If I count Thanksgiving from sunset to sunset as we do days on the Jewish calendar, then my Thanksgiving festivities began with last night's excursion with
oldmangrumpus.
OMGrumpus invited me to be his guest for his company's holiday shindig. It's a small company, maybe 7 people, and so the boss treated the whole team to a night out at
Teatro ZinZanni, the one true dinner theater venue in the Seattle area--but don't be put off by the phrase "dinner theater." This isn't community theater with a cafeteria. This is caberet, comedy, and circus arts accompanied by a five-course gourmet meal created by
Tom Douglas, the chef behind some of Seattle's most remarkable restaurants.
For my foodie friends, here's the menu we enjoyed. I also ordered the wine flight, a half-glass to accompany each course:
( Details, details... )The entertainment was a sort of revue called "Beaumount & Caswell--Together Forever...Again!" Centered around the tempestuous, on-again off-again relationship between the flamboyant Clifton and the diva Vivi--a passionate, gender-confused pair if there ever was one, the show follows their negotiations for remarriage between outrageously, bodaciously costumed skits. They used audience members liberally (I'll never look at a panini sandwich the same way again). And between their skits, the audience was treated to songs performed by the smoky-voiced Francine Reed, contortions performed by Vita Radionova, arial gymnastics by Erika & Andrew (she'd had a baby in July and looked as lean as if the entire thing had never happened), and comedy and acrobatics by Les Petits Frere.
Though I enjoyed the Beaumount and Caswell stuff well enough, I think I enjoyed the circus arts performances almost more. Some of the B&C stuff felt a little forced to me, though I'm not sure why. Francine Reed sang her guts out; she was marvelous. And Erika & Andrew and Vita were all captivating.
Today was Thanksgiving with
jackwilliambell at DVE's place: turkey, two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, peas, yams, cranberry sauce shaped like cans, gravy, two kinds of pie, dark chocolate pudding--all homemade. That girl can cook! Lovely evening--
lots of food.
And now, I'm for bed. It promises to be a busy weekend, and I have miles to go....