Monday, January 11, 2010

Blue Show 2010 #1


Scan12549, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

The popular opinion around Sarasota is that this P.T. Barnum Show is a vast improvement over the previous "Rubber Elephant Unit".
I must agree, the performance we saw last night had more content, was better paced and had excellent wardrobe.
Probably the best flying act I ever saw, the quadruple stopped the show.
Two great teeter-board acts closing with double somersalts on stilts.
Some pretty nice looking spec floats that were rehashed several times throughout the performance so they wouldn't be missed (those things are expensive).
Mysteriously at one point a sizable number of people were conducted down from the audience where they ensconced themselves on anything available, sections of ring curb, bull tubs, etc. and watched a portion of the performance. Something like a large weenie-roast.
I asked our host about it and he explained that these people paid extra to be part of the show, similar to the old days when we had kids in the floats the elephants pulled.
So all in all, I think the show is well worth a trip to see, Barbara and the grandkids seemed to enjoy it immensely (unfortunately Dalilah is a curmudgeon like myself). I might add that the Sarasota Consensus regarding the Gold Unit was not so kind.

Posted by Buckles at 1/11/2010 08:34:00 AM

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The American circuses of 1793-c1835 had various levels of admission, from box seats to the pit, whereby all classes in the city were enabled to see the presentation.

In 1825, the circus took up use of the tent and thereby was enabled to play the hinterlands. One might say the tent "democratized" the circus. It had a pit and planks, later the blues and the reserves. People of all economic classes everywhere could attend the circus.

The railroad shows then took the circus back to solely the larger cities. RBBB continued the trend with the move to becoming solely an arena show in 1957. If you had transportation, you could go from the hinterlands to the city to see the circus.

RBBB's Hometown unit was an apparent attempt to access smaller cities closer to the hinterlands. They've been the stronghold of the circus, lacking most other alternative entertainments until the electrical/digital age.

Now we're seeing quasi-circus shows like Cavalia, and Soleil, that play only the larger cities. One might liken this to reverse-democratization. They're accessible principally by wealthier clientele, the same folks that might attend the ballet, symphony and opera. Even if you can get to the city, can you afford the tickets?

Presumably Cavalia is viewed as an art form, while "circus," at least in this country, is not, unless it's a one-ring outfit like Big Apple.

11 January, 2010 09:21
Anonymous said...

I am not a curmudgeon! hee,hee okay well maybe. I thought the video screens added a great touch to each part of the show. Teeterboard, mixed act (the dog stole all the thunder), trampoline, Globe of death and Flying act were audience favorites. I notice many acts not smiling or simply walking off the arena like they were in the back yard. I appreciate the Feld family keeping the “Greatest Show on Earth” up and running for so many years and hopefully for many, many generation to come. But the “Golden Age of Circus” is gone forever. What are the sayings, "You can't stop progress" and "Welcome to the Future".

Dalilah :-)

11 January, 2010 12:19

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