circus report, may 31, 1982, vol. 11, no. 22 · pdf fileexcitement and travel of circus life....

JACK KING

May 31, 1982

Show DatesAahmes Shrine CircusJune 5-6 Pleasanton, Ca.

All American CircusMay 21 San Bernardino, Ca

22 Alta Loma11 InAln23 Indio24 Riverside1C Llnmn*ZD Hemet

26-28 Norwalk29 Costa Mesa

Big Apple CircusJune 5-1 3 Queens. NY

Carson & Barnes CircusMay 23 Kansas City. Mo

24 Eldon, Mo.25 Columbia26 Montgomery City27 Sullivan28 Salem29 Iron ton

Circus KnieMay 31-June 1 Rheinfel-

den, Switz.June 2-3 Liestal

4-1 7 Basel

Coronas CircusJune 4-5 Poplar Bluff.Mo.

Dunn Buggy's Suitcase Cir.June 5 Dublin, Ga.

Fran/en Bros. CircusMay 31 Lisle, III.Jun 1 Country Club Hills

2 Sun River Terrace3 Morris4 West Chicago5 Barrington6 Huntley

Great American CircusMay 31 Greece, NYJun 1 Batavia

2 Elma

Hamid-Morton CircusJun 3-6 Providence, R.I.

Hoxie Bros. CircusMay 31 Highland, Ind.Jun 1 Wilmington, III.

2 Danville3 Seymour, Ind.

int'l All Star CircusJun 5 Bloomington, III.

Liebel Family CircusMty 26-31 Muscle

Shoals, Ala.

M & M CircusJun 1 Kearney, Nebr.

Martin & Downs CircusMay 31 Tillsonbury, OntJun 1 Aylmer

2 Dresden3 Blenheim4 Leamington5 Belle River

No. Elephant CircusJun 6 Huntington, NY

Pickle Family CircusJun 5-6 Martinez, Ca.

Ringling-Barnum - BlueJun 2-6 Portland, Me.

Ringling-Barnum- RedJun 1-6 Glens Falls, NY

Roberts Bros. CircusMay 27-Jun 5 Ft. Bragg,

NC

Roberts Bros. CircusMay 31 Bamesville, Oh.

Swan Bros. CircusJun 4-6 Navato, Ca.

Wenatchee Youth CircusJun 5 Leavenworth, Wash

...OTHER DATES ••-

James H. Drew ExpositionMay 31-June 5 Beckley,

W. Va.

Elliott Amusement Co.Jun 4-6 Detroit, Mich.

FunoramaJun 1-6 Lawrence, Mass.

Great WallendasJun 4-6 Mt. Clemens.Mich

Scott's Medicine ShowMay 31 Hugoton, Tex.Jun 1 Garden City, Kans

2 Great Bend3 Hillsboro4 Eldorado5 Emporia6 Manhattan

Tip Top ShowsJun 2-6 Manitowoc, Wsc

MAGIP • •• • * Iflnui I/

Harry Albacker's Magic Cirfflay 29-31 Middlebury,

Conn.Jun 1-6 Beckley, W.Va.

Pf. Miller-Magic Time USAMay 31 Home), NYJun 1 Bath

2 Water loo3 Dunmore, Pa.4 Lansford5 Swift Water6 Whitehall

Dr. Now& Co.May 29-31 Sonoma, Ca.

ATTENTION ALL ACTS

Why not let folks knowwhere you are? We'll listyour name and date andcity you are working inin this section if you'llkeep us posted as toyour route schedule.

PageS

Festival Circusby CHRISTINA L. ENGLISH

R. J. Kelroy & Associates, Inc. "FestivalCircus" presented another stupendous cir-cus opening its season in Rock Island, III.Apr. 17-18. I n spite of every conceivableodds in that depressed area of the state(16% unemployment for example) thepeople flocked in to catch the show.The lineup was: Overture '82 played by

Al and Joan Vernon, Grand Entry Paradeof Staffs, The Great Peter's slide for life.The Roberto Troupe, teeterboard. TheLuvas Duo, aerial cradle, Clowns, TheKnops, perch act, Kenya the elephant. TheZerbini Riders, King Arthur's cats. Inter-mission.The Lucky Bros., comedy table, Mile. De

Paree, single trapeze, Kris & Kristina, handbalancing, the Oscarian Troupe, risley, Mayaand Thunderbird, sword and ladder balanc-ing. Clowns, and the Flying Aztecas. Ring-mastering was done by Ron Kelroy. Light-ing was handled by Dianne Shapiro, MarioZerbini was the master rigger and the floor

WANTED ACTS

FOR WEEK OF

July 19 - 24

MICHIGAN AREA

Dogs - Juggling

Perch - Risley - Trapeze(No Guy Lines)

Answer:

BOB ATTERBURY1 South Carolina AvenueAtlantic City, NJ • 08401

May 31, 1982

was run by Ed Forman and Bob Gray (withdirections from Ron Kelroy).

Before, after and at intermission elephantndes were given. It was a tremendous suc-cess. At one show alone there was a 45 min.intermission, but not one person left thebuilding. Rather they waited to see the restof the circus. It was incredible! Even themembers of the Grotto waited in line toride Kenya. It seemed that at each perform-ance the applause from the crowd in re •sponse to the acts became louder and long-er and more enthusiastic.

As usual the ground floor looked beautiful.Obviously no expense was spared. All theequipment was overhauled, including the 18ft. truck. All props, stages and cellotex werefreshly painted and all the prop boys worefresh, clean green coveralls. Everything ransmoothly and flawlessly except during oneperformance when one of King Arthur's catsgot a little rambunctious over a missed jump

Of course the Patriotic Grand Finale wasincluded. There were flags waving every-where and suddenly out of nowhere a hugeOld Glory fell hanging into center ring. Onereporter from the local TV station askedKelroy that since he (Kelroy) is Australianwhy all the American flags and no Austral-ian flag? Kelroy smiled and said "just waitand see."After the show, and especially during the

elephant rides the aluminum handrailsaround the floor came in handy to keepthe crowds in line and away from the ani-mal cages.

I spoke briefly with Mr. Kelroy at onesuch point and he informed me that al-though 1982 is mostly going to be "spotdating" as was 1981, from what he tellsme 1983 looks like he'll have a full seasonwith two separate "runs" of dates for Win-ter and Summer, perhaps Fall as well. Thatremains to be seen.

