MAESTRO’S ENCHANTMENT at Teatro Zinzanni a nostalgic hit

(L) Joan Baez and Illusionist Voronin

(R) The 10 member cast of Maestro's Enchantment at Teatro ZinZanni
Photo Credit: Mark Kitaoka

TEATRO ZINZANNI: Maestro’s Enchantment. Venue: Pier 29, The Embarcadero (at Battery Street), San Francisco, CA. Weekly Performances: Wednesday - Saturday at 6 p.m./Sunday at 5 p.m. 415-438-2688 or www.teatrozinzanni.org

MAESTRO’S ENCHANTMENT at Teatro Zinzanni a nostalgic hit.

Teatro ZinZanni is housed in “The Spiegeltent” a beautiful antique circular theatrical tent located on San Francisco’s Embarcadero where, for the past 10 years, it has been the venue providing hilarious/spectacular/tasty enjoyment for locals and tourists alike. Their dinner shows are short on plot but provide ample sustenance while singers, dancers and acrobats divert your eyes to the center ring and its confines. A continuing conceit in their productions involves the concept “all is not what it initially seems to be.” And that is always a pleasant/eye-opening surprise.

For example the klutz of a dishwasher and the blowsy maître d’ end up being an accomplished clown/acrobat and marvelous singer. So it is with their present show entitled “Maestro’s Enchantment.” The blowsy maitre d’ is Kristin Clayton, a graduate of San Francisco Opera's Merola. She starts the shenanigans by sashaying out brightly dressed as Isabella complete with an Italian accent looking for the mysterious Maestro Voronin finally singing an operatic number. The klutz of a dishwasher is clown Peter Pitofsky who has been a mainstay at the Ringling Brothers circus. He is amazing with a perfect sense of timing and unbelievable as the bottom of a human totem pole of accomplished acrobats.

The Maestro is master Ukrainian illusionist Yevgeniy Voronin with the legendary Joan Baez as Madame ZinZanni his romantic interest. Nary a word is spoken between them and in fact Voronin remains completely mute while Baez gets to sing the Italian funicular song and brings the evening to a nostalgic end with Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.”

Voronin’s sleight of hand tricks are performed without fanfare and he even produces a living red haired puppet from a suitcase! That puppet just happens to be Russian contortionist Svetlana Perekhodova who twists her supple body into unbelievable positions always keeping a vacant stare. Others of the 10 cast members include: Collin Eschenburg (Collins Bros, Comedy Trapeze), Mathias Fischer (Coffin Eros, Comedy Trapeze), Bianca Sapetto (Aerial Silksl June 23 to July 31), Brandon Babe (Magician’s Assistant to Voronin) and Sergiy Krutikov (Gentleman Juggler, Accordionist).

Maestro’s Enchantment, is a delightful evening of comedy, song, live music, comic and graceful aerial acts and eye-bewildering magic taking place in the gorgeous Spiegeltent while the attentive staff serves you a five course meal.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com