In early April the local Chicago arts press was invited for a ‘hard hat tour’ of the still under construction Teatro ZinZanni venue in the Chicago loop. The sneak peek was to strike up curiosity about the newest thing in town, an old Belgian Spiegeltent, which will house a raucous yet high brow evening of entertainment–a four course meal and variety show titles Love, Chaos & Dinner  at the top of the Cambria Hotel (in a space sealed off since 1026 and forgotten) in Chicago’s loop theatre district. Teatro ZinZanni, which was founded over 20 years ago in Seattle by Norm Langill (also creative director) has been searching for a location in Chicago for over 8 years, according to lead producer Stan Feig, “It’s taken this long to find, but Chicago was always the main choice,” he assured me after the hard hat tour.

Duo Rose That Chicago was the top choice for a location to help this company grow shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone in the arts world. Chicago has a large population, a healthy theater district, a thriving arts scene, a growing circus community and over 58 million visitors a year. That and as Feig explained, Langill himself is from the area and has a midwest sensibility, so he won’t be serving up some slick Hollywood production, but something that appeals to the Chicago dinner crowd....