He has already confirmed several ShrineDates, which translates loosely to "there'llbe plenty of work for the acts who havemade the grade."

It's difficult to believe that he has onlyhad his own show on the road for a shortthree years. It is clear that this Aussie isdestined not to come a cropper!

The Circus Report Page 6-A

At Barabooby PAUL HOY

Baraboo, Wise.. Circus World in Baraboo,Wise., opened its turn-of-the-century ticketwagons for the 24th season on Saturday,May 8th to a good crowd for opening day,and presents a show that is being billed as"The Greatest in Circus World's History."

Program opens with the overture, playedvery well by a three-piece band, directedby Rick Percy. Ada Smieya, wild animaltrainer, is back for another season and as-sisted by her 17 year old son, Brunon. Vet-eran clown Jimmy Williams, as "Happy theClown" is back and doing a great job. Mar-tha and Gabriel Flores, gymnastics and ac-robatics are truly a great team coming dir-ectly from the big circuses in Mexico.William "Buckles" Woodcock and his wife

Barbara (and she is truly beautiful) and theWoodcock children present their performingelephants, coming to the museum from theRingling Bros, and Bamum & Bailey Circus.Circus fans from more than a dozen states

were present for the opening along with theFred Bergers from Minneapolis, Minn., theJerry Schuberts, from Watetown, Wisr., andthe Hoys from Sioux Falls, S. D. Misung thisyear was David and Marjorie Hackett, ofDunedin, Fla.While visiting with Inga and Tony Smaha,

Jr., we found that Tony, St., is somewhatimproved and is at the Continental ManorNursing Home at Wisconsin Dells. AlsoTony, Jr. informs us that he and his fianceeSusan Hillmer, of Baraboo, will be marriedsometime this summer.

The Smahas have just purchased a fouryear old, all white, Lipizzan Stallion namedPluto-Selena. Tony, Jr. is working with thenew arrival every day and is surely doing awonderful job, following in his father's foot-steps. Tony, Sr. can be very proud of hisson.

We all hope and pray that Tony, Sr., willkeep on improving more each day.

BIG JOHN STRONG reports his tent showdrew exceptional business at Vacaville, Mar-tinez and Antioh, Calif.

SAMANTHA

Hil I'm back again!

It was a big decision, but I finally decidedto return to the circus. I was working as asecretary, fora nice guy, but it got prettyboring, just pecking away at a typewriterall day long.

Besides, I have sawdust in my blood andjust can't stay away from a show lot So, Idecided to give up that 9 to 5 job for theexcitement and travel of circus life.

Hope you'll all stop by and visit with meevery now and then.

TIM TEGGE, VIRGINIA LEE FENTON,KEN and BETTY WILIER, KARI JONES,BOB KELLOGG, SMOKEY JONES, JIMSWAFFORD and RON WHITFIELD wererecent visitors on the Circus Vargas lot.

May 31, 1982

Shrine Dateby ALTON L.JONES

The Murat Temple Shrine Circus, Indiana-polis, Ind. - May 1,1982.This show was produced by the Castle In-

ternational Circus, with Tarzan Zerbini andCecil M. Byrnes as co-producers, a five daystand at the Indianapolis fairgrounds. Theywere assisted by General Manager ReggieArmour and Business Manager Robert C.Dunham, of the Castle organization.Prior to the circus, the Murat Band gave a

concert. The grand entry of all the unifor-med units paraded the entire ring along withthe circus performers, a delightful spec.

First was the Great Huberto with his in-clined walk and slide-for-life, along withMaryse Begary on the one arm swing to thedelight of the audience. The band was ele-gantly conducted by Greg Toca, prior tothe Starlords and their aerial motorcycleSpace Age presentation. Next was the Haw-thorn Tigers and the Ada Smieya lions, verywell received. Billy Barton provided his us-ual cloudswing and was followed by a threering foot juggling group of Barbara, Komed-ys, Loni, Rosa and Torinos.

The Burger Dogs and Pony and the MarinaDogs brought delight to all the audience andwas followed by the Fornasari MusicalClowns. They were well received as well asthe next act, the Whirling Wheels made upof Dan Danacheck, the Komedys, Olemedasand Terry O'Brien. The Marquis RevolvingBreakaway astonished the audience.The Chimpanzees were next, the-Lenz

group and the Burgers. No one can watchthem without pleasure. Next were the 01-meda Spanish Horse Fantasy, most capable

performers. Just prior to intermission wasan Aerial Space Age production featuringSAS.

Uncle Frank's Pork Chop Revue astonish-ed people who did not know that pigs couldbe trained to put on an excellent show. TheFlying Fornasaris and the Flying Marquis,astonded the audience. This was followed bysome of the wizards of the wire, Mr. PlayboyLos Latinos, Bello and Aureila, and TerryO'Brien. Winners of the Circus World Cham-pionships in London, were the Benici Tram-poline act. Their spins and actions were su-perb.When it comes to balancing Marco Polo,

Little John and the Kolmedys performedin top honors. Then we were treated to theantics of the Cunep elephants, aided by theDiano elephants.The final acts were amazing with the sway

pole group of the Bauers along with the fa-mous Nerveless Nocks. Eight poles swayingin the top of the arena and interchangingbetween poles, they had the crowd bendingtheir necks to watch what was going on. Itwas a wonderful finish to a splendid after-noon of circus.

Special EventTHE GREAT WIRENGARD, break-away

sway pole act, will appear in conjunctionwith Roberts Bros. Circus at the Ft. Bragg,NC, Spring Fair, May 27-June 5.

Circus producer Bob Earl reports that theJohnson Family acts will be a feature of thespecial show.

Oeggeller Attractions is producing the mid-way and Paul Robinson, Creative Outlet, se-cured the talent package.

PageB May 31. 1982

New Bookby TONYCONWAY

Observing clowning from a perspectiveother than that of a paying customer neverwas easy. In recent years, the opportunitiesto meet clowns outside the arena have les-sened. So how do you gain an insight intowhat makes a man or woman a profession-al clown?"Clown Alley" by Bill Ballantme provides

the reader with details that most peoplewouldn't think of - such basics as learninghow to fall, how to walk, changing facialexpression and why today's clowns mustbe capable in basic juggling, unicycle riding,acrobatics, even a bit of modem dance.

