We made the long, arduous two mile drive to Teatro ZinZanni Headquarters to see where all (well, maybe not all) the magic happens. Our queen of props, scenery, and design Shauna Frazier, holds court in a cement, high-ceiling-ed palace riddled with trinkets do-dads from shows past. The prop shop is a place where a trio of different-sized unicycles suspended over a bicycle-powered dessert slide is the typical decor.

Shauna gave us the inside scoop on the fantastic props she is cooking up for our new show, ¡Caliente!.  Among the gems we spotted were maracas, calaca masks, pop guns, and so much more.  From what we’e seen, ¡Caliente! is promising to be a no-holds barred feast for all your senses.

Also, Shauna is a magician and has the coolest job, ever!

See Shauna’s work in action during ¡Caliente!

Big Mike Geier, Mr. Otis in our soon-to-open show ¡Caliente!, braved the icy slush for a costume fitting.  Costume fittings are part and parcel for new show preparations, only with snow added into the mix arriving here turns into more of an extreme sport.  Luckily the tent never lost power!

Big Mike’s dress is still being built, as you can see from the photos, but is slated to be fabulous when finished (and is not too shabby now).  While Big Mike towers over most at a staggering 6 foot 8 inches tall, he still had to stand on 2-foot risers for the fitting.  Making his first-ever performance with Teatro ZinZanni, Big Mike hales from Atlanta, where he and his wife write and record music for the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.

See him in ¡Caliente¡ opening February 2nd (goodness that is soon)!

This fact makes us sad and we will remain in denial for long after it is appropriate.  The shows simply fabulous.  With possibly the best introduction EVER, Dale Burrows  from  The Weekly Herald is now a believer in the power of Teatro ZinZanni (as well he should be, we are delightful).  A visit here is “to step into a realm where dreams and reality converge, time stands still, everything is not as it seems”.

A few of many accolades for his delightful review:

“Well, I stepped in a skeptic, came out a believer and time is still standing still. “Bonsoir, Liliane!” knocks your socks off.”

“The acrobatics of Parisians Domitil Aillot, Gregory Marquet and Mickael Bajazet, dazzle.”

“Graceful sensuality shows itself in the amazing contortions of Ukrainian Vita Radionova.”

“Former Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Ariana Lallone’s solo is sheer elegance.”

Read the full review here!

Get your tickets to see this dazzling performance!

(Record scratch noise) Did we just say that?

Yep.

We just leaked that Manuela Horn will be hosting and starring in an all new late night show.  Spend March 17 obeying Manuela at Teatro ZinZanni!  Enjoy a few photos from our brainstorming session that ended with hugs all around (she is truly enchanting).

2011 was a crazy year for the circus!

And that is saying something!  Aside from our delightful dinner shows, we had a plethora of Big Top Rock concerts and carnivals, 12 saucy late-night Mezzo Lunatico shows, many circus camps, a Francine Reed concert, our Third Annual Gala, and so much more!

Hold on…

Sorry, our fingers cramped from all that typing.

Whew.  Okay…

After tallying everything up we put on over 300 show, led 12 camps, and had more than 70,000 guests – all under the big top. Antics and shenanigans count exceeded 10 million.

Revisit these wonderful memories in the slide show below and happy 2012!!!

Tomorrow night, after 11 years in San Francisco, the “Palais Nostalgique” spiegeltent will take its final bow…

Yes, you read that correct.  The New Year’s Eve performance (gasp, tomorrow) of On the Air will be Teatro ZinZanni’s final show on Pier 29 in order to make room for the America’s Cup yacht race scheduled to begin on July 13, 2013.   See pictures from the 11 amazing years on our website!

… and we say hello!

Fear not, there is wonderful news:  the magnificent “Palais Nostalgique” spiegeltent will have a new permanent home on San Francisco’s waterfront, just down the street from its former location on the Embarcadero. The announcement of a new secured location at Broadway and Embarcadero was met with a great deal of celebration inside and out of the tent.  Share your favorite Teatro ZinZanni San Francisco memory on our website.

Read even more about it here, here, and here.  Like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to get updates and show them some love!

