SUNDAY MORNING OUT OF THE PAST: Why Can't Circus Fans Talk More Like Sports Fans? Follow Their Silence Into the Backyard

How odd that I, not a sports fan, should be drawn to sports talk shows. 

Why?  I love hearing host and callers debating issues. And rarely without calling each other moron or Hitler sympathizer – as so often happens on your typical mud-slinging right-wing or left-wing take all talk show.

If only circus fans could carry on in like manner.  Most of them — you too? — would rather, it seems, spend a weekend deep sea diving over the Bermuda Triangle than dare issue an opinion in public. Such as: what did you really think of that circus?  That act?  That show owner’s decision to (fill in the blanks).  Such as, do you turn off your brains the moment you hit the midway?

Full disclosure.  Living here in Oakland, I couldn’t care less about the Oakland Traitors wanting to shuttle their booze and  brawn back to LA, the Warriors angling to head for hoops over in Playground-for-the Rich San Francisco, or even the Oakland A’s, of whom I — my one token nod to sports — am a fair weather fan, staging more mediocre Billy Bean-dead seasons in some other town’s field of dreams.

So I have little reason to listen to sports talk shows, except that, of all talk shows, sports fans display the greatest talent for engaging in lively debate without going ballistic.  They possess great passion and they take chances. 

Why can’t circus fans take chances?

It happens in all other venues.  I exchange views on theatre, cinema, TV and music with friends who share those interests.  We may have sharply differing views, but we can learn from each other, and the open conversation can itself be a great pleasure.   

But why not the big top buff?  Here’s the biggest reason why.  Call it the backyard seduction.  Many fans would rather spend time in the backyard hobnobbing with circus folk than actually sitting in a seat and watching the show.   And because the fans are allowed such intimate social access, naturally they form friendships. And wanting to preserve those friendships, they naturally refrain from sharing in public or in print what they really think about any performer or any show owner, etc. Makes sense?

Think it out: In what other form of entertainment are patrons allowed such extraordinary direct association with the artist?  Can you imagine yourself inside a theatre walking backstage during a performance and speaking with the actors while they are waiting in the wings between scenes?   Or freely hanging out on the set of a TV show being filmed?   That's what you are virtually able to do at many circuses.

There is a reason why your are pampered behind the scenes. Down through the years, circuses — in essence, gypsy companies — have needed to foster beneficial relationships with towners as insurance against times of liability and distress.  Who better to speak for the circus than a local attorney or doctor or hardware store owner?  The CFA (Circus Fans Association of America) was there in many cities to provide moral support, as well.  Two of its founding slogans were "we pay as we go" and "we fight anything that fights the circus."  Little wonder it would shun critical reviews.

Were this not so, were you barred from such extensive social contact, can you imagine how easier it would be to participate in a radio talk show discussion of such matters as:

Should clowns wear less makeup?

Does PETA have a good case based on the barbaric Tim Frisco elephant training You Tube?

Should the Felds have retired the elephants?

Miguel or Tito?

Bello Nock got a Gold Clown at Monte Carlo.  Grandma, only a Silver.  Fair?

How do today’s flyers using multiple riggings and action compare to the older style flying return act?

Is Cirque du Soleil a circus?

When Kenneth Feld is gone from the picture, what are the chances that his daughter(s) can keep the show successfully on the road?

How much to blame are the Shrine temples for degrading the image of circus art by serving as their own clowns and by the obscenely long concession-stuffed intermissions they allow?

How much was Kenneth Feld himself to blame for events forcing him to retire the elephants?  Let me know what you think after we return from a brief commercial break!

Yes, I know, you’re not going on record.  And I understand why the shows you see will not likely be as good as your "reviews" of them sent off to White Tops or Circus Report -- as long as they pamper you back of the big top. I understand this because I value friendship and a friend is someone' whose aspirations you support rather than debate or critique in the public sphere. 

And may all your days be backyard days!

