Saturday, October 27, 2018

VENICE #12


Posted by Chic Silber at 10/27/2018 12:02:00 AM

5 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Many of us truly loved this old joint

& miss it much like an old worn shoe

Tito Gaona did a tremendous amount

of work trying to get it preserved

He still operates his Flying Academy

on the back lot near the bridge

27 October, 2018 00:55
Wade G. Burck said...

You are correct, Chic. As mentioned in the past, nothing in my life has compared with the day I drove the tiger truck through the front gate and was held up with GGW exercising his 22 elephants in the middle of the lot, Charly Baumann standing in front of the elephant barn talking with Axel Gautier and too my left Lou Jacobs and Frosty Little at the clown prop workshop talking over plans with prop builder George Shellenburger. It was truly like arriving in another world. The excitement of opening dress rehearsal, with the arena filled with circus luminaries scampering for a free pass. Standing just outside my cage, giving me the hairy eye ball" were GGW, Charly, Daniel Suskow, and Tarzan Zerbini. Talk about pressure!!!! I feel sorry for folk's who went to Ringling after the show left Venice and after the demise of Irvin Feld. They never experienced the true excitement of the Greatest Show on Earth, finishing up dress rehearsals, going to Tampa and the Bayfront Center to film the annual TV special, then the 10 week long Madison Square Gardem date with the grand star filled opening night press conference and party. Two weeks late the New York Jewish community held an awards banquet at the Waldorf in honor of Irvin and select members of the show cast were invited to attend. Star night in Los Angles followed by press conference's and a large party. It was a time that today seems like a dream. Did it really happen? Did I really witness that grandeur? My return to the show in 1993, while exciting, was a let down emotionally, to have to accept it would never again be what it once was. Many great performers who had been attending the opening dress rehearsal for years commented on the lack of excitement viewing the show at the Tampa Fairgrounds instead of the circus arena in Venice. This townie from North Dakota was indeed blessed to catch the tail end of greatness of GSOE.......

Wade Burck

27 October, 2018 19:38
Chic Silber said...


Excellent recollections & great

images of our past Wade & only

correction is that the Bayfront

Center where each "Highlights"

was shot was in St Petersburg

Each years "Garden" opening was

among my most beloved mamories

I have always been a hopeless

romantic & not a bit ashamed

28 October, 2018 02:16
Chic Silber said...


However the Bayfront Center

was torn down many years ago

28 October, 2018 02:19
Chic Silber said...


Gunther had between 17 & 20

elephants over the many years

28 October, 2018 02:27

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