Zinzanni's "Hacienda Holiday" warms up the winter rains

Don't be fooled! That's Christine Deaver in black and Kevin Kent in red in Hacienda Holiday (Alan Alabastro)

Hacienda Holiday

Teatro Zinzanni

Through January 31, 2015

It’s a good time in the tent tonight! The new show at Teatro Zinzanni, Hacienda Holiday, brings back oldies but goodies Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent as the five-times-married couple Beaumount and Caswell, who have travelled south of the border to renew their wedding vows. But there are secrets that bedevil their event and almost derail their plan. Horrors! Of course, all is well in the end…

This intimate mini-“cirque” is always a special event combining upscale food and carefully paired wines with gorgeous aerial, juggling, dance and song acts. If it’s your first time, you’re amazed and enthralled. If it’s your fifth or twenty-fifth, you know there will be something stunning and something heart-warming every time.

Headliners Deaver and Kent are consummate performers in this kind of venue, and their songs and Deaver’s solos are deftly delivered. They also have plenty of experience managing audience interaction and calling people up from their tables to have some light-hearted fun.

 

Robert Lopez hosts as Don Diego, the Hacienda’s proprietor, keeping the activities rolling and the dinner served. His Hacienda companions include his “sons” Samuel Sion (of aerialists Duo Rose) and juggler Gamal David Garcia and his daughter Sylvia Friedman (also of Duo Rose). His “sister” is a mystic and a love-match-creator played with silent panache by ballet dancer Ariana Lallone (who has picked up a few aerial tricks of her own, now).

Duo Rose perform a stunning aerial act after we witness Ms. Friedman’s awe-inspiring contortionism (that looks…OUCH!). And the highlight of the night is the pole acrobatics of Vertical Tango (Sam Payne and Sandra Feusi)! They are so adept that they make it look like anyone could run up a pole, like them.

It’s “escape from the cold and rainy season” fun to nestle into the tent and smile, sing along and dance!

If you’re interested in the dinner deets:

The meal that accompanies all this excitement starts with a savory charred sweet pepper salad appetizer, and a corn chowder soup, and green salad with mandarin oranges. The meat entrée is Kobe beef, the fish is King salmon and the veggie entrée is a faro-stuffed chile and succotash. The dessert is two bites of spicy (think pepper) Mexican chocolate cake and a ginger/molasses cheesecake.

The wine flight starts with Llopart Brut Reserva Rose (Penedes, Spain 2010), and Botani Dry Muscat Sierras de Malaga (Andalusia, Spain 2012), and Eidos de Padrinan Albarino (Rias Baixas, Spain 2013). Entrée wines are Baron de magana Red Blend (Navarra, Spain 2009) or Avancia Cuvee' de o Godello (Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain 2012) or Cepas Antiguas Tempranillo (Rioja, Spain 2011), and dessert finishes with Toro albana Pedro Ximenez (PX) (Montilla-Morriles, Spain 2010).