Wednesday, May 13, 2009

1973 Red Show #17


Ringling 1973-21, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Elvin Bale? In 1976 Bale did this act on the Blue Unit.

Posted by Buckles at 5/13/2009 06:27:00 AM

23 comments:

dpowhitetiger said...

And the Fantastic Vickie Unus...One of four females that was inducted into the Sarasota/St.Armands Ring of Fame the same year...

13 May, 2009 06:41
Barry said...

Unmistakeably Elvin Bale. It's my understanding that there was some friction between himself and Gunther and Irvin Feld solved the problem by moving him to the Blue show and giving him top billing there. Gunther briefly mentioned that in his autobiography. Perhaps Jack Ryan could verify (or disprove) and expand on that a little.

13 May, 2009 07:01
Frank Ferrante said...

Friction? Nah! Just a Clash of Titans. Irvin made the right decision and peace ruled the land... for the most part. ~frank

13 May, 2009 08:47
Frank Ferrante said...

Did they move Jennette Williams to the Blue Unit at the same time as Elvin? ~frank

13 May, 2009 08:59
Chic Silber said...

FRICTION but plenty was moved to

the Blue show where the rivalry

tested Charly's capabilities to

maintain decorum daily

The stories can go on for days

Chic

13 May, 2009 09:04
Chic Silber said...

Vickie (La Toria) & Dawnita (Nita)

Elvin's twin were the the best 2

out of the many women aerialists

that worked this act

I'm sure many of us remember

Brenda Cuttin

Chic

13 May, 2009 09:12
Chic Silber said...

Yes Frank

Jeanette & Elvin were married

& working together on the wheel

(also called Big Bertha) and on

a fairly lame cheetah routine

(in ring 3)

You can't imagine who worked

ring 2 during that display

Chic

13 May, 2009 09:24
Anonymous said...

Chic Silber, please contact me. jgelephant@aol.com

13 May, 2009 09:46
Jack Ryan said...

With two big circus stars to deal with, it was only wise for Mr. Feld to let each "headline" a different unit.

Never saw any personal friction between Gunther and Elvin and I knew them both well. Both were highly professional and disciplined circus people.

Jack

13 May, 2009 09:49
Henry Penndorf said...

Hi Bill,

If my memory serves, this act was billed as "The Vickels". A combination of Victoria Unus and Elvin Bale's first names.

Didn't Victoria Unus as "La Toria" perform the one arm swings like Holly in the movie "The Greatest Show On Earth"?

Does anyone remember when Elvin Bale "fought" the fire breathing mechanical dragon?

Henry

13 May, 2009 11:50
Jack Ryan said...

Henry P.,

Yes, the act was sometimes billed as The Vickels. When Elvin turned into a "superstar," that was dropped to give him another credit in the program.

Vicki - LaToria -- performed the one arm swings (I think they're called planges) in the style of Lillian Leitzel -- the audience counted out loud as she did them. Unlike Holly in the movie, Vicki had EXCELLENT rigging.

Elvin "fought" what I named "The Mighty, Malevolent Mechanical Monster" in the 112th Edition (Blue Unit) in 1982. In addition, he did the motorcycle wire act and worked the Wheel of Death (which I said in the program was "Universally Unrivaled, Unbelievably Unique.")

When it comes to alliterations, I have no shame.

Jack

13 May, 2009 12:55
Chic Silber said...

Oh yes Henry

Vickie would do 100 (count em)

one arm planges almost every

peformance for years

And yes Henry

Althugh many of us have tried

to forget that mechanical

monster with lycopodium breath

I believe the year was either

80 or 81 shortly before Elvin

went to Sarrasani

It had a name I do forget

(Oh yes it was Elvira)

Chic

13 May, 2009 13:03
Buckles said...

My favorite alliteration comes from "The Mikado".

To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!

13 May, 2009 13:19
Jack Ryan said...

Buckles,

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to match that wondrous wordsmith W.S. Gilbert.

There was an enjoyable movie made ten years or so ago about the lives of Gilbert & Sullivan. It's called "Topsy-Turvy." If you haven't seen it, I think you would have fun watching it.

Jack

13 May, 2009 14:00
Buckles said...

I enjoyed it when it first came out and my daughter Dalilah bought me a DVD soon after for Christmas.

