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11 comments:
1980 Blue Show
Eric's town
I remember this edition quite well. The closing of the Monte Carlo unit due to poor business resulted in some organizational reshuffling. Charly Baumann, Elvin Bale and several other featured performers from the Blue Unit were sent off on an overseas tour of the Far East. Their places in the performance were filled by performers from the now defunct Monte Carlo unit, who brought with them their European-style music.
Check out those ticket prices. Even adjusted into 2018 dollars they are not all that high. And what a show you got for your money!
Ursula Boettcher was the feature
with her tremendous Polar Bears
"Uschi" & her BIGGEST bear Alaska
were inducted this year in the
Circus Ring of Fame posthumously
She died back in her hometown of
Dresden in 2010 at the aqe of 83
Dresden was still under Communist
control when she came over from
East Germany & was under constant
threat from her government
She went to the CW park between
her 2 tours with the Blue Show
Manfred Horn who was her
partner for many years was
killed by a Kodiak bear in
another act he was working
in 1990
Chic,
The first time I had the honor of meeting the grand and talented Ursula Boettcher was in 1988 at Circus Krone in Stuttgart where I was delivering new tigers for Allan Gold and she was visiting. What a fascinating women she was and to have the opportunity to listen to her and Herta talk "bears" was a priceless education. She invited Herta and I to come the following weekend to where she and Manfred were training a new act with, Kodiak bears I believe. Regrettably, a few day's later Herta was notified that Manfred had been killed and we never got to go.
Wade Burck
My wife & I visited Dresden
in September of 2008 between
working on Disney's "Tarzan"
in Hamburg & the woman who
answered Uschi's phone said
that Ursula wasn't feeling
well enough for a visit but
was thankful for my calling
Sorry that I missed seeing her
During her Big Bertha years
I facilitated her talking to
my dear friend Jeannette Rix
about her father Albert whom
Uschi had greatly admired
The stress she was under from
the East German regime folks
took a big toll on her
Sadly she didn't make many
friends over here mostly
because folks thought her
to be cold & unfriendly
She had a protective crust
Chic,
Given how much the talented lady with such a unique act was paid by her government to come to America, it is fully understandable that she would have a chip on her shoulder. In addition to being "cold and unfriendly" I would have probably whacked a few people. Not to cast aspersions, but rather to speculate, because there would be no way to prove it, I have often wondered if the Trollie Rodin's and the Tim Holst's of the world got a piece of the pie, in addition to government kickback as part of their salary from GSOE. Circus salaries are the most closely guarded secret in the world, ever, but I know a Russian brother/sister cradle duo on Ringling with me in 1992 who only made 150,00 a week for the pair of them. They also were "cold and unfriendly." :) A well known circus producer, who is still operating today had a great scam. He called John Cuneo in 1986 and wanted to book my act for a week on a special date. At the time I was paid a percentage of what the act made, instead of a weekly salary. When John proposed the offer to me I noted that it was 1500.00 less then normal and what was up with that. John said that the producer had deducted 10% off the top as an "agent's fee." I got pissed and said, "what god**mn agent, he called you." John said, "the agent is his secretary because she is the one who send's out the contracts!!!!"
Needless to say I didn't accept the date and told John to tell the producer to take his crap to somebody else. I haven't seen a need for an agent in the circus since the mid 50's when an agent signed movie/endorsement deals for some performers in addition to different performing venues. A Hollywood or sport agent really get's out and hustles for their client. A circus agent doesn't do much any more, short answering their phone and collecting 10-15%. With today's technology it is pretty simple to locate a person/performer and speak to them or email them if you want their service instead of fooling with an "agency."
Wade Burck
She did indeed have a few
people "whacked" Wade but
she had others do the job
for her althought they did
know who was to blame
Trolle was very well compensated &
was well worth every Swedish Krona
Most unlikely to have played both ends
He was responsible to have arranged
all the original Iron Curtain acts
I know less about Tim's situation but
also not likely to manipulate funds
The days of "Ali Babba" were gone
but imaginative schemes found their
way into our (& all) cultures
Chic,
I wasn't suggesting a sinister "double dipping." I was suggesting an agreed upon arrangement where one side paid a percentage and the other side paid a percentage,thus making it a cheaper financial situation for Ringling and the prospective governments, with no thought to the performers.
Wade Burck
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