The "Greatest Show on Earth" is now the Gone-est Show on Earth.
After 146 years, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that the show no longer will go on.
Its final performances will take place in May -- that's a year after Feld Entertainment, the circus' parent company, retired its elephants under pressure from animal welfare advocates.
"Ringling Bros. ticket sales have been declining, but following the transition of the elephants off the road, we saw an even more dramatic drop," said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment in a statement. "This, coupled with high operating costs, made the circus an unsustainable business for the company."
Even with all those clowns piling into one teeny fuel-efficient car to save on gas?
It's also interesting to note that, after 146 years and a nationwide search, Ringling just debuted its first female ringmaster. First and, apparently, last.
Jana DeGeorge, director of marketing for Verizon Arena, said the arena's first Ringling Bros. Circus in June 2000 had an attendance of 29,002 people over four days. In June 2001, the circus brought 20,342 to the arena.
"We started doing the circus every other year after that and then in recent years started doing every year again," DeGeorge says. "Over the course of this time, we have dropped down to an average of about 13,000."
The arena has seen circus protesters too, she says: "The latest I can remember is maybe six or seven years ago and we had two for about 15 minutes. It was August and hot outside."
Circus fans -- those of us who loved Dr. Seuss' If I Ran the Circus ("Here on Stage One, from the Ocean of Olf/Is a sight most amazing -- a walrus named Rolf/Who can stand on one whisker, this wonderful Rolf/On the top of five balls! Two for tennis, three for golf") and overlooked the whole animal cruelty subplot of Dumbo -- will be heartbroken that we and the children in our lives can never again "ooh" and "ahh" at the animals, acrobats and antics.
"At 42, I get to feel like a kid every year when I go to the Circus. We all get to feel like a kid again," a woman wrote in response to the announcement on the Ringling Bros. Facebook page. "There is absolutely nothing that can replace the feeling of the Greatest Show on Earth. There is no theme park, sporting event or concert that can bring the same wonderment and memories of the circus. Getting a kink in your neck from looking straight up at the high wire, laughing so hard that you choke on your cotton candy and watching everyone sit with their mouths open in amazement, what are we going to do now? We all need the clowns to make us smile!!!"
Shared another: "I'm saddened that my daughter will not experience seeing the awe and delight in the eyes of my grandchildren, as I saw in her ... eyes when we went to your circus so many years ago. Thank you for wonderful memories."
But others are dancing in celebration of the circus' demise. Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said in a statement, "After 36 years of PETA protests, which have awoken the world to the plight of animals in captivity, PETA heralds the end of what has been the saddest show on earth for wild animals, and asks all other animal circuses to follow suit, as this is a sign of changing times."
I noticed times had changed for the circus as far back as 2011. A big kid who hadn't attended a Ringling Bros. show in decades, I was underwhelmed by a performance of the company's slick, seemingly low-rent Zing Zang Zoom tour at Verizon Arena, which emphasized small animals and big prices on merchandise.
I offered my grown-up observations on the Greatest Show on Earth:
"Where are the big cats? No lions and tigers? Oh, look there are some white tigers -- plastic ones holding rainbow snow cones for $12. While bummed there were no big cats, we were spellbound by the little ones -- domestic kitties taught to balance on balls, jump through hoops and proceed across parallel bars using only their front paws. Props to their handlers ... from a woman who can't even train her cats to keep off the counter.
"It wasn't just small animals in the circus. There were three mighty elephants. One even stood on its head. This inspired another entity to take a stand last week: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, protested the circus across the street from the arena with 'Ringling Beats Animals' signs. Buzz kill. (Speaking of buzz, they do sell beer -- in addition to cotton candy, Dippin' Dots ice cream and blinky necklaces -- at the circus.)"
I also wrote: "Wasn't the 'Greatest' once greater in size? Didn't there used to be three rings? Now there is just one. Is that because of the economy? And if so, can't the illusionists make the financial crisis disappear?"
Clearly they couldn't.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, email:
Spin Cycle is a smirk at pop culture. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 01/22/2017