BOTTEGA ZINZANNI
Teatro ZinZanni’s latest show includes the welcome return of Frank Ferrante, in his role as Chef Caesar. If you haven’t seen Frank command the tent before, then he is worth that part of the admission, a five course meal doesn’t provide for, alone. He is quick witted and funny, he relies less on the tired and unnuanced sexual double-entendres than may be normal for the lead at TZ and makes up for it with one-liners delivered quickly and accurately. Many are instant; some are collected from 28 years in the business, having been confronted with every conceivable situation that can arise during a show. Nominated for London’s Laurence Olivier Comedy Award, you cannot help but feel safe in Frank’s hands, and it is more than likely a deliberate directorial decision to give Frank more stage time than in his last appearance. It is also a wise one. Frank has star quality.If Frank has to share top billing with anyone, it may be someone who doesn’t actually appear in the show. Seattle costumière Luly Yang has designed and produced costumes especially for Bottega ZinZanni in an interesting new diversion from her normal work. Read our interview with Luly Yang.
The support cast for this slightly plotless show is strong. Liliane Montevecchi is best known for her Tony award-winning role in Tommy Tune’s Nine and in Grand Hotel. She starred in How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days with Matthew McConaughey. Liliane excelled mostly when the stage was her own, especially in one number where ZinZanni recreated the streets of Paris, and she sang from that part of the tent farthest from the stage. Her interaction with Frank wasn’t quite so polished, but this may be just down to giving it more time until they get used to each other delivering the lines. Maybe she was in fear of one of Frank’s adlibs like the rest of us.
Vita Radionova returned and delivered a performance she had dome before at ZinZanni, but added a new show in which the audience simply lost count of the number if hoops she was able to command and do her bidding.
TZ was happy to welcome a brand new act this time, all the way from Switzerland. Sam Payne and Sandra Feusi perform an act called Vertical Tango. They received a Gold Medal at the 2005 Festival Mondial de Cirque du Demain in Paris. They then toured five years with Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco. Sam also took on a speaking part in which he adopted an annoying Scottish accent, and was subject to the usual uninventive gags about a kilt being a skirt, and what was going on under it. I guess it may be funnier if it’s somebody else’s culture, and you haven’t hear the same material from pub drunks on a weekly basis. The Vertical tango act itself was beyond fantastic. The couple perform in perfect harmony, and drew oohs and aahs from a mesmerised crowd like no other act on the night. I suspect that, this being press night, many of the crowd were regulars, and were more amenable to be impressed by something new. Vertical Tango didn’t let them down. VT is a fantastic addition to the Bottega ZinZanni evening.Rachel DeShon provides the operatic interlude. It’s always a struggle for the directors to intertwine random operatic interludes with the tomfoolery going on. In Bottega ZinZanni, they did it very well. I can’t explain why, but I do remember thinking, that they had used Rachel better than I had seen talented opera singers in shows on previous occasions. She’s also a fantastic singer and perhaps her experience appearing here, first in 2006, made her more comfortable in the environs.
Ming and Rui join TZ from the Chinese Flag Circus. TZ bravely expanded their repertoire beyond their original act, which is excellent by itself. An eclectic Seattle audience reacted well to seeing these two young men put through their ZinZanni paces. Les Petits Frères do well sewing together parts of the show that don't seamlessly connect. Their acting is fine, their acrobatics better.
The show is very loosely tied around the order in which the premises they have acquired is named, and this is to be decided by a fashion show. This acts as a showcase for the cast to end the show on the catwalk dressed in Luly Yang’s creations. It’s an inventive collaboration, and the director resisted the temptation to junk too much of what ZinZanni does best to accommodate it.
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