Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Pomp and Spectacle #1


One thing that Anonymous #2 and I agree on, is that we both miss the pomp and spectacle of The Greatest Show on Earth.
No expense was spared on this outfit the first time I was on the show but sixteen years later...................................

Posted by Buckles at 5/16/2006 11:18:00 AM

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

God you are georgous. You make the outfit. I do like the neptune one better though. But the nutcracker one or Prince one is my favorite. Split britches and all. You and Barbara make a showcase that makes a circus what it is supposed to be.

16 May, 2006 13:07
Anonymous said...

I was always amazed at the detail in the wardrobe. In an arena show that doesn't neccessarily show up, but even up close, the work that went into each piece was spectacular, and this same attention to design went into hundreds of costumes. I haven't seen anything better in Vegas. Remember the Pink Panther year when the elephant girls had wardrobe trimmed in pink dyed Arctic Fox fur? There was also the year when the elephant number was in a yellow and black butterfly theme. It took a large crate to pack each one of the butterfly wings that the girls wore. The elephant blamkets were amazing too.
All I can think is that the Felds must be having some serious financial problems. If not, where is the money going? The payroll must be a quarter of what it was. The budget for production must be about a tenth. I can't imagine Ken giving anyone like Gunther the ok to haul around a giraffe for a year while he trained it, or giving the green light to purchase and haul 24 horses for an eight minute number.
One example of questionable expenses is the huge free standing rigging frame on Gold. the cost of building and hauling it must be huge. Just eliminating an expense like that, and the show could be costumed like the good old days.

16 May, 2006 13:20
Pat Cashin said...

When did Kenny Rogers start opening for Cher ; )

~Pat Cashin

16 May, 2006 14:24
Anonymous said...

Its too bad there isnt a discussion forum seperate from the posted photos here,but I just wanted to comment on the Ringling Bros."Lizzie" who several sources state appeared in the 1930's Tarzan movies.
I just re-read the March-April 1991 Bandwagon article about the carrer of Cheerful Gardner by Bill Johnson.(page 32.)
He states that while the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus was in Riverside California in 1938,MGM came up to film scenes with Lizzie for the movie,
HERE TODAY and GONE TOMORROW(which was never released)It also says that
the show closed there and the elephants were then sent to Baldwin Park,
California,where MGM filmed Lizzie again for a scene of a elephant stampede smashing a pygmy village
(TARZAN FINDS A SON!1939)
Anyone here seen this movie?

16 May, 2006 15:14
Anonymous said...

Animal trainers ,supervisors
George Emerson,Louis Goebel,Bert Nelson and Louis Roth
all worked on some of the Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies of the 1930's.

16 May, 2006 15:47
Anonymous said...

In one movie(Tarzan finds a son!)
I think it was"Sally" gets shot by a bullet(in the script) a then
she starts to limp on three legs followed by the baby elephant"Bee",
who was on loan from the Detroit zoo.

16 May, 2006 15:50
Anonymous said...

Just returned from a visit with Freddie Logan.
He has been transferred from the Venice Hospital to a place in Sarasota called Healthsouth. This facillaty is a combination hospital and rehab center.
Freddie now has a venterlator tube in his throat, therefore, not able to talk. He tries to write his thoughts down on a piece of paper, but, one is unable to read his handwritting. As many of you know, he had beautiful penmanship thruout his life. He is to weak to do much of anything.
As of now, no one knows how long he will be in this facility.
He seems to be resting comforabilty, althou, he sleeps most of the time.
When I am there, I try to talk about his past circus days. He seems to enjoy these conversations, even thou, he can only respond with a nod of his head.
I'll visit him again in a few days, will keep you all posted.
JIM

16 May, 2006 16:03
GaryHill said...

You know something, on Circus's there are ALL kinds of people. These poor AR people must not of had very good childhoods! Maybe they were abused by their parents or siblins? They most likely never owned an animal that required them to care for or be responsible for! I bet they all got bunnys at Easter? That would be about their level of experience careing for animals! Sure lets turn all the animals back loose in their individual habitats and see how long it takes man to wipe them off the face of the earth! We are loosing species daily but ya never hear them Bunny Huggers bitch about that! They all rally behind Pam Anderson, now there's a real class act? Has anyone seen her video on the net with her doing porn with her husband? Classie for sure comparedwith those cheesy showgirls on Circus's! Shame on them and us they don't show enought skin for the AR perv's!The Fund for Animals has a ranch with all their rescued animals that a few years ago was worse than any place anywhere BUT they didn't feel their shame one bit! All the bad press they got out of it too???Too bad people aren't more like animals and eat their young sometimes, might have been a way to get rid of these pesty people that don't have a clue!

17 May, 2006 01:42
Anonymous said...

Barry, I have seen those colors after hugging the comode at three in the morning. After a large cheese pizza and a quart of margarittas

17 May, 2006 11:13
Anonymous said...

I was on the show for the Bi-Centennial spec. It was so patriotic that I peed red, white and blue!

17 May, 2006 19:21
Anonymous said...

I keep picturing Ken and Nicole at dress rehearsal, clapping their hands in glee and saying "Dad didn't know what he was talking about. This is what America really wants, a house cat act in the middle of an empty floor in Madison Square Garden"

18 May, 2006 08:31
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
18 May, 2006 18:56
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
18 May, 2006 19:07
Anonymous said...

In regards to Cirque. It's an impressive spectacle, dripping with money and some high level skills. But, it is not a circus. The performers, for the most part are young and beautiful, and Cirque chews them up and spits them out. There is no such thing as a career with Cirque du Soleil. In fact, they actually hire a therapist to help the performers deal with the temporary nature of their positions. The performers are anonymous, and they know that the same painted face will be worn by someone else. The star of Cirque is Cirque. And, when their stint is over, they are rarely able to find work in any other show (kind of like Clown College clowns used to be.) So, you cannot compare Cirque with any traditional circus where many performers have made a life's career. It's two different things.

18 May, 2006 21:03
Anonymous said...

i didn't realize it was hard for cirque performers to find work after cirque. i'm not a great cirque fan and what i'm saying may not be popular but i love the glamour and style of the great acts of the past and cirque trains their performers in a way nobody else does anymore. even the ones that do simple tricks have more style and showmanship than many of today's stars. too bad the other shows don't snap them up. they may not be great but they give the illusion of being great. and show business is illusion. beside, just think how much could be saved by putting spandex on bodies that should wear spandex instead of bodies made for caftans!

19 May, 2006 12:21

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)