(Photos by Sverre Braathen: Top image: fans in the Cole Bros. Circus backyard, 1941; Clown Otto Griebling with fans, Cole 1947;  CFA members during the 1933 convention in Baraboo: Walter Hohenadel, White Tops editor, is third from right.  From The Milner, Special Collections, Illinois State University)

first posted February 7, 2016

Disney's Latest Barnum Tease Wns Raves In Bristol

"Oh what a circus!"headlines the Guardian, and I ask: Can the Greatest Showman yet be close to West End or Broadway?   They are now reviewing a work that opened in Bristol in March.

Down the Covington Chute comes a sensational send off  from the Guardian's Chris Siegan:

"The sleeper hit film has been transformed into a Disney stage show. But does it let exploitative huckster "PT Barnum off the hook? We go behind the scenes of its launch run in Bristol.

‘Ladies and gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for!” Nine years after Hugh Jackman first purred those opening words, silhouetted against a foot-stomping crowd, the inevitable has happened: The Greatest Showman is now a Disney stage musical. Despite derisive reviews, the 2017 film was a sleeper hit, powered by an anthem-packed soundtrack that included the Oscar-nominated paean to self-realisation and resilience This Is Me. It seemed written in the stars that those bangers would be rolled out in a live circus-theatre spectacular, and the production adds new songs by Qestiy the original composers, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, whose musical Dear Evan Hansen made the opposite (but ill-fated) journey, from stage to screen.

Rather than launching in London or on Broadway as might be expected, The Greatest Showman is premiering in Bristol with an eight-week, sold-out run treated as a tryout. Its future is unconfirmed but it is worth noting that Theatre Royal Drury Lane, former London home to the mighty Frozen, will soon be vacant because Disney’s Hercules is closing in September.

To me, the Big Question remains, will they get all tangled up trying to mix story and song?  I'd say, the movie, however fictional, did it well enough

This could be the big one.

( my Yahoo email is again working).

As of this perilous moment ...

 I am back on line at a laptop not primarily used. ...Blogger, so it appeared, removed my compose feature, but kept all the posts intact.

What a nightmare.  At the same time I lost my Yahoo e-mail.  It is out there, somewhere, locked behind passwords and codes.

Google makes it impossible to contact them.  The new AI world grows ever more frightening, alien,cold and detached. Heartless. I am afraid to turn this laptop off, for fear I may loose  it again 

Is this what we want?

I await the ultimate SCI  flick (think James Bond) that dramatizes humanity rising up to bomb AI towers before  they render the human race a subsidiary world of scientific hell.

In the meantime, you can reach me at my humble back up -- davidnow@juno.com

SUNDAY LOOK BACK: John Ringling North and the Prince: How a Great Circus Festival Was (or might have been) Born ... And the Record Setting Unicycle Act It Shockingly Snubbed ... It’s All on the Inside!

 

Aboard his private car the Jomar, John Ringling North, second from left, and Henry, far right, entertain Bette Davis during a Los Angeles date in the 1940s.

Deep into the January night of '56, before flying out to Hollywood the next morning to announce his engagement to Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier was pumping drums in the kingdom of Sarasota, jamming  with his saxophone-playing friend, John Ringling North at the M’Toto room in the John Ringling Hotel. The world that night may have seemed a perfect place for both.

 

North, the visionary dreamer in his youth

His brainstorm, Ballet of the Elephants, 1942, was choreographed by George Balanchine, scored by Igor Stravinsky

At the time of their jam session, the young prince was 32 and North's celebrity was at its highest peak.  He had played himself in a cameo in DeMille's 1952 blockbuster The Greatest Show on Earth.  His mug appeared in newspaper and magazine ads, and his legendary talent-scouting travels through Europe each summer were dramatized as a secondary plot in the new film, Trapeze, about to be released on May 30.

Six weeks later, the magical aura of it all came crashing down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Faced with a  nasty and prolonged labor strike, and the ultimate surrender to the crippling economics of moving so giant an organization over rails, North struck the big top for good, and moved the show into tentless venues. For this, he was reviled by the fans, myself included, as something akin to the man who killed Santa Claus.

