Eli's Cheesecake to team with "Banana Shpeel"

Trust us when we say Chicago's Eli's Cheesecake company knows a marketing opportunity when the company sees one. And the city's most famous cheesecake operation clearly sees one in hooking up with the world premiere engagement of Cirque du Soleil's new vaudeville spectacle "Banana Shpeel," debuting at the Chicago Theatre on Nov. 19, and running through Jan. 3, 2010. To celebrate the occasion, Eli's has developed, appropriately enough, a new banana cheesecake flavor that it will introduce at the theater and sell in the form of a "banana dipper," a chocolate-coated piece of cheesecake on a stick. For those unable to make it to the theater, Eli's plans to make the cheesecake available for sale in a limited number of retail outlets. The dippers and the banana cheesecakes also will be available online at elischeesecake.com, and at Eli's Cheesecake World, 6701 Forest Preserve Dr.