Encore for Winnie Colleano! ...

Winnie Colleano, sister of Con (perhaps the reason why she never received the press and fame she deserves) will get an encore from me.

Goaded on by the comment left on my earlier post by "Anonymous," whom I can only guess may be a trapeze performer him/herself, I re-watched the video. Aside from affirming Colleano's heal catches as "fantastic," Anonymous calls the routine "basic trap tricks" the style "pretty much Circus Smirkus." Am I living on the wrong planet?

The essence of great art is simplicity, such that we do not see the actor or the circus artist's technique, but with them we take the journey. In the actor we see only the character. In the trapeze artist, only the gracefully soaring bird, No, not easy, but the greats flirt with this paradigm, and some master it.

Rarely if ever have I witnessed a single trap act so fluidly presented, such that the technical skills. "tricks," if you will, do not project as such, but are transformed by the artist's mastery into a greater impression of continuous motion.

Anonymous: Not only do you, in my opinion, insult Winnie Colleano, you also insult a charming student show, Circus Smirks. Might you be of the San Francisco school?

Perhaps you are of the newer class who fairly shun "tricks" as old circus, favoring excessively detailed choreography, often on a single trap or fabric that does not swing very far in either direction. There is now even a new term for this genre, "static trapeze." I wish those who pursue it more success than I have yet observed; perhaps they will invent something as exhilarating as what a few gifted duos (usually male-female, sometimes same sex) are doing with the "sensual fabrics" over more actively inspired rings, combining romantic imagery with terrific maneuvers aloft. All of which, as I see it, takes them out of the "bed sheets" category. Static they are not. Static, the circus was never.

The evidence on YouTube is irrefutable. There is none of the obvious muscle, of the strained interlocking movements too often the mark of a compartmentalized routine, of the stops and the starts ... Here is a gifted artist continually and gracefully in motion, flowing with a kind of a serene joyful abandon, and finishing her flight with a perfectly climactic jump from bar to vertical pole, down which she slides.

I was about to support my view by posting here similar accolades of others, from Fred Bradna to some comments on the You Tube posting, but it matters not. What matters to me is what I see and feel while watching this magnificent artist at work, who makes it feel not like work at all.

That's the essence, around my ring, of greatness.

Coney Island Big Top Blues: Ringling is Gone, Vidbel Barely Arrived

Coney Island, a hard sell for big tops: Feld came and went in two seasons, fully charged now to take the new arena under construction. A great two-season era for Ringling under canvas is history. I for a moment fell in love with Ringling-Barnum all over again, 'twas so much better in just one ring, where the Felds, I humbly assume, were forced to contain and curtail, defrock and derail their fireworks showmanship. Out of there, they've got space booked into the new arena going up near the Atlantic yards.

Don't take Coney for granted. Heck, don't take Gotham for granted. A long ambivalent story and review in the blog Travelanche, penned by "Trav SD," rues the super shortened run of Circus Vidbel, originally slated to play through Labor Day. But summer came and went, almost before summer even came. Vidbel is history too. The story offers both praise for the acts and hints at a certain lack of production values, all of it lending the impression that a middle-of-the-road "family circus" hasn't a ghost of a reach by the beach ...

Self-billed as "the original olde tyme circus under the big top," one might wonder, and where was the olde tyme ballyhoo? Seems the media dolled out more attention on Ringling not returning to Coney than on Vidbel being there. But you gotta put the word out, and these free tix tops have gotten lazy on front end hype, settling for peanuts. The show drew out the booster in Trav SD, mystified over the absence of PR, but finding some nice things to say ("several very fine acts"), except for lots lacking, such as: "The ringmaster needs elocution lessons ... Like all the acts in this show, he [vase balancer Guimeng Ming] would benefit from slicker packaging ...." And so on.

About the show's anonymous appearance, might it be that, "the entire news apparatus of New York City actively wanted the circus to fail, which hardly seems likely." No, Trav, not likely. Either that, or they took a look inside the tent and decided to keep their critical chops off. And let kindness tell the story, kindly. The idea of a small family show thinking it could fill a giant gap left by Ringling is mind-boggling. But then again, one thing the American circus has never been short or shy on is optimism.

Okay, here's the not-so-kind from non-circus fan booster Trav: "the grounds around the tent were full of garbage. The ring wasn't swept. It looked like everyone needed a rest. Production values were definitely stretched to the limit. A peek at their website shows much fancier costumes than I saw on view in the tent yesterday. As well as the horses. Their press release mentions an equestrian act, but it looks like the riders have ridden off into the sunset since then."

