Photo courtesy of Darryl Atkinson. GGW's retirement tour. It has been hotly argued that his arrival revived the American Circus, and it ended with his death. Compare this with less then 20 years below. What happend?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey--1989 Gunther Gebel Williams
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Wade G. Burck
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6 comments:
Here's what I think happened....
The cat sitting up with its back to us either blew the pyramid early, or hasn't decided to go to its spot in the pyramid yet.
i have to agree. mr. feld brought a great concept of two great shows at the same time with all the elements of the heyday of the past, where each new edition was always bigger, better and grander than ever, and did for his era the same things the original ringling family and johnny north had done in their eras. but gunther brought a special excitement that made the circus something people felt they had to see every year. the success of those years was a true team effort, with the promotion expertise of allen bloom, jack ryan and jerry digney and some of the best marketing directors the circus has ever known, but it was mr feld's vision and gunther's star quality that kept the people coming back for more.
Casey,
The cat that sits there is Mousey. She is sitting to his right. She, Sheena and Rita came in together and Rita got right on the pyramid and sat up like a statue, while Sheena and Mousy went to their seats spitting and fighting each other. Mousey was put on last and the act opened. This was the pyramid that opened the act and the props that I got to use for the first program pictures as mine weren't finished. Boss's tigers didn't blow, they asked permission before they did anything. It is a high degree of training that you may stumble upon in 20-25 years. LOL
Wade
Henry,
That's kinda my point when people start to reference the 1940's or the 1920's. I don't think we have that much time. If we just can get back to 1974 we should be in pretty great shape. Some day if we have to go back to 2008 to reference the "Golden Age" it would look so glum.
I hope you are feeling well friend,
Wade
So it was the second,,, she hasn't gone to her spot yet,,,lol
I am past that "degree" I am at the degree where it is realized, that at some point a tiger will blow from everyone, unless they never do anything with it, yes I would bet even the Great GGW had more then one tiger blow in his spectacular career. What I assume didnt happen was him "unknowingly" chasing one away, which I still do often.
glum is not the word. if anybody uses 2008 to reference the golden age of the circus, it would have to be worse than glum. i wasn't around for the wagon shows and the big parades, but for me, the golden age went from the early 50s to the late 70s or early 80s. look at what we had then! i never saw ringling under the big top, but i saw beatty-cole in the mcloskey-kernan days and it was awesome -- nothing but ringling-calibre acts. i was there for the early 60s, when the smallest mud shows offered more than anybody but ringling and evansville today. the days when tito gaona's triple generated more thrills than anybody's quad today, the wonder of a ringling program that would be the greatest show on earth even if a star like gunther or elvin or charley were sick. then the new crescendo when you brought in the white tigers, as heir apparent to the wild animal act throne, the first chinese troupe when a lion dance could keep the garden spell-bound, that was the time when every year brought at least one new "Hey, Wow!" act. now what do we have? are there even enough of that quality act to put on one show? yes, some of the tricks are better. but how many performers know how to sell them? how many performers would look good in the don foote costumes, even with all the new high power lights? when i made my first trip to cirque du soleil i was positive i would hate it. but instead i saw a show with glamour, style, flash, thrills, chills and excitement -- and no costumes that looked like they came from a thrift shop. no t-shirts, jeans or tennis shoes. i missed than animals greatly -- i remember standing mesmerized by tony diano's giraffe, rhino and hippo in the menagerie tents of the 50s.
you are absolutely right. almost all of us are now members of the "You call that a circus -- i remember way back in 1978 when i saw..." 10 years from now, people in europe will still be able to remember great shows of 2008 -- but what are people going to say when they remember the circus in america of 2008?
i still get excited when i see a big top on the lot. i still get excited when i walk into a buiding and see the rigging. sometimes there's sill a big cat arena. and nothing would make me happier than to leave saying "Now THAT was a circus."
maybe i'm still chasing a rainbow, but i think there's still hope for the circus. but somebody would have to say "I'm going to bring the circus back." and spend the money to do it. and realize how important the people and animals are. no matter how great the lights are, they need good acts to illuminate. and they need to think beyond elephant rides, photo ops and 30 minutes of pitches. you may need these things to make the nut -- but you've got to give people enough show to get them there and keep them there. and you've got to pay the performers and the staff enough to live. it sounds simple, circuses did it for many, many years and other businesses still do. that may be the elusive secret to keeping the circus alive.
ps-- I'm feeling much better! maybe not well enough for a season of one-nighters, but well enough to want to bring the circus back into my life! well enough to hope to see another "Hey, wow! in the center ring!
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