But that's getting ahead of things.In providing a close-up view of his eight

years as Dean of Clown College, Bill Ball-antine moves back and forth between hispersonal recollections of the under-canvasRingling-Barnum of 1946 through 1954and the two-unit arena-format show of the1969 -1977 time frame. His familiarity with

AntonioJUST BACK FROM S. A. TOUR

AVAILABLE FOR NEXT SEASON

CREDITS:

H< igling Bros.Siegfried & RoyCirco TihanyHoxie Bros.Castaways Casino

J. HDTM1931 Storm VHti 808-0640

Th< l-ittle Charlie Chaplin

For that extra measure of satisfaction

the two totally different types of troupingenable the author to explain some of thedifferences to the readers so as to highlightthe reasons for many of the topics includedin the curriculum.

Most of this fascinating volume is devotedto the yearly, very demanding single-semes-ter (if that is the term) convening of ClownCollege. The choice of subject matter andthe selection of professional faculty providean insight into the highly professional inter-ests of 'The Dean." And there are insightsinto the personalities of both would-beclowns and their instructors. This isn't"dream stuff," it is reality.The word pictures of the Venice, Fla.,

Winter Quarters in one of the quietest per-iods of the compound's year are highly ac-curate and anyone who has been there nodshis head and smiles quietly and enjoys re-calling small details most of us take forgranted.There's much, much more. Among other

things, Bill Ballantine's personality comesthrough loud and clear. Recollections ofhis clown compatriots of the 1940's arelimited to a few names and even fewer de-liberately unnamed men.

Of the "young clowns" of the present era,as might be expected, each and every oneidentified by name is an achiever and onethis reviewer has known and has expectedto be one of the better clowns in years tocome.

If you recall Bill Ballantine's artwork in"Holiday" and 'True" magazines and in hisprevious volumes, "Wild Tigers and TameFleas" and "Horses and Their Bosses," youhave anticipated a selection of highly detail-ed, well defined works. In his artwork, BillBallantine is at his best."Clown Alley" is published by Little.Brown

and Company, at $18.95. If you follow thecontemporary circus in the U. S., you'll wantthis volume among your circus books.

ClownsClowns with the Carson & Barnes Circus

this season are: Jack Jackson, producing;Richard 'Buckles' Peralis, stilt walker; Bar-ry Brazelle; "Flip" Flippen; "Chipper" Par-rick; Brian Davis and Rickey Macias.

From FloridabyMARJORIEJ. HACKETT

For alt of you old timers than can remem-ber when necomers to the world of the tra-velling circus were called "First of Mays",what better place to welcome in the monthof May 1982. than by visiting Circus World'stheme park here in the center of Florida,near Haines City.

David and I decided to drive over on Fri-day, the last day of April, stay at the Holi-day Inn across the road and tour the groundson Saturday. The weather, cool for this timeof year here in the South, was pefect Sunnyand breezy.

The gal at the desk put us in a room with alarge picture window that looked over to thegay red and white striped big top like build-ing and the rides. The buildings and top, thesigns, etc., have all been painted recently sowe were viewing it at its prettiest (Floridasun fades everything very quickly).

We also noted enroute from our Gulf coasthome that all of the signs advertising CircusWorld have been re-done, removing the Ring-ling Bros, name since the change that tookplace when the Felds purchased the showfrom Mattel Corp., leaving Mattel with thepark. Inside the park there are many changaswith many more to come including the ru-mored Wild West Show and we thought allof you readers would like to know aboutsome of them.

As usual it was immaculate and charmingwith trees, paved walks and gorgeous brightbeds of flowers. This is not a large area to

'walk about so it is a favorite spot for fam-ilies with small children (who immediatelyclamor to be painted up as clowns!) andthis day, the place was full of happy littlekids and a lot of happy "big" kids, too.They are doing extensive (local) advertising

spots and they must be paying off as the at-tendance, even at this slow season ( betweenspring break and graduation) is way up. Wegot in for half price (Armed Forces day) butalways check with local papers, merchantsand travel agents if you plan to attend. Thereis always some special offer available.

Food served on the grounds is not expen-sive and you have a choice of indoor eatingor outdoor stands. As we entered we weregreeted by lively band music being played

May 31,1982

by the U. S. Navy Band from the recruittraining center at Orlando's Naval Air Sta-tion. They played opposite the huge carou-sel, all of which put one in a "Circus" mood.You get a printed program folder of the

day's events, so noting the time, we hurriedto the dome where the participation circuswas going on, and where if you are braveenough, you the spectator, can "get intothe act". The talented Fay Alexander wascatching for flyers at this show, we were sohappy to see him and also to meet theyoung performers, most of whom were newto us.

These youngsters are in all of the shows.Participation, in the arena and in the littlemusical stage shows as well as the daily par-ades on the grounds. No wonder the giriswere so slim and trim! The announcer wasDan Parson and the band was led by MaxFlagg. At the show the announcer was JimSanders and the band leader was Roman StGermain. The arena band is on a high plat-form over the performers entrance in thestyle of the European circuses, also in thedome used for the other shows, but theysit right on the stage for musical and clownnumbers. I did not get the names of theclowns, but how we enjoyed their greetingsto the children and their antics in the shows.

Giris in the shows this day were Robin Lo-cotosh, Betty Jo Howard, Linda Stammen,and Sharon (last name?) who does jugglingand unicycle with her partner Tim (?).

Boys appearing were Gregg Hosfeld (Flor-ida State Frisbee Champ) and a SarasotaHigh School Sailor Circus alumni, Tom Robin (Edelston) from a "flying" family. MarkLapps, who is a catcher and high wire per-former, trained by the Gaonas and Tim(7),juggling and unicycles. There are 7 clowns,girls and boys with their cute faces and col-orful and imaginative costumes. CowboyGordie Peer also appeared, does whips andropes, but we did not see him work.

