There it is, now on its way. Stay tuned for another mind-boggling quiz!
I'm now going over the proofs, digging into the cracks between words for little bugs -- a comma missing, a period in the wrong place. Jumbled sentence. And that word I'm still not sure about. Checking out photo placements. there are 74 images in all, representing a fraction of the multitude of jobs covered. Total 50.
My last chance to revise. Now or never!
Yes, we have ...
Jim Royal!
French artist and costume designer Marcel Vertes was commissioned by John Ringling North to create the costumes for the 1956 spec, Say It With Flowers. Life Magazine did a large multi-page spread of the Vertes drawings. They would be the last originals worn by a Ringling cast under the big top.
Less lavish than what audiences had grown accustomed to when Broadway designer Miles White created the costumes, some fans grumbled.. But to others, they marked a refreshing contrast. Restful pastels. Working against them were a straggling set of floats noticeably frugal, and altogether, the overall impression left room for carping. I, for one, called it Say it With Cement, referencing one of the most embarrassingly frugal floats ever seen in any parade. The show was going into New York on borrowed money, and Teamster union members were waiting to picket it
In the program magazine, Vertes contributed a piece, "I Like the Circus," in which he compared working on sawdust to stage: "I like circus people, too, because they seem to be more friendly than the people in the theatre. They have a profound respect for the performers who do the really dangerous stunts way up there in space."
It was such a very different show in many ways -- new ringmaster, Preston Lambert, new bandleader, Izzy Cervone, who came with strings added, a score favoring the popular songs of Frank Loesser. I've seen enticing video clips of the show, thanks to Kenny Dodd, and am taken by the costumes and original scoring for "Ringling Rock N' Roll." It's a gas. I would love to have seen the whole show..
It was a full season not to be. Come Pittsburgh, PA, and the Greatest Show on Earth gave its last performance under canvas. Thank God -- how lucky was I to have seen it the year before -- my one and only time under the greatest big tops of them all, and one of the greatest days of my life.
Congrats, Jim!
Sad town, soon to be without a major league team, the Raiders having fled, so too the Golden Stage Warriors. And now the sport of Babe Ruth.
Baseball is the only game I can get caught up in, on the radio, listening now to the Giants. For many years, an A's fan, I went to the ball park often, always for garlic fries and to see some great players, but no longer. The current ownership, ironically "advised" by none other than Billy Bean, carries on in icy cold corporate indifference to one of the most loyal fan bases anywhere. John Fisher is lusting after a new ball park in Vegas, and will for a few interim seasons, park his bottom rung team in a small minor league park in Sacramento. But who can blame him for wanting to get out as fast as he can from a hell hole of an area in Oakland? A dark zone infested by thugs. Fast food restaurants around the coliseum are fleeing. I am even jittery about going out there to take in the New Ringling show.
When I worked for Kaiser Steel, one of the fifty jobs I profile in my upcoming book, one warm fall evening in 1972, we were all treated to an Oakland A's world series game. How the sky glistened that evening. And how perfect the game being played on the field looked -- to me, almost like ballet. Something about the way a first baseman jumped perfectly upright up to catch a ball. And then perfectly down.
They were world series champs, three seasons in a row. For a rare golden period, the club gave off a glamours buzz. Heck, Billy Martin managed the team for three seasons!
Now, they will be playing their last summer in Oakland. Crushing news to a dwindling fan base dumped on by one of the most heartless owners ever to run a team. And the MLB, for whom evidently loyal fan bases count for nothing, backs him all the way.
For the hard-core A's fans, I can feel their acute sorrow. thinking back on how painful was the day in my life when, on the evening news, flashed images of the Ringling big top at its last stand, in Pittsburgh PA.
Nothing lasts forever, they say. I' m not so sure. Some things do go on. But not here in Oakland -- a once beautiful city torn apart by the volatile 1960s. I will leave the details to that. You can fill in the blanks.
Really, it's not much different than San Francisco. But S.F. has a well run ball club that treats its players and fans with class A respect. The reason I fled the A's a few years ago for the Giants. Whatever happened to the lionized Billy Bean? There's a story of moral betrayal the local media should but will not cover.
First draft impressions.
You may have read they are closing the Beatles show, Love, in Las Vegas. The space needed for some massive makeover (a stadium for Oakland A's baseball?) being planned, the stated reason. Okay, maybe. Or maybe the Cirque brand is fading? Novelty in time becomes old-school. And all the pretentious theatrical airs and posturing surrounding it, even more difficult to take. Get on with the show! I don't know. I lost the urge a number of years ago, fed up with the fru-fru, pissed off by having to fork over a few dollars for an empty designer bottle, needed to contain water out of a faucet. In its better days, there were free faucets outside the tent. People notice these small things.
Desperation isn't pretty.