Santa’s sleigh touched down at Teatro ZinZanni to wish the staff happy holidays, pose for some photos, and to check out what was happening in the tent.  He was excited about upcoming, kid-friendly Big Top Rock series!  Apparently Santa’s elves have been overrun making massive amounts of kindiependent c.d.s for boys and girls (they are all on our wishlist so we are culpable for tired elves, eek).   Santa also beefed up our boutique with fantastical toys for kids and adults too.  While he refused to try out the trapeze, he agreed to pose for some great photos.

BIG TOP ROCK!!!!!!!

Whew, that was overwhelming!

We crept into the tent and snapped a few pictures to share with everyone.  Are you pumped? Us too!  See Recess Monkey on December 22, The Not-Its! on December 29, and Caspar Babypants on December 21 & 28!

Each year we select one cast member to attend/model for the budding artists to sketch.  This year, we brought Bonsoir Liliane! cast member and pirouetting sensation  Ariana Lallone to act as costumed portrait model.   Ariana kindly loaned us a spectacular drawing, gifted to her by participating artist Kelly Patterson, to add to our photo montage.

Check out Kelly’s drawing and some photos we snapped below!

Ben DeLaCreme is saucy!  We knew of BDLC’s quick wit from her sexy engagement as the in-house MC at the award winning Can Can Cabaret in the Pike Place Market.  However, she gave us a one-two punch in sass during our recent interview that left us begging for more.  From the terrifying Candiru fish to a shared love of Animal from The Muppet Show, Ben DeLaCreme keeps us on our toes in an all-new 25 Things You Didn’t Know...

1. What do you aspire to do, outside of work?

Very little really. I like to keep expectations low.

2. What do you think of Seattle?

I love it here! I don’t know what it is- Seattle just feels like home. I’ve lived in a whole slew of other cities and you know what? They can keep their stinkin’ sun. It’s overrated.

3. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

Jellyfish. Because duh.

4. What was the last movie you saw?

Like new movie? I dunno- maybe “The Change Up?” I don’t know why I watched it. Movies like that make me feel like our species might have mis-evolved or something. But I’m getting into the holiday spirit now- which means I have “Gremlins” playing on a loop in my house. That’s my favorite Christmas movie.

5. What was the last book you read?

“the Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes” Brilliant! Hearbreaking! Read it without finding out anything about it first.

6. What’s one of your favorite places to travel to?

Ballard.

7. If you could have dinner with three people (alive or dead) who would it be?

Peewee Herman, Charo, and Animal from The Muppets.

8. What was your first job?

Before I became a show pony I served donuts in a divey coffee shop. Ultimately that might have been a more solid career path.

9. What are you scared of?

Those amazon fish that swim up your urine stream and stick in your pee parts.

10. What’s your favorite food?

Jagermeister!

11.. How would you describe yourself?

Oh, I wouldn’t… all that flattery would be so embarrassing!

12. Who’s your celebrity crush?

Animal from The Muppets.

13. What’s something crazy you’ve done?

One time I thought I’d like to be a temp in an office. They wanted me to get there at nine and stay for eight hours! That was nuts.

14.. Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Connecticut. “The Stepford Wives” is actually a fairly accurate portrayal.

16. What would you consider a “good day?”

A package of dingdongs and the “Desperate Housewives” box set.

17. What do you want people to know about you?

Where to send the pay check.

18. What is your hidden talent?

Mouth Harp.

19. Do you have any pets?

Nope. When I want to buy food for something helpless I hop on OkayCupid.

20. How did you get started?

Don’t get me started!

21. What’s your favorite song?

The Mentos jingle.

22. What’s your greatest strength?

Above my good looks and sparkling personality I would have to choose humility.

23. What are you most proud of?

I’d have to say the show I wrote and directed this past July, Freedom Fantasia, with “DeLouRue Presents” as well as our annual holiday spectacular, Homo for the Holidays!

24. What’s your drink of choice?

That’s like asking a mom to pick her favorite child!

25. What’s something you dislike (activity, food, etc)?

The last question in an interview all about myself!

See BenDeLaCreme at our Double December Mezzo Lunatico!