Ringling to Rainer

 

By the time the prince and Princess Grace were raising a family of three children — Caroline, Albert and Stephanie --- John’s new all-indoor version of Ringling was winning back big profitable crowds, partly by his importing the best performers he could get from eastern Soviet-block countries (keep this in mind too). North sold the show to the Felds in 1967.  And seven years later, Prince Rainier created the International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo, which soon became the most respected of all such tournaments.  North, now a nearly forgotten figure, served on the jury now and then, was introduced to audiences and modestly nodded in return.  And that was it.

\

 Princess Grace and Prince Rainier, in the judges box

Princess Stephanie, the youngest of the three children, grew up under the spell of her father's glamorous festivals, and it seems likely that this is where she became romantically involved, one after another, with two of its competitors. She first fell for married elephant trainer Franco Knie, into whose caravan she and three children from previous relationships moved. Two years later, she married Portuguese acrobat Adans Lopez Peres, then performing in Knie's circus. The marriage was also short-lived, but the circus had claimed Stephanie's wild bohemian spirit.  

After Prince Rainier passed away in 2005,  Stephanie assumed directorship of the festivals. She became not just an honored and steady figure of support for circus everywhere,  but arguably the circus world’s most fearless talent scout. Today, she and her associates comb the globe for the best acts out there, who appear at the festival only by invitation.  And today, politics evidently does not affect their scores, as witness the list below.

My biggest complaint (or regret) with the festival is that it does not enjoy world wide coverage, nor am I aware of any efforts out of Monte Carlo to seek such. Circus art is the only major entertainment not honored, at least annually on a televised awards show here in the states.  The movies and Broadway.  Pop music. Television.  Even ballroom dancing and dog shows are televised. The circus?  The prospects were not helped any by Irvin  Feld taking  out a one-ring tent show featuring acts from Monte Carlo. It did not last a season.

Okay, the following list shows the number of Gold Clowns awarded by country.  I would love to see a list for Silver Clowns.

 * 21. All countries of Europe together

14 former USSR countries all together
14 China
10   Russia
10 North Korea
7 Italy
6 USSR
 5 USA, shared with Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, Italy, Algeria
4 USA alone (Bale, Nock, Gatto, Carl)
4 Switzerland
3 France
2 Canada
2 Spain
2 Ukraine
2 England
2 Germany
2  Hungary
1 Portugal
1 Bulgaria   
1 Romania  

Circus Therapy in America.

The U.S., I have long observed, is not a primary source of world-class action.  Don’t look for a dramatic turnaround anytime soon. If anything, the situation will only grow worse, no matter how many new “circus schools” on campuses emerge, given the woke choke that has them in a vice.  Forget about gymnastic power and skill. Look for more slow-moving narrative, including "character arc," equity equilibristics pushing gender-bending contortion and self-annihilation on the static trapeze. Real circus has no time for such gilded nonsense.  Have I lost you yet?  Now, let’s get our hopes high again.

They're Back! 

 

 

      Fanfare for the Colossally Snubbed 

Unicyclist wonder Wesley Williams, who competed this past January at Monte Carlo, beyond setting a world record riding the highest bike, must have been left thunderstruck for failing to earn even a bronze clown. I have seen Wesley’s act on You Tube, and was engaged by his feats and winning personality.  Since not awarded by the jury, he became qualified for special recognition by any of the sponsors, and two of them so honored him.  What he accomplished in my view is equal to a quad.   And, yes , I wasn't there to see it myself, so whom am I to?  ...

Let’s see if Kenneth Feld books him for the return of a reformed Ringling.  Of course, Wesley might say no. Or Feld might fear that so perilous an act could upset the snowflakes and ballet larks he may be being hoping to attract to his no-animals circus. 

The festival will endure as long as Stephanie endures.  And however controversial her screening procedures or judging criteria  may be, of this I am sure: Were he alive today, John Ringling North could well understand and appreciate the attention she gives to such far off places as North Korea.   The “ageless delight,” as Ernest Hemingway once called it, lives on in the darkest corners of the world.  And those  daring mortals who excel despite all hardships deserve our warmest accolades and support.

first posted 6.12.23

SUNDAY MORNING NOW: New Ringling on the Ropes --- Lost in a Wilderness of Chaotic Set Design?

