“Teatro ZinZani- Chicago “Cirque, Comedy, Music , Mayhem.”

For many, the best host was Frank Ferrante as he did his Ceaser character. In the first run of the show, his sidekick, or “second banana” was a man small in stature but very huge in talent, one Joe De Paul ( as you will find out when you see the show, very talented), who is now even a larger “second banana” as the hostess with the mostess is a singer, and what a singer- Ms Liv Warfield who now is Madame Zin Zanni. When she first came on board, she was a surprise that came from the audience. We were the table that she came from, so jane and I got to watch it all come alive and heard her voice from our table and onto the stage. What a night! I am happy to say that her vocal choices are amazing and are worth the price of admission, but back to Joe!

Joe does several amazing bits with audience members. Those who are part of the show appear to be having a blast, and Joe is great with audeince members. I must tell you that one of the bits that he brings to the stage is a masterpiece that he did when he was truly the 2nd banana, where he plays King kong and uses cardboard boxes to represent buildings and a “barbie doll” to represent his love, Ann Darrow ( the original was played by Fay Wray). He also asked the audience members seated nearest to the stage to fly paper planes at him so he would be able to swat them down, and make the scene as close to the film as possible. This is one heck of a one man/one doll skit.

Being a Cirque evening, you will see a juggler (Spencer Androli), a hula hoop twirler, an acrobat and of course a woman ( Danila Bim) who twirls from above by using her hair. I felt the pain even though it was not my hair. Others in the cast are Lindsay Culbert-Olds an aerialsit, Kyran Walton who dances and does some amazing balancing numbers, and Mariko Iwasa, a physical comedian who along with the other cast members, when they are not “doing their thing”, plays around with the audience and prepares us for every course of the meal that is being served.

The show is a combination, evening out, dinner and a show, so while it takes a little over 2 hurs, one never feels that it is rushed, or that dinners takes longer than usual. There are three choices to select from as part of the ticket, but there are other options that you can order ( at an increase of price). There are also appetizers and a selection of desserts, over and above the one included. I will tell you that the food is delicious albeit smaller portions, but since I am on the Seattle Sutton program, and the calories for my Chicken dinner were under 450, I am okay.