The tent seated 600. The audience numbered "two or three dozen people."

The show opened on July 4.

The show closed on July 17, one day short of a two week run. Kindly.

Winnie Colleano, I Can't Believe What an Aerial Goddess You Were ...

Just now, ending up on You Tube -- don't know how, don't know why, that's the way with a computer, most of you will know. But first came Con Colleano, and then there was Winnie from 1939.

Set to lush music, even with the sound off, I was utterly thunderstruck to discover her free flowing single trap, serenely sensational with full swinging reverse heal catches. Not ruthlessly of the daredevil class, but of the class of great circus gods floating through space, complete with a terrific finish, jumping free of the bar to catch a pole and slide back down to earth.

I book marked Miss Winnie. I'm in love with her style, her poetic abandon, yet so finely controlled and formed. I can't believe, I just discovered another MAJOR big top icon.

Circus 1939. Tim Tegge and I were talking about form (talking via e-mail), about Bradna referring to Leitzel's planges as "ugly." Tim noting that she did not tend to point her toes, that perhaps the era was lacking in such polish as it might be today. Then I told Tim about my having seen a You Tube of Tiny Kline and, we'd both marveled at Codona's form and style clear to see on snatches of grainy footage. I remember Tito Gaona telling me about the "elegance" of the 1920s, and Tito Tito was not even a seed, but he found the elegance on his own and how well he knows and respects it.

I got to thinking how, when we see ballet in circus today, we credit Cirque du Soleil or look to the old Soviet Union circus scene. But the performers who came before and during were not dumb or unschooled, or merely athletic. There was always the transit between stage and sawdust, ballet and big top. Don't let the snobs convince you otherwise.

Sometimes the evidence you look for may let you down. Sometimes there isn't as much as you'd like there to be.

Con Colleano to the wrong music looked a bit repetitive in his dancing on the low wire. I recall being mesmerized by his style and dash on the Clyde Beatty show when the band played, I think, a very torrid Latin refrain, if not Ravel's Bolero. His buildup, as now, to the forward somersault was tensely dramatic.

Sometime back, I came across a You Tube of Francis Brunn in his prime, and was afraid to watch it, afraid what I remembered as a kid would not be there now. Surprise. Brunn was even better on You Tube, validating my memory of his incredibly choreographed routine.

Winnie this evening was circus perfect. Check her out for yourself. She has the skill, the interior guts, the exterior poetry. What a star she was. And we -- well I, hardly knew her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DEBzkC3cnE&NR=1

Quad God Miguel Remains Alone in His Greatness; Other Would-Bes Fly Short; Latest Candidate Ivo Silva, Jr., Has 5, Vows to Soar for More ...

29 years ago today in Tucson, Arizona at 8:44 PM -- Miguel Vazquez accomplished his first quadruple somersault in performance!

Miguel Vazquez returns to flight, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 2010, assisted by David Vazquez. Photo from "The Last Great Flyer," courtesy of Philip Weyland.

They and we waited and wondered, could another trap star achieve those near-impossible four revolutions en route from fly bar to catcher's hands? Seems not to have happened. This was to have been the season of Ivo Silva, Jr. of the Flying Caceres. He flew for the Big Show, landing the quad during the season-opening engagement in Florida land, landing another four across the season, but mostly flirted with an elusive dream. I saw him give it a try when Ringling-Barnum hit Oakland last summer. He did not fly impressively close to hitting the intended target, a firm pair of waiting hands, which left me with a distinct impression of an artist likely chasing an impossible dream. Fate can be cruel. Or maybe it's a matter of "luck," when it strikes, being just as cruel, fooling the recipient into a hopeless addiction, like a slot machine Johnny down to his last penny.

It's not all bleak. Trapeze is being reinvented in China and other lands. Even the Caceres, to their credit, delivered a terrifically rich and varied routine, as I recall. Ivo, who did not enjoy the emotional support and continuity of a family, as do most other great flyers, is Ringling history. He has left the troupe to appear with Cirque du Soleil at Orlando, and he has not given up on his quad quest. Read his comments left here, in his own words!

Phil Weyland, at work on his documentary, The Last Great Flyer, about legendary quad god Miguel Vazquez, need not fret his title being trumped and bumped by the Next Great Flyer, wherever he/she may be.