When my friend Boyi Yuan went to his first circus in America, it must have been Circus Chimera, for he remembered the funny clown who got tangled up in a roll of toilet paper. So did I.  Then out of nowhere – Boyi, who  knew virtually nothing of my  thoughts on circus — expressed himself with marked passion “A circus should be in a tent, nowhere else.”

Awesome! I could not agree more. Indeed, down through the ages, circuses around the world were first presented in amphitheaters, usually raised for the occasion.  When the first portable tent was invented in 1825, most shows now could raise canvas and place in the middle the most enduring  symbol of its timeless magic -- the ring. In my boyhood, I always looked for ring curbs to appear.

Most amusements each have their own defining symbols. For baseball, home plate; at the symphony, the director’s podium; in a movie house, the sweeping curtain.  And at the circus, a tent beats any all-purpose arena for atmosphere. We are in their world.

In 1956, when John Ringling North struck the big top for good, declaring its sheer immensity a  thing of the past, a public outrage proved the nation's affection for that special world. Art Concello had wanted to shrink the size of the tent, and North would have nothing to do with it. Rather, indoors he was able to maintain the high and lavish standards for which his Greatest Shows on Earth were famed.

Big tops kept big topping, Shrine circuses played indoors, and the crowds kept coming. Those halcyon days would not last forever.

All the years later, I will argue that in any given town, a far lower percentage of circus-going citizens flock to the big and little tops. To be sure, there is still a market to please.  But the increasingly larger arenas ill serve circuses that simply can't fill them anymore.  Nothing is more embarrassing than to attend an indoor circus in a near-empty house.

Today in the UK, virtually all circuses perform  under canvas.  Cique du Soleil for a time appeared annually at the majestic Prince Albert Hall. 

Kenneth Feld may be stuck with this new reality. Worse yet, with a show so radically dismissed as to merit the widespread disdain  of the fans.  I'd recommend your linking to Douglas McPherson's Circus Mania blog and scrolling down. His nuanced notice comparing last year's show to this new one offers refreshing insight and commentary.

I have this sad  feeling that Mr. Feld has lost faith in the circus, in fact no longer believes in it, and such things as a simple ring. Rather than frame the action as rings do, his chaotic set design at times calls undue attention to itself with flashing lights and changing colors, rendering the performers less prominent.  And these tacky add-ons only make loud and clear the message:  We are not our past. We no longer even call ourselves a circus, so get over it! A bit stubborn? The Felds have a splendid track record  in managing and promoting the entertainments of others, not nearly as good inventing their own

Can the Disney on Ice Crowd make it work?  Only time will tell

In the meantime, they’ve brought back the ringmaster — but, notes Anonymous, she has no rings to rule.

To be maybe continued
 

MIDWAY FLASH! .. SCOTT O'DONNELL RETURNING TO CIRCUS WORLD ...

From his posting, in part, on CFA's Facebook

 "Some life journeys come full circle — and today my heart is full as I share that I am returning to Circus World as its Director, and making my way back to Baraboo, a place I have long called home ... As I step into this next chapter, I do so with exciterment and humility. Circus World has long been more than an institution to me — it is part of my story, my circus passion, and my extended circus family. Returning to Baraboo feels like coming home in every sense of the word, and I am honored to help steward an organization that celebrates such a rich and vibrant legacy.' 

View his full posting at:  https://www.facebook.com/CircusFansAssociation/

 

Welcome Back, Scott! 

 

Thanks to Anonymous for the tip. 

  

Ringling Was Not Tingling Opening Night in Miami ...

 From Redddit, one month ago

 r/circus • 1mo ago

JohnKnee666

I just saw the new Ringling Brothers + Barnum Bailey production…

"Just left the arena in downtown Miami for the first night of the new Ringling Brothers production….I’m sad! I didn’t really like it! The acrobats and gymnasts were amazing, but the production and the in-between acts and hosts just fell short for me. It didn’t feel cohesive, almost like a kids music and dance show with some circus acts sprinkled in between. As a lover of circus history and culture I’m just sad. I was ready for the show to tap into some much needed nostalgia and it just did not do that at all."

