Teatro ZinZanni is as Hilarious and High-Flying as Ever in New Home
You can take Teatro out of Seattle, but you can't take the yodeling dominatrix out of Teatro.
By Gavin Borchert November 14, 2017
I was sorry to see Teatro ZinZanni leave Lower Queen Anne, where it had sat since 2007, since it’s now a 30-minute drive rather than a seven-minute walk from my apartment. There are compensations, though, in its limited-run move to Marymoor Park, namely a grander, more spacious setting (walking up to the front door feels like just a bit more of an event) and ampler parking ($15).
The ornate, antique Spiegeltent is nearly the same, though they are no longer using the “Moulin Rouge” tent but the slightly more intimate “Palais Nostalgique”; more than ever, the aerial acts seem to fly directly over your head and table.
The current show, “Love, Chaos, and Dinner,” is a reprise of their first Seattle show from 1998 that set the foolproof template of comedy, circus acts, music (a bit-of-everything combo of classical, standards, and oldies-radio pop/rock), audience-participation skits, a little skin, a little naughtiness, and a four-course dinner. (Chef Jason Wilson designed this one, and its high point is dessert, a dense chocolate cake indulgently over-embellished with dark-cherry ganache and dulce de leche sauce and vanilla marshmallow topping and coconut.)
New to Seattle—among a cast that includes familiar favorites like yodeling dominatrix Manuela Horn, acrobat Domitil Aillot and aerialists Duo Madrona—is Ariana Savalas, flamboyantly charismatic and Dietrich-like as hostess Madame ZinZanni. As quick with a zinger as emcee Joe De Paul is (he makes this, in my recollection, probably TZ’s funniest show), it’d be great to hear him sing more—he has a Sinatra-flavored voice and a smooth way with a chestnut like “Fly Me to the Moon.”
Teatro ZinZanni’s general atmosphere of continental sophistication, Catskills corn and two-drinks-too-many loucheness survived the move and 20 years on—despite the local burgeoning of burlesque, cabaret and variety during that time—the show still feels special and unique, offering that sense of stepping into another world for three hours that has always been its draw.
Teatro ZinZanni, Marymoor Park, 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy. NE, Redmond; 206.802.0015; zinzanni.com/seattle. $99–$179. Runs Wed.–Sat. plus Tue. in December; ends April 29.
Follow Us
Studio Sessions: Jo Cosme
The Seattle-based multimedia artist and 2026 Neddy Award winner challenges the postcard version of Puerto Rico and centers the persistence of its people.
Jo Cosme knows how seductive a postcard can be. The Seattle-based Boricua (Puerto Rican) multimedia artist works across photography, installation, video, sound, and interactive elements to examine and pull apart how Puerto Rico is seen, sold, and misunderstood from the outside. Trained in photojournalism, with a BFA in photography from Puerto Rico School of Fine…
Seattle’s Drag Brunch Has History
The city’s Sunday shows started long before the mimosas got bottomless.
There was a time not too long ago, when drag performances—now a mainstay of Seattle’s queer scene—were kept under wraps. And when brunches, complete with singing and dancing queens dressed in dazzling drag as you sipped mimosas, weren’t a Sunday staple. During the 1940s and ‘50s, an era largely shaped by restrictive laws and bias…
Studio Sessions: Sangram Majumdar
Working at the confluence of history, culture, and various painting traditions, UW associate professor Sangram Majumdar is one of this year’s Neddy Artist Award winners.
Discover the art of UW professor Sangram Majumdar, a 2026 Neddy Artist Award winner. Learn about his inspiration and upcoming Seattle exhibition at Cornish.
Rearview Mirror: A Georgian Dinner, Sidewalk Sips, and One-of-a-Kind Clothing
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
A new life for old clothes To celebrate one year in its current studio, the FXRY—a clothing repair service available via in-person appointments, home pickup, or mail-in drop off—is dropping its first collection. A small batch of reworked pieces, Second Mark will feature 13 vintage barn jackets, cropped, chain-stitched, and renewed into a completely unique, one-of-one…