The most exciting and unusual cage actthat I've ever seen is this one trained andpresented by David McMillan. Your hairwill stand on end when you see him put thetigers through their tricks, especially theleap fragging "Hassan" and "Madras." Theyare joined by "Paneho", a huge lion and la-ter "Nina" a black panther does a turn. Af-ter watching all that agility you will love the

(Continued on Page 19)

The Circus Report 11

Spring CelebrationbyTONYCQNWAY

It was ideal weather. Dick Flint (should betermed 'producer'?) put together a very fineseries of events. John Herriott's professionalknowledge provided something special. WardHall's particular capabilities added an extradimension. And mention as yet to be madeof the marvels unveiled for an unaware gen-eral public. This was "Spring Celebration"of the Smithsonian Institution held bothwithin and on the outskirts of the Smith-sonian's National Museum of American His-tory.

Past and present met during this week-longannual event. It's been decades since the lastmajor Wild West Show toured, yet here weremajor elements of such name outfits as the101 Ranch Wild West or Col. Tim McCoy'sWild West. Doing the announcing and per-forming trick and fancy roping and guntwirling was Johnny Rivers. Larry Daylightdisplayed authentic American Indian 'Eagle'and 'Hoop' dances. Frank Dean showed trickand fancy roping and whip cracking. And

All originals — No reprints

FRANZEN BROS. CIRCUS— COLLECTORS SPECIAL

While they last!

1 - 17" x 22" 'Original Art' paperCIRCUS POSTER

at used on 1975 season • in color2 -CIRCUS PROGRAMS - (19774 wsi1 - MAIL HERALD1 - LETTERHEAD Red on yellow paper

4 - DIFFERENT TICKETSP1ut....A SPECIAL CIRCUS SOUVENIER

COMPLETE SET OF ALL

$6*50 each set(including pottag* in tH« U S and Canada)

Allow hxjr to IIM wMkt for d«l.v«ry

Send check or money order (no cosh) to

ARTHUR W. COOKSEY242 Rockwood St.— La Porte, In 46350

Tim Rivers worked his comedy mule.In the circus ring 'neath the two-pole, one-

ring big top, performance director-announ-cer John Hcrriott displayed his dressagehorse. The Knops provided separate perch-pole and balancing acts. Mary Ruth Herriottworked her performing dogs. Coco, Jr., pro-vided his clowning capabilities and sti l twalk-ing, and Johnny Rivers showed his trainedpony.Prominent side show owner Ward Hall ap-

peared as his own front talker and inside lec-turer and did his ventriloquist act. With himwere the Kamahine Troupe (Nettie Paauhua,Gene Falkenburg and Alma Balsam "Queenof the steel guitar") doing both the side show"bally band and their Hawaiian act; LorettFulkerson, tattooed lady; John Trower,sword swallower; Pete Terhune, fire eater,ladder of swords and bed of nails; JohnMean, chalk act, and Alma Balsam, electricact At a different location, John Meah ex-plained and demonstrated side show bannerpainting.

But there was more - much, much more.A roped-of f area near a main entrance wasset up as a "clown alley" complete withwardrobe trunks, folding chairs, improvisedracks for costumes and the like. On hand todon the greasepaint were Bill Ballantine,Danny Chapman, George Koury, VinceMonzo and Jon Wilkinson.

Several flights up, Peggy Day had on hand17 costumes brought up from the Sarasota,Fla. workshops of Hagenbeck-Wallace Cos-tume Co. and last used on Ringl ing- Barn urntwo to seven years ago. While some of theglittering garments were displayed on mannequins, a number were available in a varietyof sizes to be donned by the visitor whoseparent, husband, etc., could then capturethe moment with their Polaroid or tnsta-matic.

The specialized skills of the wood carverwere demonstrated by three experts whonormally spend their time restoring the par-ade vehicles and other gorgeous memorabi-lia at the Ringling Museum of the Circus,Sarasota. While displaying photographsshowing the step-by-step restoration of the"Griffin" wagon, the "Elephant Tableau"wagon, etc., they were working on the cen-ter secion of a skyboard of one of the RBBB


Way 31, 1982

Reid Bros.by Doc DA VIDE. REID

Reid Bros. Circus played Newport, Ore.,under sponsorship of the Lincoln CountyShrine Club and played in the open air atthe Lincoln County Fairgrounds arena. Twoshows were presented, at 2 and 7 p.m. Theweather was cloudy and cold and the atten-dance was fair.

Clowns were Hi Fi and Noodles; Music byNeil Armstrong, organist and Rick Jones,drummer. Kim Dixon was the announcer.The program: National Anthem; Johnson

tigers (9), presented by Joe Via; Wini MeKay, Miss Leona, on single traps, One andJim, cradle; Tina Zamperia, dressage; TheClowns; Roberto Torres, slack wire; Cinder-ella and her Birds of Paradise; The Zamper-las, unicycles (31; Clowns; Chester Cable,foot juggler; Christinia Ladion's Las VegasFashion Poodles; Intermission with a colorbook pitch.

The Flying Segueras (3); Sir Herman andMiss Constancia, uncaged animals workedon a leash (2 jaguars, 1 leopard); Tony &Co., magic; Clowns; Herman Kraghlois. box-

ing kangaroo Digger, Ann Pike and threeelephants (Johnson).

The season has been good in spite of someunseasonably cold weather, for instance itwas 5 degrees, outdoors at Lewiston and inRedmond, Ore., on May 8th, there was snowthen sunshine, followed by hail.

Houston Shrineby JOHN W. BEARD

Acts appearing on the Houston, Texas.Shrine date (first time it was done in thespring) were:

Jorge Barreda, lions; Luxem's Wheel; ThtGauchos; Munoz Sisters, high act; Aguilar,perch; Gene Randow, producing clown;Dolly Sisters, perch; Vanois, perch; Statuesfrom Mexico; Evita, single trapeze; The Ga-onas. flying trapeze; Althoff's Bears; TerryParsons, comedy car; the Hanneford, Cris-tiani and Cuneo elephants; Rosaire, dogs;Hanneford Family Riding Act; Capt. Circus(Dan Smith), cannon act.

NORMA CRISTIANI's book about circuslite, called "Ragbag Cathedral" is expectedto be released early next year

JIM GIBSON and his band, formerly withCircus Vargas, were featured at the Palami-no Club in North Hollywood, Calif., onApril 20th.

EDITH EVANS, equestrian, is featured inthe "Kingdom of Dancing Stallions" a newpermanent attraction in Buena Park. Calif.