Maybe it's a matter of context. Aerial art, I fearfully assume, has lost much of its luster here in the U.S. as Americans in general seem to prefer glancing away from hazardous airborne acrobatics. Lots of reasons: mechanics strangling the lifeblood out of daredevilry; a new class of anti-daring circus trick snob; the rise of the sensual silks lending welcome complexity and elevated sparkle to the new school of circus ballet -- nothing potentially messy, please! (We won't discuss how hazardous the bed sheets, too, can be.)

The quad is a "trick" just like the triple. And even three somersaults seem a less sure thing than they were 20 years ago. As often as not, they are dramatically announced, giving the circus who touts them the muscle it may not possess. Which is why, I suppose, rare it is these days to witness a flyer, having failed the first attempt, going for a second. I remember when they ALWAYS went back.

On Circus Vargas, across four visits in recent years, I vaguely recall watching the act it links, in rimgmaster verbiage, to Monte Carlo gold turning a triple just once; every other time, they did not even try to, nor did they try much else. But, oh, can they posture!

Meanwhile, the Weyland interviews continue apace, with more film shoots set for Vegas. Phil estimates a wrap up around this time next year. I'm hoping he can turn his Big Theme into TV documentary gold; and maybe, then, he'll turn his lenses onto other aspects of Spangleland. We got the depressing PBS take on Big Apple Circus realities; we got Arsenic for Elephants. Let's hope here comes something better.

7.10.11

Sunday Morning with Fred Bradna: No Deadbeats in His Greatest Show on Earth

"He must be at once a showman, a stage director, a martinet, a diplomat, a family counselor, a musician, a psychologist, an animal keeper and a weather prophet. Since horses are the keystone of circus entertainment, he must be an accomplished equestrian. He must know sufficient about all circus techniques [tumbling to tight wire] to discern at a glance whether specialists in these areas are shirking and, in the case of animal acts, whether the sin of commission or omission is the fault of the human or the animal star.

"This is not just theoretical. A carton by Mr. H.T. Webster, originator of 'The Timid Soul.' was pasted on mirrors in Ringling dressing tents for years. It depicted two aerialists standing on a high platform in the big top. One says to the other: 'If I thought Fred Bradna wasn't looking, I'd skip the next trick.'"

From his book The Big Top. Bradna served as equestrian director for Barnum & Bailey and then Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, retiring at the end of the 1946 season.

A Break From Heaven For Big Apple Circus: Show Spared the Indignities of Performing at Ball Parks

What a blessed relief! The ballpark dates have been canceled, part of a bigger promotional package that fell through.

I trust everyone connected to Big Apple Circus is, or should soon be once they come to their senses, elated to be spared such an artistic nightmare. This wonderful circus, a national treasure, deserves so much more than to be cast in a beer can setting.

Call me naive: I feel a better day coming on. Thank you up there, Gods of Higher Circus Art.

The House of Ringling Beckons --- From Northbrook Ireland, From the Lanes of Talburt ...

From John Ringling North II, now in his fifth season as owner-producer of Kelly Miller Circus, which makes him a graduate student in big top survival, comes the lovely program magazine for the current tour. John personally sent it to me by old fashioned mail from his cow digs in Ireland. By subtle degrees, we may be watching the rebirth of the House of Ringling matriculate.

The North of Norths has opened the tent wide up and let the sun fly in. This edition, as you can see, is bathed in light blue hues (charms more in person), graced with shapes of yellow and some fine photography by Mr. Radar (Ryan Easley). Fine design marks go to Jaklyn Groom,whom I take it arranged the attractively graceful layout.


Circus programs were a threatened species for a season or three. Carson & Barnes still does not carry one. Cole Bros. has reinstated its; Circus Vargas sold a pricey issue at the Hollywood lot. By that measure alone, are we to intelligently conclude that circuses are doing better these distressed days? Hope so.

Now, Mr. John the Sequel is a seemingly cool, laid back dude, sort of the kind of guy I pictured when a number of years ago he let me interview him by transatlantic telephone hookup about his famed Uncle, JRN I -- the two are diametrical opposites.

I've been clued in on the exact dates (am I boasting?) of John's next tour of pleasure with his circus, due to commence in summer, complete with invitation to crack concessions over, I guess, laughs. "We could share a bag of Peterson Peanuts," offered he in his handwritten missive. The House of Ringling remains passive aggressively PC-averse. I can't imagine King Otto tolerating such technological indifference.

