Ever since being evicted after New Year's Eve from their semi-permanent spot on Pier 29 to make way for the America's Cup, dinner circus Teatro ZinZanni has been in limbo. The city offered them a new location to set up their 100-year-old tent and continue the show, on a parking lot at Embarcadero and Broadway, but negotiations have dragged on, and now it looks as if they will not be able to reopen by the end of this year as planned. Instead, to keep revenues flowing, Teatro ZinZanni is packing up the tent (currently in storage) and going to Costa Mesa for the winter, where they'll be throwing their Halloween party, and staying through February.
They'll be doing the show at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa starting October 24, which will give some jobs back to some of the 100 employees who had to be let go when the operation closed on January 1.
It seems that they have not been able to come to an agreement with the city about financing, the lease, and construction costs, and the financing has been an issue ever since they were informed they would be forced to move. The show, which is a blend of circus and acrobatics acts with European-style cabaret and comedy, has remained popular through its eleven years at Pier 29, has drawn over 800,000 visitors. They also have an offshoot in Seattle.
They plan to reopen at Embarcadero and Broadway by late 2013.
