PicksInSix Review: TEATRO ZINZANNI
Teatro ZinZanni Spreads Love and Joy
Guest Contributor | Ron Keaton
Teatro ZinZanni’s exciting new production in the Spiegeltent ZaZou on the 14th floor of the Cambria Hotel in the Chicago loop is the first show that has opened downtown in the almost-post-COVID-19 era and there were a surprising number of folks in attendance all eager to be entertained. The show, conceived and directed by Norman Langill, is a theatrical experience that draws from several European and New World traditions of commedia dell’arte, vaudeville and burlesque, and is a one-ring circus with sketch comedy, magic and even a bit of Ed Sullivan’s format. The entertainment variety is intense and quite a feast for the audience’s palate that, along with the sumptuous dinner and drinks, make for a high-flying evening all around.
It’s buffeted by the constancy of music director Bill Underwood and a four-member band that sounds like it’s playing orchestral arrangements. Each member doubles on other instruments beside their own. They also play from an immense selection list. You certainly won’t find another place that offers the Andrews Sisters hit “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen”, Dizzy Gillespie’s “Caravan”, Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” and Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”, among many others, all on the same bill that will make sense of it all. It was quite a feat.
Two singers – Cunio and Storm Marrero – offered impressive vocals on a myriad of songs from the Who and the Rolling Stones to Stevie Wonder and Donna Summer with ease and aplomb…and sky-high ranges. The acrobatic act Duo 19—Oliver Parkinson and Cassie Cutler—worked a stationary trapeze in breathtaking ways. As did Vita Radionova, an athletic presence, dealing with hula hoops and modern dancing, the likes of which would challenge any gymnast and aerialist Lea Hinz, whose performance is art in motion. France’s Mickael Bajazet charmingly offers a kind of consistent thread as a dancer/magician/sketch comic.
Comic mayhem comes in the form of the wonderfully child-like presence of the masterful clown Joe DePaul (also co-director with Langill and Dreya Weber), who physically brings up a suggestion of King Kong and his battle with New York. And the entire evening is threaded together by Frank Ferrante’s fascinating performance as the impresario ‘The Caesar’—a mix of old-school, quick-witted improv comedian with Marceau-like delicacy.
The most touching moment of the night came when Mr. Ferrante fetched a grandmother from the house and danced a prom song with her, inviting the entire audience to join.
All this unique entertainment is scheduled between courses of a first-rate meal served up by Debbie Sharpe’s Goddess and the Grocer. Perhaps the audience number was not so surprising after all. We are not only desirous of entertainment; we also want to get back to work. And these performers work as hard to please as any company you will see. This Teatro ZinZanni production is an entertainment history lesson presented by high-caliber performers with enthusiasm and joy. The theme of the evening, in fact: love and joy. Gotta spread that around.
Guest contributor RON KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL www.solochicagotheatre.com
Photos|Teatro ZinZanni
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
TEATRO ZINZANNI
Speigeltent ZaZuo
Cambria Hotel
Randolph Street
Chicago
OPEN RUN
WEBSITE
BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Our CONVERSATION with Frank Ferrante ‘The Caesar’
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