THE ROYAL COUNTESS ZINGARA – MELANINA: RETURN TO ORIGIN. Conceptualised by Richard Griffin. Directed by Craig Leo and Valentina Leo. MC, various artists and live band. Spiegeltent, Century City.
KAREN RUTTER reviews
And she’s back! The fabulous, feisty Royal Countess Zingara (formerly known as Madame, now upgraded to nobility status) has come home to Cape Town for the summer season. The gargantuan spiegeltent is up, the players are prepped, and the games have begun.
If you haven’t previously experienced a Zingarian moment, here’s what to expect: a luxuriant, lavish evening with four food courses, a live band and a line-up of simply stunning performers, who range from silky singers to skilled circus acts. With a magical MC at the helm, and superb table service. All dished up in a glittering mirror tent that’s surrounded by a stylish laager of bars and loungers.
There’s generally a theme to each Zingara event, and this time around it’s in the title Melanina: Return to Origin and the design, which is jazzy-speakeasy-meets-camp-nightclub. Think “a forgotten nightclub somewhere between South America, New Orleans and Africa,” as the organisers suggest. With a touch of AfrikaBurn in the mix.
The pace never lets up
Conceptualised by original Zingara creator Richard Griffin, and directed by Craig Leo and Valentina Leo, the showbiz side of the operation is outrageously entertaining. Led by MC Donovan Yaards, we start with a hair-hanging aerial artist, and the pace never lets up – solo and duo and ensemble singers interact with a quartet of dancers while contortionists, body jugglers, a slack-line specialist, a strap artist and strength performers all take a turn under the spotlight. Plus there’s a band with a full-on brass section that completely rocks the house. While the cast and music crew are a cosmopolitan crowd (hailing from Mexico, Mongolia, Cuba and French Guiana), South Africa and Africa (Ethiopia and Tanzania) are also comfortably represented.
In between the live action, dishes of food and dessert are distributed with military precision, and the drinks arrive in record time from the bar. How it is all coordinated is a mystery – or maybe it’s magic. Which actually makes more sense.
Fabulous to have the Countess back
Melanina: Return to Origin promises yet another triumphant season for the Zingara family – and deservedly so. It’s a deliciously decadent, gloriously camp affair, but beneath all the feathers, flesh, sequins and sass lies a seriously slick and tightly choreographed production. Every element, from the performers to the waiters, works like a well-oiled machine, without ever losing the spontaneity and sheer fun of the occasion. It’s extravagant, it’s outrageous, it’s utterly professional. And it’s fabulous to have the Countess back in town.
What: The Royal Countess Zingara – Melanina: Return to Origin
Where and when: Spiegeltent, Century City until end January 2027
Tickets: Book Zingara
Where is the Spiegeltent Century City: Century Boulevard, next to Long March to Freedom, opposite Canal Walk Entrance 3 in Century City, Cape Town
WS
