed about that one for months!”

The reviews are coming in!

Reviews of Teatro ZinZanni’s current show, Beaumount & Caswell, are starting to roll in. Here’s a rave review by food critic Jacqueline Pruner who blogs for Heed the Hedonist.com. While we’re not known as a destination restaurant ( first and foremost people associate Teatro ZinZanni with the show), it’s great to have such high marks on our cuisine. Our menu is designed by celebrated Northwest chef Tom Douglas and is delivered nightly by Chef David VanGelder. Over time we’ve developed a great wine list, with wine flights curated by Christene Larsen.

Kevin Kent at SLGFF

Enjoying a refreshing beverage before heading out to greet the masses.

Last Sunday the incomparable Kevin Kent dressed in his “Full Moon” costume from Teatro ZinZanni’s current production, Beaumount & Caswell, to be guest host at Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. He conducted the Festival’s “West Side Story” sing-a-long for the packed audience at the Cinerama.

Making Us Dolo-rious, After All These Years

Publicity photo of Doloreze Leonard from 1998 opening.

The ZinZanniversary Gala on November 1 will not only mark 11 years of InZanity, but it also welcomes back Teatro ZinZanni’s original Madame ZinZanni, Dolorèze Léonard, to the spiegeltent. With over two decades of performing experience to her credit, Dolorèze, or Dolo as she is affectionately known, is a master clown and respected teacher who conducts buffoon workshops all over the world. She began her career as a guerrilla street artist and was later one of the original members of Cirque du Soleil. Léonard toured for five years with Pomp, Duck & Circumstance, where she created her fiery tyrant character “Madame Zazou.” In recent years, Dolohas been a director for Teatro ZinZanni and has worked extensively with the ZinZanni Institute for Circus Arts as Head Coach. In her role at ZICA, she has shared her comic gift with Seattle’s youth and put a little love in their hearts.

Dolo is also conducting a master class entitled The Art of Commedia dell’Arte on Friday, October 30 from 11 to 3 p.m. in the spiegeltent. Limited to 20 participants, this master class is designed for adults 16 and older.

Please join us in celebrating 11 years of Love, Chaos and Dinner by attending our ZinZanniversary. A few seats are still available for this special show which will also include performances by Ann Wilson and El Vez along with the entire cast of “Beaumount & Caswell.”

Publicity photo of Doloreze Leonard from 1998 opening.

Publicity photo of Doloreze Leonard from 1998 opening.

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

It’s hard to believe it’s been only two years since Teatro ZinZanni returned to its 1998 original location in Lower Queen Anne, this time without the mud puddles and tar-covered power poles. Take a quick look back at our 2007 homecoming construction project and then listen to a podcast where you can hear more about the making entrances over mud puddles as we get ready to celebrate our ZinZanniversary with a special gala performance on November 1.

Norm Langill & Kevin Kent on 11 Years of ZinZanniness

In anticipation of Teatro ZinZanni’s upcoming first-ever ZinZanniversary Benefit Gala on Sunday, November 1, we sat down with Artistic Director Norm Langill and original cast member comedian Kevin Kent (known as “Cookie,” “Mabel Dean” and now as “Clifton Caswell”) to reminisce about the early beginnings of the show. What was expected then to be a three or four month run in 1998  is now about to celebrate its 11th year anniversary, having served over one million audience members in two tents in two cities.

The ZinZanniversary performance on Sunday, November 1 reunites original cast members Kevin Kent, French Canadienne wild woman Dolorèze Léonard (the original Madame ZinZanni) and the ruby-throated vocalist Ann Wilson, our original chanteuse, and oh yeah, one of the two sisters in that mega group Heart.

The beneficiary of the Gala is the ZinZanni Institute for Circus Arts, Teatro ZinZanni’s education program. Dedicated to the preservation, development and enhancement of ancient and contemporary circus arts, including Juggling, Clowning, Magic and Acrobatics with an emphasis on all aspects of performance and production, ZICA offers programs ranging from master classes taught by resident performers to technical or artistic apprenticeships and summer camps.

Listen now as Kevin and Norm take a walk down memory lane to those early days of a tent atop a mud puddle surrounded by three temporary trailers, to a time where a rock diva sang a duet with an opera singer (no easy feat),  when an improvisational performer transformed his character from a southern gas station attendant to a memorable cross-dressing chef, and a hit was born.

Travels with the Contessa: 2nd Annual Masquerade Fashion Show

Recently Teatro ZinZanni’s own Contessa De Luxe Louise DiLenge was among the esteemed panel of judges for the Second Annual Masquerade Fashion Show on September 19th.  Part of the “All For Fall” Arts and Fashion event presented by Seattle Art Museum and Pacific Place, this unique event featured 20 amazing fashion designers, creating costumes that were inspired by works at the museum. Judging alongside Louise were costume designers  from the Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Blayne Walsh, a finalist on Season 5 of Project Runway.  Photos by Danielle Bortone-Holt.

The panel of esteemed judges prepares for a unique fashion show (The Contessa is on the left). Below are some of the outstanding entries. To see the winning design, check out the exterior display windows at Pacific Place in Downtown Seattle.

May I have this dance?

In the current run of Bottega ZinZanni, playing now through October 11, Chef Caesar (comedian Frank Ferrante) is reunited nightly with his high school sweetheart and he invites her to relive their senior prom (of course the rest of the audience gets a chance to dance, too!) At the August 21st performance, Velma Drury was that lucky lady.

Here’s the heartfelt letter she wrote to Caesar:

“On August 21st, my granddaughter took me to see Bottega ZinZanni as a special treat.  I wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed the entire show.  You chose me from the audience to talk about my high school prom in 1946.  My family loved it!  Shortly before graduation, it was discovered that I had tuberculosis and I had to go away to a hospital.  I received my diploma but never made it to the prom.  I always felt I had missed out, but thanks to you I finally went to the prom!  It was great!  Thank you so much!  Wishing you much success and happiness.  Sincerely, Velma Drury”

Teatro ZinZanni truly can be the nightclub of your dreams!