From Brandon Sterk

!cid_image003_jpg@01CB8A3A, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Took the family to see the newest Ringling (Feld) offering—Barnum’s FUNundrum. Overall I thought this was a great show….their best show in years. Fast pacing, beautiful props, and some really good acts—the trampoline act that closes the show and the ‘pirate ‘themed teeter board act were fantastic. For the first time in years there seemed to be an actual “spec. “ or at least an attempt at one, interestingly at one time during the spec. they had the equivalent to 4 acts working at 1 time-all hand balancing, probably the first true 4-act display since they abandoned the stages between the rings—(late 60’s?). Probably the coolest part of the show was the video screens that moved throughout the show (4 on each side and 2 on the end). At the start of the show all the screens were lowered to ground level and a graphic of circus train moving along the screens was show, then the screens were raised to reveal the start of the opening number (and for some reason the lowering and raising of the cage for the cats from the ceiling always impresses me). My only complaints were that the Blue show needs to give the “globe of death” a rest as it has been a featured act in every blue show for years and I think the “all access pre-show” has lost a lot of its luster (when this was introduced in the late 90’s I thought this idea was genius, now it seems like they rush you off the floor after about 30 min. and there is not much interactive stuff going on). Finally the “free parking for ticket holders” was a great perk….not sure if this was Feld’s idea, but it makes total business sense—Feld pays the arena a fee for the parking---ticket holders save $20---ticket holders more likely to spend $20 on merchandise—I know for us it was a little easier to part with some dough for the DVD and cotton candy knowing we hadn’t shelled out $20 to park. Looking forward to see what the Feld girls come up with for the new Red Show---“Fully Charged” Brandon Sterk Chicago, IL