From another posting:

texasrigger

• 1mo ago 

Wow, the crowd looks terrible.* I'm sad that they tried to bring it back. I'm sure that there are small exceptions, but for the most part, I think the days of the grand American style circus are gone.

************************************************* 

Sometimes, only when you dig far,  or not even far, you can find truths scarcely reported.

Only one show, yes.  Only one date, yes. But it matches what I was reading on Reddit at the end of the last tour.

Only one city, yes, but Miami is a big city with a population that I can imagine going for circuses --- spelled ... c i r c u s e s.

That's right.  Ringling is no longer a "circus."

By the tone of this person's report. I do not sense anger or sarcasm or snobbery. I only sense sadness ...

* I can only assume this photo was not taken during come in, for no evidence of figures filing into the seats. 

The Sad Sad death of Roller Skating ...

 

 

It is very sad to contemplate, if ever you connected with roller skating in any manner, recreational to competitive.  We were a world of fun and friendship and rare achievement in many ways. A world many of us lived in for a few hours, a few nights a week.

The rink up above, in San Ramon, Ca is one I have wanted to visit sometime. It was about the only one left in the East Bay.

Has a sport ever so drastically shrunk and withered down to mere shadow memories?  

Joy on wheels may one day stand for a high  point in a way of life now virtually gone. 

AI, an often stupid source of information,  does its own stupid spinning when asked if the sport is dying, claiming it thrives in different ways.  Pure hogwash.  Once upon a time, hundred of skaters, myself and partner included, competed at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in LA. And that was  just the Southwest Pacific Regional meet.  Today none compete in such an event. 

Well, if you narrow down the question with numbers, AI can be cornered, or forced, into being more accurate. Such as this:  There were once maybe dozens of roller rinks in Southern CA, why are there now almost none, AI? Give it to us straight.

"In the late 1960s, there were approximately

50 or more roller skating rinks in the Los Angeles and Orange County area. These venues dotted the Southern California landscape in a manner often compared to modern-day drugstores, serving as major social hubs for teenagers and young adults"

This paints the picture of a lost world I so fondly recall. 

What killed artistic/competitive roller skating? My best guess:  roller blades and the ice lobby.

WhatYelp Tells Us About Other Circuses

 Not easy, for often Yelp may do multiple postings of reviews, focusing on a particular show or location, so I may be drawing from several rather than one listing.  Generally, Yelp reviewers like circuses a lot.  And generally, too, they are not hesitant to express discontent or anger. 

Circus Vargas 4
UniverSoul 3.5
Big Apple 4.5
Venardos 5
Zoppe Family 4.5
Cirque ECHO  3.5
Culpeper & Meriweaher - 1 review: 5
New Ringing 2

Royal Hanneford, updated 2025: no reviews but this: “Hey there trendsetter! You could be the first review for Royal Hanneford Circus”

My hazy impression of Yelp at the circus: There are two audience blocs out there who may be biased in favor of either raving or ranting: 

Legit circus lovers who tend to be unusually critical  of New Ringling.                                     

Cirque du Soleil snobs who tend to lay on the praise, as if willfully lost in a circus ink blot test. Give them more abstract pretension, and they’ll discover rare untold mysteries of life and the universe.

If there are other shows I have missed, fell free to sound out.  

NEW RINGLING, TAKE 2, Met With Angry Yelp Reviews -- Patrons Still Want What Ringling Was ... Dancing In the Aisles Just Doesn't' Do It ..

Now that's a first, if I have this right: During the show you are invited to get up out of your seat and shake your booty.  And are they playing the best of disco? Evelyn Champaign King's Shame? The Whippers' And the Beat Goes On?  Heck, I'd love hearing those and others, even from my seat.  (Merle Evans always wove pop songs of the day into his Ringling scores.)