More on Kelly-Miller: From Lane Talburt, who spent many years in TV news, at newspaper desks and in public relations, comes a link worth the link -- to a recent interview he did with the show's infinitely likable young clowns Steve Copeland and Ryan Combs. A breezy pair these two laugh makers are. Talked a lot about day-to-day hauls from one lot to the next. My only surprise was the assertion of, I think Ryan, that their routines are set and do not change. Come on, guys! You tell us all the time about revising and tinkering, trying this and trying that, no? Anyway, they strike me as a PR asset for the circus. Referencing Steve's troubled truck history, a wryly humorous Talbert opined, "Maybe they could host a cable channel show on vehicle repair" VERY funny!

So good was the impression left on my eyes and ears by Talbert's seasoned professionalism, allowing his subjects ample time to participate, that I gave his visit to the Alain Zerbini Family Circus a look. Finally, that show has a face to me.

Here's a link to the Copeland-Ryan interview. From there, you'll find other interviews.

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_GPnSneEOA

Maybe roving report Lane can get JRN II to talk. If he resists, Lane, I'd suggest you take issue with his Peterson peanut pitch. You just might get invited in to break nuts together. And talk clown truck repair.

Out of the Past: Sex & Sizzle: Cirque du Soleil's 'Homoerotic' Hollywood ... Ringling's Never Fully Charged Without a Fire ... Well, Have You Anything Better?

Originally published June 19, 2011 


Covington Cornered (by incoming news flashes), let's have at some of 'em, starting off with a juicy preview, brief but (?) ominous, as to that Hollywood opus from Cirque du Soleil at the Kodak Theatre, soon to test its juice on locals and far away sight seekers, assuming the latter will climb all the way up the stairs to the Kodak at Hollywood and Highland (other efforts at the same venue having, so far, failed to catch showbiz fire). Here's the L.A. Press reporting on a sneak look at Iris: A Journey Through the World of Cinema. Story gives prime focus to Iris composer, Danny Elfman, whose credits include Big Top Pee Wee. As I hazily recall, Elfman infused the Pee Wee flick with a beguiling and delightful quasi-Fellini Clowns treatment ...

As for Iris itself, seen by a privileged few, the writer, L.J. Williamson, sounds not too impressed by segments that come "dangerously close to trite and hackneyed Universal Studio Tour-style depictions of 'movie magic.'" Nor does he seem thrilled with the "wide-eyed, in-over-his-head character that stumbles awestruck through the action as a stand-in for the audience." But L.J.W concedes (making the report sound all-too-familiar), "it's tough to feel jaded" over the high-flying acrobats, who, during one sequence, work a trampoline depicting cops and robbers to music "evoking" West Side Story. "If only the Sharks and the Jets could have bounced so high." ... My two cents worth? The Vegas Cirque shows backed with music by pop icons likely click because the music and circus compliment each other; how well the circus in Cirque can work with film imagery may be something else ...

Let's go blazingly mad! Not exactly celebrated for French subtleties in its staging bluster, Ringling-Barnum is this year touring the Human Fuse (love the name!), Mr. Spark Plug being ex-cannon performer Brian Miser (his protege, Evel Knievel), who produces good press copy. You see him up there on fire doing a PR tease in Vegas during a Ringling date. His suit is composed, so goes the spin, of fireproof Carbonex, and his trajectory covers 110 feet at 65 mph in just two seconds from a 20-foot-tall crossbow. Sounds sensational to me. "You get one chance to get all the settings right," says he, "because once you're flying through the air, you can't change anything. If you're going too far, you can't slow down." And might that mean, while in flight, no texting or sexting? Just wondering ...

Heck, let's go back up there to the Kodak. I promised you a little heat, and here it is: An Iris act that did rouse LJW to purring prose are two guys who fondle each other flying back and forth on webs. "A pleasantly homoerotic aerial routine" in which the duo can be observed "folding, wrapping and spinning their muscled bodies around each other like airborne eels, making up for that hot imaginary circus sex that Zuamanity promised but failed to deliver. More please." Let's see, we are across the street from Disney's family movie house the El Capitan in ostensibly squeaky clean, trans-Asian touristy Hollywood. How much do you want to bet the fondling duo don't end up going at it on the cutting room floor? ...