RICHARD DEPTULA and his son JASONwere featured on a TV show "P.M." fromCleveland, Ohio, on May 13th. They wereshown clowning, and then showed their bigcircus room and collection to the camera.

FRANK DEAN presented a talk on the"Wild West Show" at the CHS Conventionin Washington, DC. The talk discussed theorigins of the wild west show, the rodeoand the Mexican Charreada, and a compar-ison of their events.

EDDIE HENORICKS, JOHN RITTER,ROBERT GOULET, LEE MERIWETHERand IRVIN AND KENNETH FELD wererecently seen on the Circus Vargas lot inSouthern California.

PAT WHITE, the wild animal trainer withCarson & Barnes Circus, has returned tothe show. Baby NICHOLAS GLENN WHITEis seven weeks old and doing fine.

LARRY KELLOGG, formerly of the Bay-front Center arena and theatre, has joinedCircus World Park at Orlando, Fla. Succeed-ing him at Bayfront (St. Petersburg) is JIMROSEN, who was assistant to the producer

May 31, 1982

Heidi Gutis Grogan left May 5th fora weekin Weisbaden, Germany, where she attendedan international trade show for pet suppliesand accessories.While in western Europe, she is also finaliz-

ing details for the importation of gifts andneedlecrafis. These specialty items will beimported to America to stock her new bus-iness venture.

She will be opening at the all new exclus-ive shopping complex, now under construc-tion, in Tampa, Fla. This new complex,'Palms Plaza' is scheduled for a fall 1982opening and will consist of twenty-five ex-clusive designer shops.

Heidemarie's "Strictly European" petboutique, gifts and needlecrafts, will mer-chandise hi-line imports from Europe.

She will most definitely continue as an ac-tive performer with the Grooan's "Starch ip3" helicopter act while her mom, Elvira Gu-tis manages the boutique in her absence.

Speaking of the Gutis; they now reside ina home next door to the Grogan propertyin Riverview, Fla.

Heidi was accompanied on her trip to Ger-many by Billy Rorigers where he hopes toarrange various expansions to his businessalso.

of the Royal Lipizzan Stallion Show.

BERNARD (Wimpy) MILES, the clown.was hospitalized for knee surgery at theOrthopaedic Surgery, University of Wis-consin, 600 Highland Ave., Madison, Wsc.53792

The Circus Report Page 15

MURRAY POWERS (81). a newspaperman, journalism professor and circus fan,died May 7 at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, aftera brief illness. He was a newspaper man for44 years, spending 32 years with the Bea-con-Journal of Akron. He taught journalismat Kent State University, and throughouthis life he was an active circus fan. Survi-vors include his wife, Ruth, two sons andseveral grandchildren.

Hoxie Bros.by ALMOND KNIGHT

My brother, Harold, and I saw Hoxie Bros.Circus at Dickson, Tenn., April 28th, a Wed-nesday night. The 6 p.m. show had a smallturnout but they put on a wonderful show.General Manager John Lewis made us Hon-orary Ringmasters and I had my picture ta-ken with Hoxie Tucker.The program included: The Circus on Par-

ade, spec; Kramer's cat act; Gaona, trampo-line; Duos Aerial cradle; Clowns with HairGrowing; Magic, girl vanishes in thin air;Clowns with A Sore Tooth; Dog act; Unrid-able Mule, a real kid pleaser; Single trapezewith girl coming in on an elephant (excel-lent act); Intermission.During Intermission balloons were sold

and elephant rides were available. They al-so set the net for the flying act

The Flying Gaonas; Goat act (another ex-

FOR SALE5 yr. old Female Spotted Leo-

pard, Proven Breeder, AlsoLeash Broken.

7 yr. old Pair Spotted Leopards,Proven Breeders - Throw oneblack cub out of every three.

4 yr. old Female Cougar, ProvenBreeder. Also Leash Brokenand Gentle.

Leopard Cubs on Bottle

1 yr. old Black Wolf - Mate

Phone: (213) 396 • 6586

CHERYL SHAWVER1221 Grant Street

Santa Monica, Calif. - 90405

cellent trained group of animals); Clownswith Soft Soap; Kathleen, slide for life withfire works exploding as she lands; IndianPrincess dressage act; Jim Silver-lake withtwo bulls in a good act.

Hoxie reported that when he could get adecent lot and good weather he had no com-plaints business-wise.

I recommend to all readers, if you get achance to see this show be sure and do so asit is a good one.

With Beatty-Coleby SUZI WALLACE

Clowns are the heart and soul of a circus.They keep the show going at all times. P.T. Bamum once said, "Clowns are pegs tohang circuses on/'

I'd like to introduce the "pegs" of theClyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus.

Sandy Kaye, of Memphis, Term., begin-ning his f i f th season with Clyde Beatty, isa striking white face who combines razzledazzle with the sophistication of Europeanstyle clowning. He was memtioned in theGeorge Speight "Book of Clowns", includ-ing a full page portrait in the book.

Mike Snider, a farm boy from Batesville,Ark,, is a zany mixture of white face makeup with an auguste style. Mike also hassome experience as an aerialist.

John (Eggroll) Kane, of New York, astand out in all the group performances, isa rolly-polly bundle of laughs.

Tom (Weasel) Weiss, a native of Caldwell,NJ, is a recent addition to Clyde Beany-Cole Bros, with flawless make up and anirrepressable personality in and out of thering.

Dean Coley, of Santa Barbara. Calif., arecent graduate of RBBB's Clown College,is an irresistably precious auguste sportingwide eyes and a six inch blue nose.

Robert Temple (BuBu), from Maine, isan accomplished juggler, although he does-n't get to display his talents to the fullestin the show.

John Eckstein, a first year clown, who'keeps the pace with great ease. He hailsfrom Pittsburgh.

Miguel Padilla, who calls Sarasota home,Miguel is a 40 year circus veteran and hasbeen with Clyde Beatty for 3 years. Heworked with RBBB for many years.

Between shows, haven for the 8 mastersof mirth is one of the only traditional tentclown alleys in the country.

My adventure begins with Weasel andMike escorting me to clown alley. Bu Bu,disappears with a fellow juggler he has metto compare notes.

Miguel wanders in to touch up his simplebut effective make up.

