'Hail Caesar' Returns to Teatro ZinZanni 5/22

Teatro ZinZanni, now in its ninth successful season of performance in the elegant spiegeltent located at Pier 29 on the Embarcadero, welcomes the return of one of its most popular shows, Hail Caesar, which premiered in 2006. It opens on May 22 and runs through September 21.
 
Once again, the show stars Los Angeles native Frank Ferrante, as the outrageous Chef Caesar – the title role of his own creation and one that he has repeated with great success in Seattle. He originated the off-Broadway title role in Groucho: A Life in Revue, for which he won New York's Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination.  In London, the role garnered a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Comedy Performance of the Year. In 2001, he directed, produced and starred in a version for national PBS television. His other regional acting credits include roles in Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor; By George; Perfect Wedding; Oscar in The Odd Couple and leads in The Sunshine Boys, Lady in the Dark and Anything Goes.  

Debbie de Coudreaux, veteran Broadway, cabaret and Las Vegas artist and one of the most acclaimed stars of the Moulin Rouge in Paris, returns to Teatro ZinZanni as the glamorous Cleo, Queen of the Nile. The only American other than Josephine Baker to have starred at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, her eight year run in the show Formidable built around her talent, is the longest, surpassing both Baker and the legendary French star Mistenguett. She went on to play leading roles in Tommy Tune's Grand Hotel on Broadway and London's West End, and Hal Prince's Show Boat on Broadway.  Her sense of style has led to appearances on television and radio throughout Europe, and she appears regularly in concert across the U.S.  Songs from her CD Have a Little Paris on Me have been heard at leading cabaret rooms in New York, and was a sensation at the Empire Plush Room in San Francisco. 
 
Providing the exciting acrobatic/athletic expertise that has defined Teatro ZinZanni for the past eight years, will be Russian hand-balancer Elena Borodina with her beguiling human sculpture in slow motion; Duo Manducas, from Portugal, with an act filled with humor that belies some of the most technically challenging acrobatic feats; the sensational French tumblers Les Petits Frères (Gregory Marquet, Mickael Bajazet, Domitil Aillot) who defy gravity with some breathtaking moves; and the sensational Ukrainian contortionist Vita Radionova.  Also returning are Andrew and Erika with their breathtaking act that combines the daring strength of aerial acrobatics with the passionate sensuality of dance, and Ukrainian-born soprano of note, Svetlana Nikitenko.

Teatro ZinZanni continues to enchant the public and critics alike with its bewitching blend of European cabaret, feats of skill and cirque artistry, original music, comedy and theatrical antics, all intertwined with a five-course gourmet dinner designed especially for warm summer evenings by Taste Catering.  
 
The show is a project of One Reel, one of the Northwest's most innovative non-profit arts organizations, responsible for Seattle's Teatro ZinZanni: Dinner and Dreams and such public celebrations as Bumbershoot: the Seattle Arts Festival, AT&T Wireless Summer Nights at the Pier, and a variety of educational, environmental and literary projects.
 
The regular weekly schedule is Wednesday through Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m., at which time the doors open to the luxuriously appointed lobby and no-host bar.  Seating in the tent begins a half-hour later. The approximate running time of the show is three hours.

Tickets are $116 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, $135 on Friday and $140 on Saturday, and may be purchased at the on-site Box Office at Pier 29 on the Embarcadero daily from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., by phone at 415/438-2668, or online at www.zinzanni.org.