On average at Yelp, Feld's  2026 Reboot has pushed its overall Yelp Review rating up by half a star -- to 2 (out of 5) 

There is so much discontent here as  to make me wonder if this was a concerted campaign against the show.  But if so, by who?  Certainly not PETA fanatics. Yelp still strikes me as probably the last resort for honest reviewing -- in a cyber world awash with shilled reviews.

I just googled Ringling 2026 Yelp for a review reality check.   None are over 2, and here are most of them in Yelp order.  Not one good notice is what sticks. 

Jo Ann S.

Greenville, SC

1

Feb 8, 2026

I can understand why they removed "circus" from the description.
75% very LOUD music with mediocre singing and dancing. Such a disappointment.

Alex H.

Miami, FL

 Jan 10, 2026

Definitely not what I was expecting. My wife bought tickets for the whole family, and I went in expecting something closer to the circus I grew up with. Clowns, fire breathers, sword swallowers, elephants, tigers, bears ( OH MY!) you know the deal.

None of that was there. Instead, it felt more like an all over the place, dance performance. There were no animals at all unless you count the robot dog.

My 5 year old daughter was underwhelmed, and my parents who are both in their 80s were too. It just did not connect with any generation in our group.

Honestly, they should consider changing the name. Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus no longer fits. Something like Barnum and Bailey Silly Dance Show would be more accurate.

Adam M.

Simpsonville, SC

Need animals just not the same and is very lacking. Talented dancers but not the same and need old touch with the modern.

Tracey B.

Greenville, SC

2

 

 Feb 8, 2026

Some animals are safe to display im sure. The show is boring to ages 5 and up. Just like a live hip hop show. Im requesting a refund. Can someone respond?

Stephanie G.

Miami, FL

2

Jan 24, 2026

We left halfway through the show because our 6 year old was bored. I agree with what was said that it's more of a dance party than a circus. As someone who went to see the Ringling Bros many years ago, it's definitely not what I remember.

Natalya S.

Sunrise, FL

2

Jan 24, 2026

3 photos

This isn't a Circus ..it's a sloppy dance show off brand version of Circus de soli very interesting idea for a circus great acrobatics but also embarrassing that you guys bring grown adults on stage ..instead of just interacting with kids some of the music had a few nasty words as-well ..uhm interesting tacky costumes and activity's for a circus ..but no clowns magicians ..animals ..just acrobatics and people on bikes ...uhm interesting will not be re attending. ..please take notes from Circus de soli much better cleaner performance ..showing back stage kinda ruined most of it and the stupid robot dog was a waste and the girl that kept singing ..very annoying and the wanting people to get up frm their seat and dance ..interesting and the fact that they just claimed to give us the BEST PARTY ON EARTH was also just a No please tighten up and change your name and take notes because it's just embarrassing.

Aileen A.

FL, FL

1

 

Jan 24, 2026

worst show ever. not what I imagined when I hear the name "ringling brothers".. it's pretty much a disgrace to a legacy that his been around for years. Do not recommend it. baeely any tricks just riding a bike a few flips here and there, and more of a musical. Gave me low quality want to be Disney channel vibes.

 

• 

  Cameron M.

  Pigeon Forge, TN

  0

  
  

  1

   Jan 3, 2026

  1 photo

  $300 for 3 tickets...just to find out it's a ridiculous crap show...horrible "entertainment" Monster Jam circus. Sloppy! I wish we stayed home and watched YOUTUBE!!!

  
• 

  Carter A.

  Sunrise, FL

  0

  1

  0

   

  Jan 25, 2026

  I just attended the show in sunrise and truly grateful I got the tickets for BOGO. There is talent and some cool stunts but it was both too busy and underwhelming at the same time. We left early.

• 

  Joe J.

  Port Saint Lucie, FL

  0

  2

  0

   

  Jan 24, 2026

  I have to agree with many of the other reviewers. We just saw the show at the arena in Sunrise, FL, and it was definitely underwhelming. Honestly, the small circus we saw in the mall parking lot was better. The actors do try, and there is talent, but it is too much "dance party" and not enough "circus." It seemed to fluctuate between too many things going on at once and periods of boredom.