Friday, March 11, 2011

Paul Kaye #8


Paul%20Kaye_Circus%20America, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Paul's masterpiece, Circus America, in Wash, DC (mid 70s?), went head to head with Ringling and featured the greatest assembly of class-A circus acts imaginable.

Posted by Buckles at 3/11/2011 07:12:00 PM

6 comments:

Chic Silber said...

Ernie (Blinko) Birch was only 1

of the great clowns on the date

5 rings of elephants 7 swaypoles

Dress rehearsal ran over 6 hours

Several act were paid for the

date but didn't work it

Paul Kaye & Jack Leontini put

the show together for Abe Polin

who owned the building & was in

a standoff with the Felds about

a previously agreed arangement

for RBBB to open the building

Duryea screwed it up royaly

I could go on for hours but won't

11 March, 2011 22:20
Chic Silber said...

May have been the last working

date for the Real Emmett Kelly

11 March, 2011 22:48
Mike Naughton said...

1974

12 March, 2011 13:21
clownron said...

I was working the Red Unit at the Armory and we were able to catch the show. I think Henry Schroer introduced me to Charlie Nock? It was a great show and both CA and RBB&B did very well if I recall.

12 March, 2011 18:43
Mike Naughton said...

Albert White worked the Circus America date and died in Sarasota the following fall.

13 March, 2011 13:15
Buckles said...

This Circus war took place shortly after the Florida Park opened and the Ringling brass were in amd out.
Kenny and Scooter scoffed and sneered and the reviews pretty much agreed that the Polin show was powerful but the production values and smoothness of the Gunther Unit (in it's second year) gave it the edge.
I heard once that Buddy North was once asked by a reporter what he thought of the reviews that claimed the performance was sub-par and North replied, "There are good years and there are less good years but every year it's the Greatest Show Earth."

13 March, 2011 13:49

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