What is Teatro Zinzanni?

A full evening of entertainment and dining, Teatro ZinZanni combines some of the world's most renowned cirque artists, contortionists, aerial artists, jugglers and illusionists with live music from a five-piece band and a gourmet five-course meal. Guests quickly discover that the entertainment is not confined to the stage as European clown characters engage and entertain the entire room.

Teatro ZinZanni breaks new artistic territory with this intoxicating blend of interactive theater, spectacle, fine arts and fine dining, put together under the artistic direction of One Reel's Norman Langill.

Teatro ZinZanni was created by Pacific Northwest non-profit arts and events producer One Reel in 1998 and enjoyed a sold-out 14 month run in Seattle before settling down to its permanent San Francisco home on The Embarcadero in 2000.

The Setting

This splendid antique spiegeltent, named Le Palais Nostalgique, is one of the few remaining hand-crafted traveling tents built in the early 1920s in Europe. Owned by a Belgian family, Le Palais Nostalgique came to the United States for the first time in October 1998 for Teatro ZinZanni. Originally these spiegeltents served as wine tasting pavilions and dance halls, traveling to thousands of European locales for over 70 years.

The heated and air-conditioned spiegeltent doesn't require any metal hardware for assemblage. However, the lobby was built specifically for Teatro ZinZanni and there are restrooms, a coat check, and a full bar. Leonardo's Boombox, the musical contraption in the lobby, was created specially for Teatro ZinZanni by Seattle artist Trimpin.