UPDATE, 11.17.23. Where are the media or newspaper reviews? I comb cyberspace and still find nothing. What I find are advance press releases about the show, routinely printed in the papers. They have now played in some major cities, and nothing. I would have thought that Chad Jones of the Chicago Tribune, who routinely covers circus, would have done a deep dive on this one. Might it be a somewhat traditional reluctance of newspapers in the U.S. to knock circus? If you don't have anything good to say ...
Okay, I told myself this am, I had better google "Greatest Show on Earth" and "reviews," for I like to keep this blog true to the minute.
I could find no reviews in newspapers or major media.
What I did find so far is best reflected here in customer feedback, a mixture that leans toward acute discontent with the circus that dares not speak its name anymore. And for the moment that is what I shall post:
More digging in and down later.
YEP REVIEWS.
So far there are just three:
BORING!! Bring back the animals!
This was a subpar Disney performance at best.
I did enjoy the acrobats and highwire performances, though.
This
was such a waste of money. What happened?! This was more of a musical
starring fake Tina Turner! Show was boring, light up toy, $36. A soda in
a ringling cup. $15!!! Highway robbery!!!
Save your money, kids hated it. No animals! Can I get a refund?
Lamest show on earth!! No clowns and no animals made no fun for the kids! The "new approach to the circus" was not good enough to have the Ringling Brothers legacy! Don't waste your money on this, but go to a rodeo instead for great entertainment with animals and clowns and authentic danger!
SOME OTHER REVIEWS
2.0 star rating Anonymous from Houston, Texas
A LOT SMALLER CIRCUS THAN I FIGURED
I was thinking Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was the circus of all circuses. I was wrong. Arabia Shrine Circus was much bigger, had more and just seemed overall better, and it's a quarter of the price. I won't go to another Ringling Bros again.
1.0 star rating Merlotsmom from Bossier city La
NOT A CIRCUS AT ALL
All we saw was acrobats swinging back and forth, the worst CLOWN show ever, and a fake robot dog. I wish I had my money back. The tickets were not worth the price we paid and the show was a pathetic two ring mess. Our Shriners circus is way better!
Of course, this is a random sampling of what I could find. Among the comments made at the end of the Washington Post story, which I posted for a few days, there was more balance between good and bad. One thing is sure, the strange Ringling facelift may unintentionally spur a national debate favoring the return of sanity to the makeup of a circus program.
Given my trek recently to Zoppe Family Circus, I am not surprised when I observe support for the domestic circus animal acts among even blue state adults.
2 comments:
I just saw the new Ringling show in Chicago. I came away a bit indifferent - there definitely were some good acts (including some new twists on old routines), but no unity or cohesiveness between them. At times, I wasn't sure if this was a circus, a rock concert, a reality TV show or a video game. The show is trying to be too many things, which makes the end result weak and less cohesive. Compared to the last circus that I saw (Roncalli in Vienna, Austria, a year ago, which was phenomenal!), Ringling 2.0 in lacking. Savvy circus fans deserve more. C'mon Felds, you can do better!
Your account is quite revealing, opening our eyes to the kind of show it is overall, as opposed to the string of acts alone on the 27 minute video from You Tube. Thanks for sharing.
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