Almost by by accident, and luckily so, I came across this on Tim Tegge's Facebook page, and what comfort I take in it. The story is such a painful one. Big Apple, Cole, and now the Big Show itself
I have many many thoughts and questions about Kenneth Feld's sudden move in declaring an end to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I may turn them into a future post.
Here, Tim eloquently puts it all in a calming and affirmative perspective:
SANTA CLAUS IS NOT DEAD, AND NEITHER IS THE CIRCUS!
Feld Entertainment has made it "official" this evening (1-14-17) that they will pull the plug on Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey, forever, in May of this year. A sad announcement, to say the least, BUT... they cannot pull the plug on the circus! It's really that simple. There IS, indeed, a place in today's world for the traditional circus, and although Barnum coined the iconic phrase, which has been RBB&B's trademark for 146 years, it is the CIRCUS as an entity (not a monster truck show, or Disney on Ice, or any sporting event) that remains the Greatest Show On Earth.
Thank you, Tim.
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2 comments:
I agree, the circus will go on, in one form or another. The demise of the Ringling Show is sad but not entirely unexpected. In my opinion, the show had been going downhill for years now, to the point where it would be hard to even describe it as a circus. I last saw the show in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. last year, the performance was not all that exciting and the equipment looked in pretty bad shape. I only attended because it was the last performance of the elephants on that unit.
The news wire indicates that last performance in Nassau is sold out, and ticket process are, shall I say "Out of this World". I think the Feld family missed an opportunity for full season of farewell performances.
Ron Finch
What Tim says is very true. Ringling may have been the biggest circus, but it is still a circus, not the circus. In the UK, going back through the 20th century, we had Billy Smarts, Chipperfields, Bertram Mills, Sangers... even as far back as Astley's. In their day each was pretty much the definition of circus, but as they've receded into history the circus itself lives on. 146 years is a ripe old age, but next year the circus turns 250.
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