While rummaging through and cleaning out boxes of old stuff, I uncovered a ticket stub from my very special birthday celebration on December 18, 1998. I had heard about a new show in town, Teatro ZinZanni (TZ), and I asked to attend their dinner show for my birthday. My wife at that time honored my request big time, and that night I walked into the TZ Spiegeltent with her and a few of her female friends all dressed to the nines.
Needless to say heads turned, and the night was the best adult birthday celebration of my life. Little did I know that TZ would become a major aspect of the next seventeen years of my life. Since then, I've been to numerous TZ shows, and each one surprises and delights while keeping me (and the entire audience) spellbound and enchanted as well as suspended in a carefree wonderland of great food and over-the-top entertainment.
And on September 17, Teatro ZinZanni opens their newest production Hollywood Nights staring, among others, Ron Campbell. Ron holds a special place in my heart because he was the first actor to play my mentor and teacher Buckminster Fuller in the one-man show Buckminster Fuller, The History and Mystery of the Universe. Even today, I recall the first time I saw him as Bucky at the Intiman Theatre (just across the street from TZ) in 2001.
Now, I look forward to enjoying one of my favorite performers in one of my favorite venues. No doubt, Hollywood Nights will be another major TZ success.