In keeping with the Irvin Feld standard, remember the feared weekly weight ins that were claimed to be unfair and unjust by many, Henry? Over seen for years by the "Reich Marshall." I think we are in agreement that they were necessary and justified in keeping with the standard that Irvin Feld had set for the Greatest Show on Earth.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Nothing is perfect, and everything can be fine tuned
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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2 comments:
General fatness is spreading (sorry for the pun) throughout America. And even in some circus performers. Shame, shame.
Dion
time for my soap box. since i seem to be gaining weight from one hour to the next, i feel like i have the right to address the issue of weight. my weight doesn't bother me in any way except my health; i don't go into an arena in a costume i can barely squeeze into. nobody buys tickets to see me perform. but anyone who performs in public, whether circus, theatre, movies, televison, night club or concert has an obligation to look as good as possible. circus performers especially because they are expected to be in top physical shape. i think every show owner/manager/producer has the right to set weight standards. show business is an illusion. we expect the illusion that a performer is in great shape physically. some acts can be done with extra weight but that's no excuse. mr feld understood that the audience expects people to look good when they are paying to see them. in recent years i have seen far too many performers who either appear to have been costumed at a thrift shop or seem dangerously close to splitting their spandex. what could any costumer do with a roly-poly flyer or acrobat? looking good goes with the territory. the real stars continued to look good until retirement. nobody buying tickets cares what a press agent or a manager or even a candy butcher looks like. but they want to see beauty in the ring. cirque du soleil and other similar shows seem to be the only ones who continue to insist on looking good, which may well be one reason for their appeal and the box office that goes with it.
i will never forget one story from the grand and glorious good old days. a new riding act had been formed and a show owner asked a friend what it was like, since everybody always wanted a good riding act. the answer was "I don't know, i've never seen the act, but i heard the girls were bigger than the horses." the owner lost interest immediately and while i know the act was made available very cheap, i have never heard of it playing a major date and i know the people involved were back with their original acts before long. and the girls never lost weight and stopped performing before long.
yes, it's unfair to judge a person's ability to perform by the way they look. but it's a fact of life. and if you want to go to the top, you have to realize it.
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