DOOM AND GLOOM! #9

circus_event--300x300, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. A THREE RING DRAMA! Big Apple Circus juggles expenses to survive recession. The Big Apple Circus, New York's hometown attraction, is struggling to keep the big top up amid slumping ticket sales and dwindling corporate donations. Gary Dunning, the circus's executive director, said the last few years have been some of the worst in its 33-year history, but that the not-for-profit is rallying. The circus, which calls Lincoln Center home, draws 80 percent of its revenue from ticket sales and private performances. "We had a $1.5 million drop in 2009 as corporations canceled private performances and large groups that usually average 300 to 500 tickets each didn't book," he said. Corporate donations, which usually total about $400,000 annually, were halved from a year earlier.