Which got me wondering, how is the Montreal Monster, which the Canadian government, its initial angel investor in the beginning, bailed out in 2022, really doing? I have no idea. I can only guess they are getting by. They tried playing the indoor venue circuit years ago, which left patrons wanting. They are now crawling back to those concrete charmers. The mark of a thriving concern?
Yelp reviews: Once upon a time, there were many raves. Now, there are many boos. I focused in on the S.F. Bay Area scene the last year, and found some horribly put-off notices. I tried to copy a few to bring to your attention, but could not. Suffice it to say, of around only five to eight in recent months, all but one are in negative territory. Far closer to zero than to five. Crique-du-fatigue?
All such epic achievements I suppose are bound to wither away in time. That need not be the case here, but in their apparent grope to continue dominating the market, at least in imagery, they may be diluting their product down to the leftover shelves.
HURRY! HURRY! COMPETITION CLOSES FRIDAY,
APRIL 19 at NOON PDT!
Clues: When Ringling honored Mother Nature in one of its more unusual parades, costume design through the eyes of a famed artist. Name the spec and the year presented.
Post your answer in the form of a comment. You must give a name, either your own or a nickname. Your answer will never be posted.
All answers must be posted here by noon, Friday, April 19, when the winner will then be announced.
SPRING IS HERE, so they say, and I shiver as never before, wondering where “global warming”ever went. I ask a smug wokish friend who impatiently replies, “No, it’s now climate change” But hasn’t the climate always been changing? Was there not once an Ice Age, not caused, I assume, by gas pumps on the moon?
IN MY ADVANCED kiddiehood when the climate evidently never changed, nothing could match the excitement of reading about the spring arrival of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden. I thrillingly read in The Billboard of the latest new wonders, new production numbers, costumes. John Ringling North loaded the rings with “First Time in America” imports. Grandma in Brooklyn sent me news clippings.
THEY CALLED IT The Big One, Big Bertha, The Big Show. And some seasons they packed all 14,000 seats in the Garden on the best of days during a six-week run.
FAST FORWARD to the grey sinking present: The new Ringing acrobatic show played three days across the Brooklyn Bridge at the new Barclays’ Center. Count ‘em, THREE. And of the twenty New York critics who reviewed Water for the Elephants on Broadway, not a one of them reviewed Ringing. Why? Has anybody out there an answer? Has anybody out there a pulse?
DEFERRING TO DUBIOUS showmanship, I might Lyft it up to Vallejo (CA) when Garden Bros Nuclear Circus works the town (and would I go nuclear, too?). Last time I can recall getting suckered into a Garden concession pit, it was Sterling and Reid at the Cow Palace. I walked out at intermission. Canada may have given us Cirque. It also gave us Dick Garden, whose tent, dazzling to behold in photos, is now drawing slightly better Yelp reviews than Ringling. No, I don’t make these things up. What I see in video teases are streams of fairly basic though solid-appearing acts.
ONTO THE FLASHING platforms of New Ringling. Kenneth Feld might take a crack at becoming The Greatest AI produced Show on Earth. He’s got that fake dog, and I’m wondering if he’ll re-sign it for next season (assuming there is to be one), maybe give the mut a trans partner? Media adoration guaranteed. BTW; How do you “celebrate” someone’s’ sex change unless they wear a badge revealing it? How about, then, a retro-hertero coming out day? Hopelessly Straight Heathens on Parade?
LESS AUTHENTIC EVERYWHERE. I look for a certain safety wire attached to a certain Cirque du Soleil aerialist currently appearing in a TV ad. And then receive a relevant e-mail from Sir Douglas of McPherson, over yonder Pond, recounting his recent interview with a Cirque performer. She told him, “In training we wear a harness. In the show, the harness is off and you just go for it!”
HO HO, NO NO.
ROBOT RINGMASTERS? Robot Critics? (please, no cracks). Circuses may be going hybrid on us – part human, part other. For kinky laughs, our new faceless clowns could spoof wild mishaps in the technologically challenged air these days -- mad airplanes fraught with runaway parts, leaving passengers stuck to the ceiling, others gasping for air, while a recorded voice says, “You may claim your soul upon check out.”
HOW LIKE A SCENE in a nightmare sci-fi flick pitting the emerging power of AI against a human society no longer able to control it. AI scripted. AI scored And before that world blows itself up, let me list the star ratings for three circuses, as recently reviewed by Yelp consumers, assumed to be real.
Zoppe Family Circus
4-1/2 stars
Garden Bros. Nuclear Circus.
2 stars
The Greatest Show on Earth
1-1/2 stars
It may end not with a bang, but a bum review.
Name the circus that used a jazz band to score the show
The answer
GEORGE MATTHEW'S GREAT LONDON CIRCUS, 1972
Have we an answer? Yes, we have. Only one person got it right, although of the others who gave it a shot, a few came close. One answered, "Sid Kellner's James Bros Circus". Another guessed simply "Vargas." There is merit to that last answer, for during the mid-1980s, when Circus Vargas was at its peak in performance quality, Cliff had a five or six piece band, richly orchestrated, that included a number more jazzy or jazz-driven compositions.
