Sunday, February 05, 2006

Big Apple Circus 1983/ Francis Brunn


In those days the hard core circus people had the usual assortment of busses, house trailers, vans, etc. but the Big Apple people had sort of a summer camp mentality.
Paul had a little 15' trailer while Stubbs and family lived in one of those pop-up pup tents mounted on a trailer. The "Apple Core" slept where they could and showered in a small tent with a garden hose hung over the side wall. Francis Brunn stayed in motels and Komo Suru borrowed Alan Slifka's bus.
Paul once told me that when the season ended there was talk of abandoning his and Stubbs trailers on the lot since it would be cheaper to buy new ones for the next summer tour rather than pay to have them stored.
In other words, it was like Mickey Rooney saying to Judy Garland "Gee, lets have a circus".

Posted by Buckles at 2/05/2006 06:55:00 AM

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

No surveys, no marketing advisers, etc. Just circus folks who loved the business and it worked, ring curbs and all. What hardships? If there was to be a natural deaster[?] you can bet circus folk would survive. Like the poor growning up in the 30s. We did not know we were poor. We did not know we were having any hardships. Just loving the way we lived and not wanting to trade it for anything in the world. Who now a days would say that about their jobs? What group of people get along and work for the benefit of the whole show? There is a spacial place in every ones heart for the circus. What other job can say that? I feel sorry for the people who never got the chance to be with a circus for even a little while. It would make the world a better place.

05 February, 2006 08:34
Bob Cline said...

Good Morning All,
I caught the RBBB Hometown season opener in Florence, SC last night. It is definitely the best of all three units. Same back drop and format as the last two year run. They closed in Anderson, SC two weeks ago and assembled the new show in Florence in 10 days.
Gone are Ted McRae and the Alligators, Hercules the strongman, the Espanas ( who sadly lost Desi during the two year run ) and Gunther the 8 year old Male Asian elephant.
New are Angelica the Female Asian elephant who was on the Blue unit with Troy Metzler last year to join Doc the Male Asian Elephant, both performed by Billy Morris, Sylvia Zerbini's fantastic Horse and Lyre routine and The Upside Down World from the Blue unit last year, a High Wire Act, a Poodle act, and a Bulgarian Teeterbord routine that closes the show.
Jon Weiss returns this tour as the Master of Ceromonies and is joined by LilliAnna Escabar who sings the Star Spangled Banner. Jon did not do any of his balancing routines this year. Two clowns return from last years show and did a number of appearances.
The audience around me was astonished at Sylvia Zerbini and loved the music with the Poodle return in particular. 2 hour show with a 15 minute intemission. I paid $20.00 for my ticket and had center of the only ring second row back. No complaints on my part.No programs were available, only an 8.00 coloring book.
Ironically the PETA crowd that staged their show at an elementary school 10 days ago, were no where to be seen at the performance last night. 2 shows today then they go to Fayetteville, NC next week.
Bob

05 February, 2006 08:43
Anonymous said...

I remember Francis Brunn on the Polack show sometime in the early 50s. I was about 10 or 11 but I still recall he worked to the Sabre Dance, a fast paced routine with some great tricks. Must have been something, how many juggling acts do you remember 50 years later. Mr. Brunn must have been around my current age when he was on Big Apple -- still looked great.

Later I remember his sister, Lottie Brunn, was on the Polack show in 1963 -- another excellent act.

05 February, 2006 11:02
Anonymous said...

I remember coming back to the states in 87 after three years in after three years in Honduras and this friend of mine saying "We've gotta go see the Big Apple Circus." I'd suffered through "Cirque" a few weeks before and the last thing I wanted to see was what I assumed would be a two hour "I Love New York" ordeal. If I couldn't see a "real circus" I figured I'd rather see one of the Salvadoran shows I was used to, the kind of outfit that stays in a town anywhere from three days to a month, however long it takes to make gas money to leave. "They've got elephants," my friend said. So decided I had nothing to lose. Funny how things work out. For the next ten years I judged every other show against the latest Big Apple.

Ben Trumble

06 February, 2006 06:15

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