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Teatro ZinZanni review - Beaumont and Caswell
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Beaumont and Caswell - Together Forever... Again
Kevin Kent makes a welcome return to Teatro ZinZanni as the husband in the on-off marriage of his character Clifton Caswell and Vivian Beaumont played by Seattle's own Christine Deaver. Much of the show is standard ZinZanni fare, but there are some highlights to this one that even by their normal standards, excel.
Let's start at the end. The last show had perhaps one of the weakest finales we have seen at TZ. Beaumont and Caswell is the reverse. The finale is splendid. It is colourful, and best of all it leaves you with that warm fuzzy feeling that you have more than had your money's worth, and can't wait to tell friends what a good time you just had.
Talking of feeling satiated, the food was magnificent on this occasion. I opted for the Beef Tenderloin, described on the menu as 'Slowly Roasted to Medium Rare Perfection and served with sultry Syrah Jam, velvety Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes, and crisp Green Beans'.
It was a good size portion, well cooked and the accoutrements complemented the meat well. The 'Creamy Butternut Squash' soup was more than decent too.
If I were in a nitpicking mood, I would probably mention that I think that the powerful soul/funk/jazz voice of Francine Reed could have been used better in the show. Francine is obviously a singer not a pantomime dame but she does have pretty good acting skills to have been integrated into the plot a little more and I would have welcomed it. I would also have liked to see more of her towards the end of the show and less at the start. I just felt she was front loaded a little, and her appearances in the show a little random. I do love her voice though and that's probably why I am inclined to want to see her treated right!
The third element that I thought they did better than usual was the earlier of the two audience participation slots. The dialogue was crisp, and the level of humiliation for the willing victim, a little higher than normal, though the lad handled it superbly. And the laughs were plentiful. Kent and Deaver obviously put a great deal of thought into the routine and it showed.
On an alternative note, regular attendees will have seen the routines of the supporting acts perhaps once too often. Let Petits Frères and Vita Radionova are immensely talented but there may be a case for adding something new to their routines. The current ones are magnificent, but it may be the case that the most faithful of TZ's customers have seen some parts of it more than once. If you haven't though, run down there and check it out on the off chance they actually listen to me.
And finally, Erika Gilfether and Andrew Adams make a welcome return to the Spiegeltent. Their acrobatics will take your breath away occasionally, but their acute understanding of gender underlies this act. Erika and Andrew's act symbolises perfectly both the strengths of, and the differences between, the bodies of the two genders. Not that I want to over analyse what is fantastically entertaining, but if you want to, it's out there.
Beaumont and Caswell - Together Forever... Again represents all that is good in what ZinZanni does. Everyone understands that no two shows can be of exactly the same quality, but it's nice for reviewer when is able to say this one was a doozie and will put a smile on your face as you leave. Bon Appetit!
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