13 May, 2009 14:14
henry edgar said...

this was the first year for elvin's motorcycle wire act, which was performed with vickie. vickie was sidelined due to an accident with one of the horses and several other ladies worked with elvin on this act over the years - i mostly remember dawnita.

jack is absolutely correct when he said it was simply a matter of splitting two superstars, one for each unit, because by then elvin had reached that status. i have never seen an act stop the show cold on ringling as often as elvin's wheel did -- he always worked as high as the building would allow, much higher than other wheel acts, and his showmanship was the best of his generation. i will always believe that under the right circumstances, elvin could have been a bigger star than gunther. he could make people stand up and cheer just by twirling his cape.

this was the year elvin entered on horseback for the aerial ballet and stood on the horses back to reach the web to climb to his trapeze, which was always very accurately defined as electrifying.

and for jack -- you should always be very proud of your uncanny ability to create alliterations. you are the best at that i've ever known about. you deserve hall of fame/ring of fame as much as anyone else, but unfortunately, press and others on the advance have always been the unsung heroes of the circus because they're never seen by anybody except management -- their work is never really understood egen by others on the show. their job is to win applause for other people and try to fill the seats

as far the mechanical monster, it was a good idea that never quite developed. elvin was never happy with the act because he felt it lacked the "hey, wow!" factor of his other acts. he told me he had tried to get the act moved to the wheel slot and the wheel moved to the monster's place on the program because the wheel was so much stronger. elvin's wheel -- and his trapeze -- were the definitive performances of these acts. none of the wheel acts since then have had the impact his had and none of the few heel catch acts since then have had the crowd screaming like he did.
he's another one-of-a-kind star who helped make the circus the greatest show on earth

13 May, 2009 14:47
Adaline said...

Yes, I will always remember Brenda Cuttin and meeting with her family.

13 May, 2009 15:21
Anonymous said...

telling tales out of school:
Seeing the names Elvin, & Elvira, brings to mind another name in his life, "Elvina".
On Circus Maximus in 1968, Elvin decided to go partying with Walter "Jim Beam " Patterson, now in those days, if you went partying with Walter, you'd better be prepared to party, Elvin was evidently not, because the next day he was unable to work. Rather than leave the spot vacant, Paul Kaye recruited Trudy Strong to replace him and she did her "Single Trap" routine on Elvin's trapeze, which was not easy having never worked on the rigging before, and the fact that Elvin worked on an unwrapped steel bar. Trudy started her act on a plain bar years before but after working in flying acts, had become accustomed to a wrapped bar. I guess to make the replacement less conspicuous, Paul introduced her as "Elvina Bale.
tattletale

13 May, 2009 17:32
Jack Ryan said...

Henry Edgar,

Thank you for your very kind comments. I appreciate them.

I always took a lot of time with the alliterations. Have been known to spend two or three days, off and on, working on a single display, particularly spec, web and menage.

One year early on I thought maybe I'd overdone my words in the Program of Displays. I brought the copy to Irvin and said, "Do you have time to read these, Mr. Feld? I think I may have gone too far."

He spent quite a long time reading then smiled. "No. Not far enough."

Jack

13 May, 2009 18:02
Chic Silber said...

Sorry Henry

Elvin's BIG blue wheel always

was hung at a specific height

from the ground for access and

for the final hang under turn

before the dismount

I'm extremely sorry that I can't

remember the specs that I used

to know so well

There were buildings where he

had to duck under structures

at the top of the revolve

He was truly a master of the

wheel and certainly of his

long black rope single trap act

When he rode in on "Mucho" the

georgeous big black Fresian in

his white tights & sequined belt

he was called "Crusader Rabbit"

by a few rogues for a reason I

can't mention here

Chic

13 May, 2009 23:36
Roger Smith said...

In 1969, I took the Jungleland Lions out for Sid Kellner. We toured up the West Coast to Vancouver's Agrodome. As I recall, Elvin had not had the heel-catch trapeze for long by then, but clearly had it down to perfection. His flash and style were manifestly in evidence in all he did. Kellner's James Bros. had good acts, but the standouts were Buckles, Barbara and Anna May, and certainly Elvin Bale.

14 May, 2009 14:33
henry edgar said...

chic -- it always looked as though the wheel was much higher in norfolk than hampton or richmond, though i guess it could have been an illusion -- the show always seemed to look better in norfolk. i have never seen another wheel as high and i've never been impressed with other wheel acts -- with all of elvin's acts, it was like once you saw the best the rest weren't so hot. he even sold the landing of the cannon a bit better than anyone else. as far as showmanship, he had no equal among his generation.

14 May, 2009 14:59
Unknown said...

Hi Chic
Hope you don't mind me responding but did you know Brenda.
Just to put you in the picture, I was visiting my mother's grave and came across Brenda's and her parents grave nearby.
I read that she died during a performance and that she was a aerialist.
She must have been born in Coseley Dudley UK probably local to me because of her parents being at my local cemetery.
Do you know if she had any other relatives because I would like to leave some flowers at her graveside.
Regards
Mark.

26 June, 2015 14:40

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