Tag Archives: Barnum

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Logo)

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes after 146 years

Source: https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAlSxkf?m=en-us As a passionate fan of Cy Coleman’s “Barnum” and the extraordinary life that Phineas Taylor lived, this saddens me. Although the sadness was slightly bolstered by listening to the finale of the show, “Join The Circus.” Reading through the article and talking about it with my wife, there were several curious nuggets that emerged from the discussion that I wanted to share. The article mentions shorter attention spans as one reason why circus attendance has declined and I wonder if maybe a Saturday morning cartoon where the circus has to solve mysteries or something might not have helped with that. I also wonder if it might even help people be less afraid of clowns playing detective. Despite winning a civil court battle regarding “allegations that circus employees mistreated elephants”, the circus continued to face negative pressure from animal rights groups and municipalities (in the form of local ordinance … Continue reading →

Barnum – NoHo Arts Center

This show was absolutely fantastic. The cast, small as it is, is electrifying in such a small space and James Mellon is incredible as flimflamming, hogwash selling huckster Phineas Taylor Barnum. It’s not enough that I love the show because it’s Cy Coleman (City of Angels & Will Rogers Follies). This show is so flamboyantly patriotic that you can’t help loving it. It’s so infuriating to me to see everything being politicized…especially musical theatre. I thoroughly enjoy just about anything that takes place before the 1950s because it isn’t politicized so liberally as things are now. Sorry, getting lost in my own thing here. I just thoroughly enjoy the energy and patriotism that is P.T. Barnum. But beyond the fantastic job of every aspect and part of the performance is the emphasis on the possibilities of small spaces. This marks the third show (in recent memory) that I’ve seen that … Continue reading →