The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus has been reimagined and reborn without animals as a high-octane family event with highwire tricks, soaring trapeze artists and bicycles leaping on trampolines.
Feld Entertainment, which owns the B次元官网网址淕reatest Show on Earth,B次元官网网址 revealed to The Associated Press what audiences can expect during the showB次元官网网址檚
The 75 performers from 18 countries will include performers on a triangular high wire 25 feet off the ground, crisscrossing flying trapeze artists, a spinning double wheel powered by acrobats and BMX trail bikes, unicycle riders and skateboarders doing flips and tricks.
The tour kicks off in Bossier City, Louisiana, from Sept 29-Oct. 1 and then goes to Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana and ends the year in Oklahoma. It restarts in 2024 in Florida, home to Feld Entertainment.
The show is a complete rethink of a modern circus. Feld Entertainment has been working on everything from how to integrate clowns, the branding and the merchandise over the past four years.
B次元官网网址淲e knew we were going to come back. We didnB次元官网网址檛 know exactly how,B次元官网网址 says Kenneth Feld, chair and chief executive officer of Feld Entertainment. B次元官网网址淚t took us a long time to really delve in and take a look at Ringling in different ways. It became a re-imagination, a rethinking of how we were going to do it.B次元官网网址
Costly court battles led to the end of elephant acts in 2016. People for Ethical Treatment of Animals have praised the B次元官网网址渁nimal-free revamp.B次元官网网址
The rebirth extends the circusB次元官网网址 long run that dates back to a time before automobiles, airplanes or movies, when Ulysses S. Grant was president and minstrel shows were popular entertainment.
B次元官网网址淭here is no substitute for live entertainment. You cannot get an emotional response from people looking at a two-dimensional screen as you can when they are experiencing B次元官网网址楾he Greatest Show on EarthB次元官网网址 or any kind of live entertainment,B次元官网网址 says Feld.
The new production design includes moveable staircases and two main stages. Audiences will have a 360-degree view with live camera feeds and virtual reality, and lighting and sound design that tracks the performer.
B次元官网网址淭he technology in the show is about enhancing experience, not just technology,B次元官网网址 said Juliette Feld Grossman, chief operating officer of Feld Entertainment. B次元官网网址淲e have so much activity and action so we want to make sure that we never miss the biggest moments in the show.B次元官网网址
Grossman said that when she and her team were rethinking what the circus could be, they landed on the concept of fun and a sense of play being critical. She promises to B次元官网网址済ive the audience something that they havenB次元官网网址檛 seen or that they didnB次元官网网址檛 even know to anticipate.B次元官网网址
The Feld family, which bought the circus in 1967, has branched out, buying and creating other large-scale touring shows, such as Disney on Ice, Marvel Live and Monster Jam. Feld said that there is something about the circus that people hold dear.
B次元官网网址淲hy there is a circus and a form of circus literally every place on the planet is that people emotionally are basically the same,B次元官网网址 he said.
B次元官网网址淲hen youB次元官网网址檙e on a high wire and youB次元官网网址檙e doing a backward somersault on the wire or youB次元官网网址檙e doing something really extraordinary, I donB次元官网网址檛 care where you are. You appreciate that. You understand the danger of it, the thrill of it.B次元官网网址
B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press