Last night Michael and I met some friends at Teatro Zinzanni in Seattle for an evening of fun.  If you have never been, TZ is best described as Moulin Rouge meets Cirque de Soleil with a Tom Douglas dinner menu.  It’s a three-hour event, part circus, part dinner theatre with cabaret, improve comedy, vaudeville and a five-course dinner.  All this happens in a beautifully restored Belgian Spiegeltent (Dutch for “Mirror Tent”).

What I especially enjoy about this event, is that you are encouraged to dress up.  Have fun with your attire.  Wear your best dress or a costume if it suits you.  If you happened to forget your festive attire at home, no worries.  They have a colorful array of feather boas for sale, numerous sparkly bobbles, tiaras, feathered hairpins, and hats for the gentlemen.

Our seats were in the heart of the action, so much so that we had to move our table to accommodate a few of the acts.  Rumor has it that if you are sitting in the center circle (as we were) you often get “teased” by the performers or even called out to join them on stage for a silly adventure.  We were lucky, but got plenty of winks, smiles and private attention at our table.

Unfortunately there was a downer to the evening.  At the table next to us, a lively couple was celebrating a birthday.  The gentlemen took every opportunity to notify the staff and the other patrons that it was her birthday.  Since we were sitting in very close quarters, and the birthday female was having such a good time, my friend sitting to my right got the brunt of her vocal festiveness and unchecked spastic bouncing.  Needless to say, before the main course had been served, they had been cut off and were quite confused as to why.  As the evening wore on, the scene became more and more  . . . sad.

ANYWAY, the mature good-natured humor was flowing and at times I found myself actually howling with laughter.  It was a delight to see Ariana Lallone (formerly 24 years with Pacific Northwest Ballet) debut with TZ.  Since retiring last year with PNB, she didn’t go far (across the street) to grace the TZ stage with a wonderful ballet act.  I also enjoyed Kevin Kent as a master of ceremonies in drag.  He is an expert in his craft.  He managed to pull out a gentleman from Texas (complete with jeans & boots), get a fan in his hand, make-up on, and in an 18^th century French costume dress.  Now, that’s good fun!

If you are looking for a fun and unique evenings worth of entertainment, get your friends together and go to Teatro Zinzanni.