Review: Teatro ZinZanni reopens its dinner-cirque show in fine, trimmer form
The “Love, Chaos and Dinner” title for the latest version of Teatro ZinZanni in Chicago could not be more apt. The cabaret-circus show in the spiegeltent inside the former Masonic hall on Randolph Street has always been performed with a lot of love. The schedule and name changes have been a tad chaotic. But a good dinner has been a constant.
This fall, Teatro ZinZanni, a boutique circus company based in Seattle, has re-opened its Midwest outpost after a gap of a year. During that time, the show didn’t really close, the name just changed to Cabaret ZaZou, reflecting a desire by the Chicago-based producers of the show to go it alone, albeit with the help of Frank Ferrante, who had previously worked for Teatro ZinZanni. As I wrote last year, Cabaret ZaZou retained one foot in the circus discipline but aimed for a sultrier atmosphere, best described as a Chicago-style cabaret, still with one foot in circus disciplines but more based around music, old-school variety and with an urban supper-club gestalt.
And now? Well this latest show is not so different from ZaZou, although the show is somewhat smaller and now only running from Thursday through Sundays. The new host is the magician-comedian Carisa Hendrix, whose vampish alter-ego is known as Lucy Darling. The two of them have gained quite a singular foothold in Chicago, following many appearances at the Chicago Magic Lounge and Rhapsody Theatre. Darling also hosted “A Magical Cirque Christmas” at the CIBC Theatre last year, which is not a show I hope to see return.
This time, though, the capable Hendrix is more at ease and she’s as charming and funny as ever and will especially please those who’ve not yet seen her carefully realized character in action. She’s adept at audience interplay, always a signature of this show, and since making cocktails come and go is a key part of her act, she adds to that supper-club vibe.
The new vocalist is Sa’Rayah and she sounds terrific, especially since the five-piece band is still in place, as is the contortionist Ulzii Mergen, a holdover from last year. Michael Evolution, a longtime basketball juggler, is back too, along with Danila Bim, a specialist in hair suspension whom I first saw in a show by the Cirque du Soleil. The impressive hoop act Duo 19, seen in the 2021 version of this show, also have now returned to the tent.
As you can see, this is a mix-and-match experience that I’ve seen several times by now.
I regard the survival of this show, one of the first to return after COVID, as very helpful to the Loop’s still-struggling tourist business and, even given this show’s trimmer form, people around me still were having a good and relaxed time. The cast here long has been dedicated to their customers in the seats, each and every last one of them.
Can’t say most people loved the salad dressing, but the dinner otherwise was delicious.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
Review: Teatro ZinZanni’s“Love, Chaos and Dinner” (3 stars)
When: Open run
Where: Cambria Hotel, 32 W. Randolph St.
Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Tickets: $119-$199 (including dinner) at zinzanni.com
