Friday, October 27, 2006

Ladies of the Steel Arena Vol. 3 (Jim Cole Collection)


Sara Houcke

Posted by Buckles at 10/27/2006 06:12:00 AM

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sara arrived on the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus in the summer of 1999 to begin practicing with Josip Marcan's tiger act, which was booked on Ringling for the following 2 years. The original plan was to have her present that cat act on Beatty-Cole the last 2 months of the '99 season. The Ringling PR people quickly interviened, and would not allow her to do that, despite the fact that it would have given Ms. Houcke, who had never before worked tigers, valuable experience with this act. Rignling wanted the exclusive to debuet this young lady to the American circus public.

They had BIG plans for her.

Thousands of dollars were spent in computer enhanced and air brushed publicity photos. A high dollar costume designer from Hollywood did her wardrobe, and she was extensivly coached by Ringling choreograhers on how to present herself by Ringling standards in the act.

Here was the major problem with that. She was also being coached by Josip Marcan, who owned and trained the act. This was a "no props" act, which meant the presenter was faced with a very difficult task of constantly keeping the tigers in the right positions on the arena floor. This required her being in the right place at the right time, and holding the whip just so. Josip's instructions were often in conflict with what the show choreograhers had just told her. Josip refused at first to have her work the act with a microphone, cueing the animals with a Ringling scripted dialoug.

Having reached a compromise with Feld entertainment inc., Miss Sara Houcke, the "Tiger Whisperer" did very well in presenting the act for 2 tours.

27 October, 2006 07:46
Anonymous said...

Being told what to do by so many different people must have been hell for this young lady. Its a wonder she pulled it off. With different owners having different ideas about what is supposed to be. Why buy an act and then change it. On a very very small scale I have an idea of what this young lady had to go through. More power to her and glad she survived. You have to want to do something very much.

27 October, 2006 08:48
Anonymous said...

Josip Marcan told me of another major challenge the Feld Corp. handed him. The cats were lined up to the arena in transport cage wagons and both entered and exited in total darkness. The extending bars from the cage doors stuck out, and the "cat shifters" often walked in to them. Everything was painted flat black. It was suggested to paint the door handles white, so they could more easily be seen (also to assure they were closed when they pulled the wagons away) But the Feld artistic people insisted that everything remain black. I believe their point was that the audience never saw the cats in the smaller temporary cage wagons.

Also Josip told me that his tigers were multi colored ( standards, whites & tabbys) and that the show artistic people insisted on putting pink and yellow lights on them. "The #%@*%# tigers now all look the same, stupid #@%&$# people".

Although Sara was billed as the Tiger Whisperer", Josip rarely whisperd his views.

27 October, 2006 10:08
Anonymous said...

In this photo, it seems the Felds were going for the Faye Dunaway look.

27 October, 2006 13:26
Anonymous said...

They had to use Sara for the Faye Dunaway look. Buckles and I wouldn't do it. Wade Burck

27 October, 2006 14:00
Anonymous said...

By the way Sara did a superb job, all things considered. Wade Burck

27 October, 2006 14:01
Anonymous said...

Kim and I took Parley to one of those excellent one-ring shows that I can't name right off. Think it was in '01 or '02, and saw this fine performer with the tigers. We saw her again in Lancaster. In the backyard, she had another full arena set up for exercise, complete with toys and--no kidding--a swimming pool. Her treatment by the Feld crew is beyond arrogance. Imagine them trying to choreograph Terrell Jacobs.

27 October, 2006 16:18
Bob Cline said...

One thing Josip told me when I visited him on the RBBB show with Sara, was that he had the newer style expandable cage wagons transported by truck to the next town. He wouldn't allow them on the train in case of the heat, cold, or breakdowns, that way he was always with the tigers. Eventually Josip returned home and his comrade, Cheryl, stayed on the RBBB unit with Sara until the contract was over.

27 October, 2006 17:19
Anonymous said...

from Eric:

From Jimmy Cole's description of Sara's act, it sounds like it was more along the lines of one of the presentations done at Sea World 30 or so years ago, with the trainer proving a running commentary as the animals performed. (I wonder what Charly Baumann would have thought of presenting tigers in this manner?)

29 October, 2006 12:39

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