Many of th'e clowns have traveled with

May 31, 1982

RBBB at one time, but general concenciouswas a preference to the traditional tent cir-cus, despite the inconveniences and the callto perform double, even triple duty ormore. Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus is oneof three tent circuses left in the States. Theothers are Carson & Barnes and Circus Var-gas-

Weasel rumbles through his prop trunk,emerges with his Texas swatter and beginsto attack Mike's head. Serious conversationturns to mass hysteria.

Eggroll strolls in, but opts not to takepart in the shenanagins.

Sanity restored, discussion continues. Des-pite Miguel's thick accent, we manage tocommunicate with Mike's help. He lovescircus life and dehghts in telling about wor-king with fellow pros such as Lou Jacobsand Frosty Little. Miguel is a professionalin every way.

As 8 o'clock nears. Sandy, Dean and Johnreturn to prepare for the next show. Bu Bureappears and munches a cold sandwich.

Costumes and make up fly as the bellsounds. In the background, the ringmasterbegins his opening announcements.

The music starts and the eight delightfulmerry makers dart for the big top sayingtheir goodbyes on the run.

As I turn to leave, I hear someone yellto me. Looking back to see Weasel runningtowards me.

He pleads "Please don't forget to writeto Circus Report, my Mom gets it."

So, here it is Weasel, and to Mrs. Weiss,wherever you are. Congratulations, you'rethe proud parent of a bouncing babyclown.

The Photos in this issue were taken bythe writer and are identified as:

1 and 2 • Spectacular new murals donthe worker's and clown's sleepers.

3 • Veteran clown Miguel Padilla (fore-ground) poses for the camera, while Rob-ert (BuBu) Temple brushes up on the oldW. C. Fields cigar box routine.

4 • Weasel Weiss takes a break betweenshows in clown alley.

The CHCUS Report PaqeK

May 13 - Sallisaw, Okla. - Four elephantswith the Carson & Barnes Circus bolted asthe show was preparing to move to Eufaula,Okla. The elephants ran towards a coal pitand plunged off a 30 ft. cliff into about 100feet of water."Obert" a 7 foot elephant was apparently

fatally crushed by the oncoming other ele-phants. The three surviving elephants werecoaxed out of the water, but "Kelly" eludedcapture until May 14th, when city employeessubdued her with a tranquifizer gun.

The elephants had been unloaded from thecircus truck when it became stuck in mud,after which five of them bolted, but one wasquickly rounded up before it could make itto the cliff.

BOB OWENS (Spiff) and BETH BROWNt Dixie) have joined the Big John Strong Circus and will be working advance for thatshow.

JACK KING has joined the Hoxie Bros.Circus as a phone room manager, and isworking closely with JOHN LEWIS andCHARLIE MOVER.

GARY R A Y a n d B R E N O A LEVINE weremarried at the United Methodist Church inGrapevine, Texas, on May 29th.

DOUG MORRIS, who is with CBS-TV, iscurrently working on the "Capitol" show,which has become popular with viewers.

May 31,1982

SPRING C E L E B R A T I O N (Continued)

cages used through the mid-1940's. In yetanother arm of the museum, Gordon Carverhad a scale model unloading scene and wasbuilding one of his detailed wagons for theonlooking public.

The craft of making clown props and cos-tumes was explained and demonstrated byprofessional clown David Wisniewski, att i r -ed in full clown makeup and garb. Elsewherewere demonstrations of clown shoe making,American Indian crafts, clown wig, skull cap,and nose making, and saddle making.

The Museum's Carmichael Auditorium,named fora former Smithsonian Secretary,Dr. Leonard Carmichael, featured circus re-lated films continuously each day fromnoon until 5 p.m. while the sounds of notone, but two calliopes filled the air. Youth-ful Lisa Simones was at the keyboard of thesteamer built and owned by Clovis Watkins.Mr. Watkins operated the boiler and con-trolled the steam with the assistance of hisson, John, finance of Ms. Simones. Accom-panying the circus performances on a truckmounted aircally was Herb Head. Owner-operator Robert Bruce'* truck is, itself, agorgeously maintained antique.The Wild West presentation was given in

two half hour shows each day while thecircus performance was given in three onehour shows each day of the Spring Celebra-tion. Then, on Sunday afternoon, for oneshow only, the National Concert Band ofAmerica presented an hour-long concert ofcircus music, in concert style. This uniqueband is composed entirely of musicians all

• of whom have been members of the Army,Navy, Air Force or Marine bands. John Her-riott served as commentator for this event,providing very good explanations of howeach musical selection fits into the needsof the circus performance.

Attorneys al Law

Immigration• l ' i i I M . U I I n i Kt-sidvnt Visas •

N « m I m i n i L i . i i i l V i s a s * llUrslors •

• K f l u l i \ f S • I . l i n n < n l i l u . i l i u i i -

mnpum I ninsfiT*- * Sludtntsl > i p i n t . i l H i n - N . i t u i . l 1 1 / . i l n Hi •

Inii (ii.ihun.il I ax .mil I t .u f t •

1634 Main Street, Sarasola, Florida 33577Telephone: (813) 366-7935

Explaining and demonstrating to the Amer-ican public just what the circus is and hasbeen in American entertainment is the aimof each Smithsonian Spring Celebration.From listening to members of the publictalk to the circus specialists, an observergets the feeling that Dick Flint, John Her-riott. Ward Hall and their associates havebeen successful. Let's hope that Spring Cele-brations will be a part of the Smithsonianprograms for years to come.The Circus Historical Society held its An-

nual Convention in Washington, DC, in con-junction with the Smithsonian Spring Cele-bration.


BUILDING PLANS FORMIDWAY SHOW SPECTACULAR

ILLUSIONS"RED HOT MAM AS"

She SITS in a Bowl of Fire, Vanish-es and Reappears $10.00

"CERTAIN DEATH"Motorcyclist rides up ramp THRUgirl chained SPREAD EAGLE onStage. Also a flat version. Thrilling.You saw it on "Circus of Stars."

$15.00

A. BRILL'S BIBLE400 page Catalog on Building Plansfor Everything on Carnival, MidwayShows. Funhouses, Rides, Illusions.

$ 2.00Contains 30 FREE MIDWAY FOODRECIPES.

