The legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band is among the scheduled acts to appear in the tent. Other acts include the Bindlestiff Family Circus; Jollyship the Whiz-Bang (the group performs raunchy sea chanties complete with bawdy puppetry); and a pair of “estranged Siamese twins” who play the ukulele and perform roller-disco as part of the the Daredevil Opera Company.

Mixed in with the mayhem will be quieter sets like those from singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik, or Jeffrey Lewis, the father of New York’s anti-folk movement. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a cabaret without a torch singer. Camille O’Sullivan will make her New York debut at the tent, lending her sultry voice to renditions of classics by Nick Cave, Tom Waits and David Bowie.

A full schedule and ticket information can be found at the show’s website, www.spiegelworld.com.

The show’s producers are Ross Mollison, whose New York credits include “Slava’s Snowshow” and “Puppetry of the Penis,” and Vallejo Gantner, artistic director of the performance space P.S. 122.

"It is something that New York hasn't seen before," said Gantner, who along with Mollison, went before the Seaport Committee of Community Board 1 on July 6 to present their plans for the show. "It is a beautiful, very special place to see a live performance" he said of the tent. Built in 1920, it is a far cry from the Barnum & Bailey-style big top. There is a canvas top, but the rest of the structure is wood. The inside is outfitted with cut glass, chandeliers and “teak and mirrors and a billowing brocade—it’s really beautiful,” said Bea Kelleher, an executive producer with RV Entertainment, the group that is bringing the tent to Pier 17. "I think the Seaport is finally starting to get it," CB1 manager Paul Goldstein said of the show. "It's a little risqué, yes, but it's interesting and worth a shot."

Most on the committee seemed charmed by the tent and the show, but there was concern over granting the venue a liquor license as it could mean turning out a "high-spirited" theater crowd into the neighborhood every night. The committee ultimately voted to approve the request for a liquor license, but with stipulations that the show and the beer garden close at midnight on weeknights, and no later than 2 a.m. on the weekends.

"We hope to be here next year, as well," said Gantner, promising the committee that the show would attempt to be a good neighbor. "This is the best site for this in Manhattan."

The Seaport mall seems an unlikely home for the tent. Some in the community called for the creation of a performing arts center there after the departure of the Fulton Fish Market, but the talk had been more along the lines of the Guggenheim or Cirque du Soleil.

General Growth Properties owns the property and has yet to reveal its plans for the future of the mall or possible cultural attractions.

“The fact that this is a really interesting program is more an indication of the quality of General Growth Properties than anything specially to do with the redevelopment with the Seaport,” a spokeswoman for the retail operator said. “It is not a foreshadowing for what is to come.”

While the producers had first considered Central Park and other locations for the tent, Kelleher said the pier offers things that a patch of ground in the middle of a park cannot—guaranteed traffic, electricity and visibility.

Thousands of New Yorkers will see the ornate tent each day as they cross the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

“There is something that is very flirty about her,” Kelleher said. “I have never seen anyone that was not captivated by the sight of it.”