Big Bertha (Ringling Bros. Circus) Still Going Strong

Ringling Bros. Circus

I found the following article in today’s (3/24/09) the New York Times very comforting.  Even in these difficult economic times the circus is still part of the American cultural heritage and doing just fine, thank you.

I loved going to the circus as a child.  It was a place filled with wonder.  The last circus I went to was a performance of the Cirque du Soleil.  A different kind of circus from my youth, but it was still filled with wonder.

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/

Cirque Du Soleil

What was the last circus you went to?  What part of a circus performance do/did you enjoy the most?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/theater/24ring.html?hpw

“Big Bertha, as circus folk call Ringling, is under siege as never before. Kenneth Feld, the company’s 60-year-old producer, dismissed any idea that Ringling is no longer the Greatest Show on Earth. “We have survived — and thrived — through every upheaval, every world war, every election, every economic crisis, and even 9/11,” he said. “And now we are the nation’s entertainment security blanket.”

Experts say the show could benefit from the economic meltdown. “The circus is recession-proof — or at least, Ringling is,” said William B. Hall, a 75-year-old circus producer in Churchville, Pa., who has observed it since the 1950s. “It’s about escape and family.”