Circus in Times of Quarantine: Ringling & Barnum Tents Closed Early, 1918 ... Not Going Dark Yet: Circus Vargas, Carson & Barnes, and UniverSoul ...

Update 3/18: Virtually all big stops appear shut down.  This includes UniverSoul, Vargas, Carson & Barnes, Circo Hermanos Vazquez.  Not sure about Cirque du Soliel's many shows.
All Vegas shows go dark, leaving hundreds of circus artists out of work.

Update 3/14, from Don Covington: UniverSoul has postponed its visits to Birmingham and New Orleans. Molla Shrine Circus Cancelled (Hanneford)


These are dark scary times, possibly over-reported  by hyper media coverage.  Even darker for our circuses still straggling to stay solvent, one season to the next.  Broadway has gone dark.  Sports arenas and stadiums are going dark. Schools are going on line, the classrooms dark. Everywhere you go, there is nobody.  Everywhere you look, you look more carefully.  I think I will buy a pair of gloves.

Yet to go dark are our big tops.  As of this moment, among the still trouping: Circus Vargas, promising customers a tent of 250 people max. Carson & Barnes is apparently still making Texas dates through March 29 in San Leon. $18 tops.  UniverSoul is still selling advance tickets.  Of course, things are changing by the minute. 

Back in 1918 during the Spanish influenza that claimed 20 million world wide, and over half a million in the states, Ringling was able to play most of the season, and then was forced to close early, although not that early, on October 8.  Likewise, their separate  Barnum & Bailey title.

By that time, I read in Jerry Apps excellent Ringlingville USA, “cities were canceling events, including parades, sporting events, and church services.  On a single day in October, 851 persons died in New York City.”  

By way of Don Covington, Circus Vargas posted this on its website:
 

"The health and safety of the public is of the utmost importance and priority. Circus Vargas is stringently complying with all State of California guidelines and recommendations concerning the health and well-being of our audience, artists and employees.

Attendance at each performance will be capped at 250 which will allow spectators to maintain ample seating distance, limiting close proximity and contact between members of the audience.

Extra sanitation stations will be provided and thorough cleaning and disinfecting of seats, railings and surfaces will be completed before and after every performance."

God bless them all.