End Ringers: Circus posters as great art? That's a message coming out of the Cincinnati Art Museum, hosting the "Amazing American Circus Poster" (80 gems in all) from the famed Strobridge company. You won't talk me out of my high regard for the art in many of these strikingly composed images. What still tops my memory is the first time I laid eyes on one of Unus. Exhibit continues through July 10, then heads down to Sarasota at the Ringling Museum, September 17-January 29 ... Kelly-Miller Circus thrills Manhattan's KLS Dad, who, following my example of moving myself from Gotham by train to the Cole show in NJ, found rails up to Kelly-Miller's Cortland Manor appearance in upstate New York. Despite rainy day delays, KLS loved the show. Among his accolades, "Casey McCoy and his tigers did CIRCUS proud!" ... Clowns Steven and Ryan were "exceptionally gifted." Tickled was he by the "talented yelping dogs," by "THREE WONDERFUL ELEPHANTS," and by that charming Poema kid who "brought down the house!" (I can vouch for that) ... Ah, now for printing this, maybe the Big Top Brethren will grant me a brief parole off their black list; so lonely there, the only name being mine ...

6.19.2011

Frisco and Feld Make Up: Big Show Returns to Cow Palace; Other Bay Area Bound Big Tops Include Circus Bella and Cirque's "Totem"

Ringling-Barnum at the Cow Palace, 1948.

The End of the Snub: Here in my mail box, a bright flashy flyer from Ringling-Barnum, touting a date at the Cow Palace over the Labor Day weekend. So, the two parties are talking again. Back to the city that once "knew how" goes the Big Show's Fully Charged edition, its advance ad copy favoring animals and clowns. Might that alone mean that American audiences who flock -- or trickle out -- to see the latest Ringling still favor, in fact demand the roar of a tiger, the trunk of a pachyderm? And I'm tempted to make the long humdrum transit haul over there; something about that old barn that brings back sacred memories; over there, I saw the '55 show for the second wonderful time, having first seen it under canvas the very day before in Richmond. Already, I feel faintly charged. But, all fanship aside, I still don't see great crowds storming the turnstiles. S.F. narcissists, a tad emboldened by old Pickle Family Circus no-animals-here elitism -- prolonged by the chronic snobbery of the S.F. Circus Center -- have conditioned themselves to snub anything that performs on four legs, that is, all except for the human variety under strobe lights at a late-night garage S&M party.

Other Frisco visitors: The slightly less little Circus Bella, kicking up comedy and juggling gusto across several Bay Area locations this summer. Nice to know they are still out there. Once they get a little name, other dates are sure to follow, and then all they need is their very own tent.

Then comes, October time, Cirque du Soleil's Totem, a unit I am looking forward to seeing. Show plays in a parking lot near the Giants baseball park in S.F. Lovely location.

So, given the parade of circuses heading west, why not Kelly-Miller? Seems biz is way down over there, per a pouting Steve Copeland. Might a reason be that the show is much too similar to last years? In fact, this show seems almost frozen in time, unable to turn itself over from one season to the next. Just what was John Ringling North II thinking when he decided, or defaulted to keeping intact the same company? Too nice a guy to give anybody pink slips? Too dependent on the possible kindness of his current performers to work for, how to put this, highly agreeable wages? Heck, out here they'd be playing to all-new audiences, so their show would look just as fresh as it did -- two or three seasons ago.

Trouble might be, could a certain clown car (or truck) operated, on some days, by joey Steve, even make it all the way out to the Golden State? Heck, they might advertise Steve's perilous early-morning put puts onto the lot. I'd love to be up early enough to see him fearlessly at the wheel, coaxing his little 1/2 cylinder make-do aggravation into view. Oh, why am I thinking this: a rainy morning would make the event picture perfect!

The Wallendas do Karl's Death Walk: Down there in Puerto Rico, where Karl's life came to an end in 1978 at the age of 73, 100 hundred feet above the ground during a long walk between two seaside towers, his great grandson Nik Wallenda, recreated the stunt. Joining Nik was his mother, Delilah, in her late 50s. No safety net. Starting at opposite ends, the two met in the middle. Delilah sat down on the wire so that her son could walk over her. They both reached salvation on the other side.

