Seattle | San Francisco | rubber-faced man | Soprano singer

The Teatro empire started in Seattle in 1998 and moved to San Francisco two years later. The following year the company then reopened a location back in its founding city of Seattle. Both shows take place inside giant 100-yearold Belgian spiegeltents with wooden floors and booths -- of which only 10 still exist in the world -- and velvet-draped walls and costumed bartenders add a level of strange and exotic fun before the show even starts. Ticket prices include an elaborate five-course meal, served by waitstaff dressed in vests and fishnets with flowers clenched in their teeth. Shows change completely every three months and feature local performers as well as singers, comedians, and professional circus artists from around the world.