Sid hired a real jazz band to score his 1972 show, a group of young musicians from the local Alhambra High School in Martinez, CA, the town out of which he operated. (Incidentally, I worked publicity for a few of the Chicago dates.) This came as a total surprise to me, and by accident. I was googling to verify that Sid had headed up a B24 bomber fighter crew during WWII, and came upon a Facebook with a photo of the musicians in front of the bus, especially equipped to serve as their sleeper during the tour. The image is so dark, I have left it up to my publisher to decide whether it should be included in the book. .
So, who got the answer right? Drum roll, please! Colin Carter
Congratulations, Colin! Send me your address by e-mail. The book is now in production, and I'm guessing it will be out in summer or early fall.
NEXT QUESTION FOR ANOTHER FREE COPY TOT BE POSTED NOON, THIS COMING FRIDAY!
ALL OLD-TIME RINGLING ADDICTS,
BRUSH OFF YOUR MEMORIES AND PREPARE TO BE CHALLENGED!
.
Next Tuesday, April 2, NOON PDT, I will announce the results of my contest for a free copy of my forthcoming book, Keep That Day Job! How to Enjoy Chasing Showbiz Without Going Mad
There is still time to enter!
The question: Name the American Circus that used a jazz band to play for its show?
You still have until midnight, April 1, to participate. Your answers will NOT be posted here.
If you do not wish to reveal your name, use a unique nickname.
Due Soon After: The Next Big Question
This one for Ringlingphiles
The reviews are out, and they're wildly mixed. Show has New York Times and The Daily News (Chris Jones) cheering -- against jeering of other heavyweights like: USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and Rex Reid at The Observer
On the fence are The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly
The movie, of which I am no fan, rates 60% on Rotten Tomatoes.
In recent years, Cirque du Soleil's efforts to conquer the Great White Way were met with spectacular failure. Another show that flew high on circus rigging, and then slowly crash landed, was Spiderman.
The one notable exception is Barnum, a big rousing hit with a fail-safe score from Cy Coleman. Show enjoyed a three year run. Unlike Water, I don't recall circus acts coming even close to stealing the show.
The smash Hugh Jackman movie, The Greatest Showman, would seem to have been a good bet to beat the odds, and as I recall, they tried taking it on the road as a prospective Broadway musical. In fact, the show is still actively in the works at Disney, said to be eyeing a possible Broadway premiere in 2024.
By and large, The Great White Way does not seem to be a good fit. Circus and theater are two very different animals. Billy Rose's Jumbo in the 1930s at the 5,000 seat Hippodrome gave New Yorkers the tale of a circus on the edge of insolvency. The show included real circus acts, and was, best of all, graced with wonderful Rodgers and Hart songs, among them, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, My Romance, and Little Girl Blue. John Murray Anderson, who would years later direct Ringling Bros. Circus, directed the 233 performance run of Jumbo, a respectable number for the day (Babes in Arms ran for 289 performances). But Rose's exorbitant expenses spelled an early end.
As for today, my best guess is this: When the average tourist or family goes to New York, they are not going there to see circus. And if there is one redeeming attribute in Water, from fast scanning the reviews, it appears to be, ironically, the acrobats!
But you never know. Wicked got scathing reviews and is still running. Hair was panned by all the critics but Hair had a gimmick: Nudity. What has Water?
Broadway does not feel like a destination for circus going.
I'll take Big Apple Circus at Cunningham Park in Queens, any day.
P.S. Including reviews from unfamiliar sources that I did not include, there were a total of 19. And none of them took a look at the new Ringing?
Those cunning Felds have managed to bring off another non-circus review of the show that may feel to some like a review. Credit a mutual love fest between the Felds and the The Wall Street Journal's Ben Cohen.
Though he rarely contributes a review-like statement, Cohen is implicitly high on the product.
You will learn, a surprise to Cohen, that Ringling's re-invention is perfectly in step with precedent. To learn this, he consulted with Matthew Wittman, curator of the Harvard Theater Collection to learn "something about circus I wasn't expecting to hear: 'Historically, the circus has involved a lot of innovation."
Writes Cohen: "The key to Ringling's comeback is not just that it is more humane. The Circus is now more human."
And, oh, how much lovelier to the senses: "their workplace smells better."
Give them credit for pressing Feld on the bottom line: "The privately held company declined to provide financial information about the tour, although Feld says he's pleased with ticket sales."
The story lends the impression of a show venturing into far off places to find talent. For this revelation, quoted is J. Vaught, senior vice president of production and touring operations: "You have to look in places where people haven't looked."
They've been doing that for years.
I have to wonder why Cohen did not note the absence of the word "circus" in the show's legendary title, a word he frequently drops, and ask why?
Oh, of course, might have spoiled the feel-good tribute.
Thanks to Don Covington for the link.
