Greatest Show on Earth is back but reimagined
GREENSBORO, NC >> There are no tigers and elephants; in fact, the only “animal” is an electric dog named Bailey. The clowns are still there, but hardly wear any makeup.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, that self-proclaimed greatest show on Earth, is back seven years after folding up its big top for what was feared to be the last time. The circus, which had toured with scant interruption since Ulysses S. Grant's presidency, shuttered indefinitely in 2017 as it faced lagging ticket sales in the wake of its decision to stop featuring animals.
Now as the show hits the road again for an initial run of 50 cities, audiences are encountering a human-focused spectacle with a Gen Z tilt that might leave it unrecognizable.
It's something of an unlikely comeback for the institution that has faced pop culture shifts, dwindling attendance and accusations of animal mistreatment. The pandemic hit a few years after the pachyderms packed up in 2016 (retiring to a Florida conservation center), making the return of the one-time touring staple even more of a question.
The focus on performers — human cannonballs, acrobats and now BMX riders — was central to Juliette Feld Grossman's reimagining of the circus, which began in 2019, three years after she took over as chief operating officer for Feld Entertainment, the family company that runs the circus. Irvin Feld, her grandfather, purchased it from the Ringling Bros. nearly 60 years ago and Feld Grossman, 40, has been immersed in the circus for as long as she can remember. She guessed that she attended her first circus at 2 weeks old.
She knew the show needed an update but had a responsibility to keep “delivering those experiences that turned into those lifelong memories,” Feld Grossman said. “Out of all that soulsearching, the answer really was that the performers are the heart of our show. They're the people and people come to Ringling to connect with others.”
Over the course of two hours, 75 performers run through 50 acts while the music, action or lighting shift every 3.5 seconds to hold the attention of audiences used to the quick cuts of social video. The center stage is a rotating turntable equipped with screens designed to magnify performance details.
Whether the comeback story will be a fully successful one is up for debate. Jerry Apps, the author of “Tents, Tigers and the Ringling Brothers,” is skeptical that a new-look circus can keep its cultural relevance.
“It was clear that the appeal of those early circuses was a combination of animals, acrobatics and clowns,” Apps said. “I'm curious what sort of interest the public will express with this new look.”