These demonstrations of human courage are becoming less and less a part of the show. When even today's younger generation of performers defend the use of mechanics, in effect, wondering if those -- like me -- actually favor tragic outcomes, there you have pretty stunning evidence of how the circus world itself is turning away from the spectacle of the true daredevil. But don't count the beleaguered daredevil out just yet. You'll see him/her in other forums if not under the big top, thrilling a public still wishing to be truly thrilled. Call it the human condition. To me, it symbolizes the daring-do of astronauts shooting off into space, of mountain climbers, of ...

Cirque du Soleil at Radio City: NY Times Suggests Possible Trouble Ahead; KLS Dad at Previews Calls Zarkana "Irritating ... Boring!!"

When all else fails, give 'em circus

You can read in the New York Times a marvelous in-depth profile on Guy Laliberte, who rules Cirque du Soleil, described bearing "a wolfish grin, mangled pinky and a bald head shaped like a bullet." Blame the bent pinky on a cooking mishap. Mr. L. may eventually also rule the world -- if he can just have his way with New York and London, two of the Big Three Global entertainment centers he has yet to capture by his own account. He has Vegas. And he's back in NY trying his luck at a larger stage, the one called Radio City Music hall, where Zarkana is now in previews..

Jason Zinoman of the Times landed prime time up in Montreal with the Cirque King, and turned out a vivid portrait of one of the greatest showbiz impresarios who has ever lived -- so far, and this King is only 50 or 51. One of his many creative underlings, Philippe Decoufle, director of Iris -- another Cirque show about to open at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre -- describes the King as " a very nice bulldozer." Laliberte concedes what a flop Banana Shpeel was; some blame it on the King's not being within easy reach while the show was struggling to find itself on a NY stage -- the head man was up in space orbiting the earth for a breezy $35 million ticket fee.

Try to get a handle on this: Cirque's 22 current productions around the world "sell about as many tickets as all Broadway shows combined." Next year, revenue is expected to exceed $1 billion for the first time. Are we now on the same page?

He practically owns Vegas. But he wants more. "New York and London are still on my checklist." Sounds like the guy has a sense of humor. One thing he has in spades: producing guts. Doubtful we will ever see his like again. Remember a man named P.T. Barnum? At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, P.T. is looking more and more like a puppet show proprietor compared to the man with the bullet head.

In another Times story on the same subject, Zinoman reports closeup on final rehearsals and endless tinkering over what may be another troubled property; Zinoman was granted rare access. And from his account, I infer that the Cirque crowd still have a way of trying to be theatre without a clue as to what makes a drama a drama (not a circus, by the way -- the two animals are so different). But they are aiming this time to "connect a story that will be touching," says the show's lead, Quebec pop star Garou and "close friend of Mr. Laliberte" (reported, otherwise, not to have many close friends at all). At the time of the interview, Garou was observed to be wanting "his character to grow."

Might be stretch, that. After all kinds of muddling about in the key of Shakespeare, seems the company retreated back to its usual safe haven down there on ersatz sawdust, which evidently did not displease the Big Boss any too much. Late last May, about to exit in a black waiting van, said Laliberte, "We did what we set out to do... It's not a musical. It's not theatre. At the end of the day, we give people what they want: It's a circus."

And it just began previews last evening at Radio City. One of the first customers to take his seat was our very own NY correspondent KLS Dad, who to my knowledge has never orbited earth. Here are some of his immediate reactions:

"Went up to my beloved Radio City Music Hall last night ... feeling sure I was going to be bowled-over with the show. Two words come to mind........... irritating.... boring.......!! There are some knock-out acts, such as the 10-person dual level perch and triple bar flying act... But .. what did they do but put so much giant spider web LED scenery behind them .. and a screaming songstress in the head of the spider performing another of the 'rock opera' songs!! of which had me on verge of walking out on a few occasions.

"I was not disappointed that they could not get the wires anchored for the 'Wheel of Death'.. Also bored with the acts such as the production number with the spinning hoops, the lady doing sand painting for at least an hour (OK..maybe 10 LONG MINUTES) right after intermission.. the very slow flying clown (out over the audience).. another half hour???? Well.. too damn long!! And the group of 'Swiss?? flag tossers!!!!!!!! Get the hook!!!

"All in all.. I feel the production so over powers the performers.. and it isn't magical either to listen to..or watch. And.. with the non-stop music there's not much opportunity for the audience to applaud. And most went on for too damn long... Another example - the 15+ acrobat troop at the end."

KLS would like his money back.

Thanks to Don Covington for linking me to the Times stories.