A. BRILLBox856-C Peoria, III. 61652

Special ShowA special show, produced by Tim Tegge,

with the TNT & Royal Olympic Circus title,was presented at Tucson, Ariz., on April 24,under sponsorship of the American Legion.All performances were well attended andthe sponsor was pleased with the show.

Acts appearing in the program were: Ottoand Gladys Berosini, caged act (tigers, lions,leopards, panther), and their tiger ridinghorse; Ken and Betty Wilier, one finger bal-ance and rpla bola; Sylvester and BarbaraBraun, whips, ropes, knives; Hpnry Crowelland Dolores, comedy trampoline, web andsingle trapeze; Otto Berosini, juggling.

Live music on the organ was provided byKie Kavanah and Tim Tegge served as theshow's announcer, who worked in clownmake up and did two clown spots duringthe show.

Variety Ac tsVariety acts currently on tour with the

Harlem Globetrotters include: The FlyingRotters, French roller skating duo; Walter

LOS CANCHES are now appearing inRoberts Bros. Circus in England withtheir exciting combined unicycle andperch act and with MISS VALERIE onthe Spanish Web.

In past years they have toured SouthAmerica with Acuarama on Parade (1977-1980), and the 1981 season with CircusVargas.

FROM FLORIDA (Continued)

exit, made by Dave riding a tiger striped mo-torcycle with tiger "Bombay" in the sidecar, we loved it I

The juggling-unicycle turn by Sharon andTim is fast, smooth and amusing in the tra-dition of good vaudeville-music hall turns.Handsome kids who perform and projecttheir good humor out to the audience.

No flying act was aptly named than 'TheFlying Robins" as they do their fast twistsand turns thru the air, they would, indeedput the "birds" to shame. They were pre-ceeded by the pretty web girls.

We became fans of Roman Schmidt, whenhe first appeared with his dancing Rhinocer-os, but this day he entered in a Roman char-iot pulled by two fast running zebras. Wecheered! Anyone who knows animals knowswhat he is doing is impossible, but there wewe were looking at thenvso for Roman itis not impossible. Then the elephants ap-peared and he made them dance, sit up, doheadstands, etc.The show closed with a finale "spec" where

all of the performers appeared. They areyoung, good looking and a versatile group,who have no where to go but "up" and wehope they will be entertaining us on showsfor years to come.

If you are in Florida or coming here, don'tmiss it because at least one of your daysshould be a Circus (World) day!

Wasil, Austrian hand balancing act; JeanClaude, French foot juggler and BarrenFelker, American juggler. All acts are booked through Simone Pinner, Hollywoodtheatrical agent, who will join the Globe-trotters in Europe in June, after which shewill visit several circuses, including CircusKnie in Switzerland, Circus Jean Richardin France and Circus Sarasini in West Ger-many.

True Blueby GEORGE C. BINGAMAN

The 112th edition of Ringling Bros, andBarnum & Bailey Circus, Blue Unit, remainstrue to the Bamum tradition of 'The Grea-test Show on Earth." Blue is true! Eversince CBS's nation-wide television spectac-ular in early March I have been entrancedwith the sights and sounds of the currentnew edition of Feld's productions. Seeingsix (6) performances in Baltimore's CivicCenter has only confirmed my viewpoint

A number of significant changes excitethe circus-goer who has seen them all sincethe Feld's took the helm of the Ringlingship. From the opening "Jump for Joythe audience is lifted to attention withNellie Ivanov's fall from the sky cradle.Nellie also sparkles in the Duo Kristovaerial cradle with husband Kristov andthen returns to raise the eyes of all as thedazzling partner of the Baron of BraveryElvin Bale aboard his magnificant meteor-cycle.

The elimination of the opening half bigcage act is not missed when the GautierFamily sons, Michael and Kevin trot outtwo rings of baby elephants and DanielSuskow caravans six liberty camels in athird oval. When have we seen six camels,five dromedaries and one Bactrian in onering in America? The concept of this actis "first time ever" despite the recalcitrantgroup instinct of these animals who are notnaturally "at liberty" to depart from thepattern of their peers. Although Daniel Sus-kow has not had this group very long it is

.apparent that this French-bom expert fromtop continental shows is a masterful com-modore for these great "ships of the des-ert." I will walk the extra mile for thesecamels!

The Wild, Wild West is the new super pro-duction circus return to America's frontierdays employing rough riders, sawdust sa-loon shenanigans, stage coaches toting chil-dren from the audience, stirring Indian cere-monial and climaxing with ponderous pac-hyderms in a lascivious long mount.

Don Foote's two million dollars worth ofcostumes is a spectacle in itself!

Never in the Feld tenure have the clownssparkled as much! Feld's Clown College hasnow become-of age for "by their fruits ye

May 31. 1982

shall be known." Clown for clown this isthe strongest edition of clowning in theFeld decade. It becomes more evidentwhen you reckon the rapid turnover ofJoey's, year to year. The replacements haveenhanced the overall performance of theentire alley contingent. The come-ins, thewalk-arounds, the station gags, the groupevolutions are new and hilarious. Thesebuffoons have top instruction, a broadvariety of skills and the indispensableboundless energy. Frosty Little's companywith Tommy Parish as his boss lieutenanthave captured my top award for outstand-ing performance with a group which hasno standout si Clown for clown these Jo-eys are marvelous and deserve our acclaim,

Elvin Bale's presence is marked in threedare devilish broadsides as the Phantom ofBalance on his Wheel of Death, as the Bar-on of Bravery on his meteorcycle and final-ly as the Emperor of Excitement on hisfirst time ever mechanical monster. Elvin'spartner, Christopher Adams, stands onBale's shoulders for a first time ever walkaround on the balance wheel and fillsBale's role on the human rocket. Bale'smonster, probably a prototype of circus tocome, is a new device developed to exhibitElvin's unparalled dare deviltry in the air.

Two new faces enter center ring in thesinging ringmaster role. Dinny McGuireserves up most of the hoopla, while AliceLynn makes her debut and establishes therole as a feminine vocalist.

I recognized Beta Tabak immediately ashe enters with his poodles. You may re-member him in the Monte Carlo Circusand previous Blue shows as the outstand-ing equestrian and pachyderm acrobat whomanifests his Hungarian royalty in bloodand deed.

