The circus is packing up its tent, at least for now. Cabaret ZaZou will play its final performance on the 14th floor at the Cambria Hotel July 2.
According to a spokesperson for the show Friday, producers “are hopeful that the venue will re-open later in the year, either as Cabaret ZaZou or a similar concept. There are no immediate plans to repurpose the venue.”
ZaZou is the latest iteration of a dinner circus attraction that has played in the Loop, on and off and in various forms, for several years. Along with aerialists, acrobats and other cirque-style performers, the show had live music, dancing and comedy and was led by MC Frank Ferrante and cabaret artist LiV Warfield. Audiences sat in a cabaret-style setting in an elaborate Spiegeltent (mirror tent) and were served dinner by Blue Plate Catering while the show was going on a few feet, or sometimes above, their tables.
The current show, directed by Dreya Weber, opened as “Luminaire” in September 2022, produced by Chicago-based Randolph Entertainment. The local producers took over from Teatro ZinZanni, a franchise of shows based in Seattle.
Teatro ZinZanni’s “Love, Chaos and Dinner” first opened in July 2019 with Ferrante at the helm and food by Goddess and Grocer, doing steady business for a capacity of roughly 330 audience members. It updated periodically with a new title and cast changes and offered something unique in Chicago, said the Tribune’s Chris Jones: a fancy, Las Vegas-style night out with cocktails and entertainment that appealed to Chicagoans, suburbanites and out-of-towners. The production also revitalized a cavernous, forgotten space high in the Cambria Hotel (32 W. Randolph St.).
ZinZanni, like all theater, closed for the pandemic in 2020 but was the first big Loop show to reopen in July 2021, a bright spot in the recovery of Chicago theater.
According to the Friday announcement of its closing, the ZaZou show that took over operations last year will have played more than 200 performances by the time the curtain comes down.
Ferrante stepped away from the show in spring 2022 but came back for “Luminaire” which, according to Jones, had “a sultrier atmosphere, more soaked in music, the supper club gestalt and Chicago-style blues.” Ferrante’s mastery of crowd work was unstoppable (“I picked the wrong drunk in the audience”) and the cast included Ukrainian juggler Viktor Kee, “a dry-witted contortionist Ulzii Mergen, and an intimate trapeze act from Britain made up of Cornelius Atkinson, Isis Clegg-Vinell and Nathan Price.”
Tickets are on sale for final performances at cabaretzazou.com. Ticketholders for shows after July 2 can exchange their tickets for an earlier performance or receive a refund at the point of purchase.