The Mighty Michu is back better thanever unveiling new talent in presentingponies and removing foreign bodies in hiscenter ring farce as a clowning surgeon.Elizabeth and Sandor Raski, Michu's di-minutive counterparts have increased ex-posure adding to the class of this minia-ture duo.

The Slavovi Riding Family ride alone, de-servedly in center ring as their unexcelleddisplay of equestrianship offers a triple


The Circus Heport

TRUE BLUE (Continued)

high, a three horse jump somersault andan unbelieveable fake fall which had mefooled until I observed its precisioned re-peat at five more performances!

It is grossly unfair not to wax eloquentabout Baumann's tigers, Gautier's bulls,East Europe's teeterboarders and perchacts and the flashy flyers. The King Char-les Troupe is now so sharply honed thattheir basic format has added an explosivefinale to their acrobatic charavari. Theirsis a distinctive contribution to twentiethcentury circus.

My sincere apologies to all the deservingwhom I have missed in this honorable men-tion. Go see the 112th. This Greatest Show

on Earth is True Blue.

Photos with this article, taken by the au-thor, are identified as:

1 - Elvin Bale. Blue's Daredevil2 • Mighty Michu, smallest man in the

world.3 - Sam Drummond, Clown Alley's

Knight of the Boxing Glove4 - End of the Dromedaries

D. R, Miller's Carson & Barnes Circus wiltbe sporting a new co-ordinated set of visualmaterials this season. A matched theme forads, lithographs and the program cover wasconceived by Charles Bellatti, show's direc-tor of publicity and press, and James K.Judkins, circus general manager, and design-ed by George DaDeppo, Detroit, Mich.

Do you remember?by TED LaVELDA

The Al G. Kelly-Miller Bros. Circus of1939 was owned and managed by Obert,Kelly and 0. R. Miller. Kelly and DaleMiller had the office and H. V. Qarr wasthe agent (he formerly owned the Darr-Gray Dramatic Co.).

Ted LaVelda had the side show; HaroldCrowed was the pit show operator.

Performers included: Freda LaVelda, IslaMiller and Mrs. Moon, swinging ladders andweb; Ted LaVelda, hand balancing and con-tortion; D. R. and Isla Miller, tight wire;Obert Miller, dogs and pick out pony; D.R. Miller, pony drill, posing ponies, comedymule; D. R. and the writer did clown gagsand a table rock. The show was small butpresented a pleasing performance.

Near the end of the season a young boyjoined the show to take care of the ponies,his name was Vernon Shearer. He teamedto do rope spinning and whip manipula-tion and was known as "Oklahoma Shor-

May 31,1982

Show Notesby "Circus Joe" VALENCIANO

Kirfay Grant, better known as TV's "SkyKing" was recently seen on "Hour Maga-zine" hosted by Gerry Collins. Grant whowas on the tube with his Sky King seriesduring the fifties, was with the Canon &Barnes Circus for five seasons during thelate 60's. Collins, the host, has been on"Circus of the Stars" several times.

A while back I saw an interesting programon the PBS network. It was a half hourshow about an acrobatic troupe in China.It showed how they prepared for a perfor-mance. They even erected an outdoortheatre, complete with a stage, curtains,backdrop, etc. They set up in a field

ty". He was with D. R. for many years.The show closed the 1939 season near

Ft. Smith, Ark. then jumped into Joplin,Mo. for the winter. That winter they pur-chased their first elephant which was nam-ed "Hattie". Now D. R. Miller owns moreelephants than any show in America.

The Circus Report Page 22-A

Ringmaster Tryoutsiby Kathleen A. Hughes, Staff Reporter forthe Wall Street Journal. May 13, 1982)

Most people confronted by batky elephantsperforming dogs that suddenly bolt for thestands, clown cars that break down or an ac-cident on the trapeze, wouldn't have thefaintest idea what to do.

The circus ringmaster knows. He seizes themicrophone, as the spotlights focus on him,and belts out a loud, cheerful song, divert-ing the audience's attention from the disas-ter. Ringmaster is a tricky job. Shouting"Ladies and gentlemen ... the greatest showon earth/' may be the simplest part of it

Yesterday 30-odd people showed thatAmerican get-up-and-go is still alive. Theyauditioned for a rare and intimidating jobopening: ringmaster for Ringling Bros.,andBarnum & Bailey Circus. Nervously clutch-ing photographs, resumes and sheet music,they mustered before a five-judge panel inan empty Madison Square Garden and didtheir stuff."That audition was the longest two min-

utes of my life/' said Steve Hoffman, a 30year old actor. "I was terrified."

Ron Pollard, a 26 year old, who has servedas master of ceremonies for beauty pageantswas gloomy about his chances. "Ri.igmtttersalways look like Tarzan and I'm only five-eight." he said. He wore boots with tall heelswhich may have helped.

Earl Anthony, a hulking clerk who wore arhinestone-studded cowboy hat and sequirved purple cape, sang "Never-Never Land" -with his back to the judges much of the time.Glenn Simsek, 23, a student, announced thathe couldn't sing. He merely boomed out,"Ladies and Gentlemen, the greatest showon earth" and sat down.

Alice Lynn, the only woman who tried outsaid, "I sang well and I think the country isready for a ringmistress."The successful candidate is to be selected

in about a month and will be taken to Flor-ida for three months of training prepara-tory to traveling with the circus starting inJanuary.

Pat Marcus, a spokeswoman for the circus,said the nod is likely to go to someone "whoprojects charisma and glamor but also wholesome family values," someone who is "hand

some, imposing and also able to sing andact." The ringmaster, she observed, is thethread that holds the circus together., theperson who introduces the acts.

The job has drawbacks. "We have to wearsequin suits," says Dinny McGuire, a pre-sent ringmaster. 'They weigh 15 poundsand my back is killing me most of the time.'Another problem: Working around animalsgets smelly. "Pungent," says Miss Marcus.

ClownsClowns touring with Circus Vargas this

season are:Bruce Warner, George Clyatt, Jeff Sharp,

Ray Clark, Dan Bucker, Jim Vaughn andBilly McCabe.

Circus DaybyBOBWEIGEL

The Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus was inHagerstown, Mri., on May 3-4, with goodweather on both days.

On May 3rd, we had a luncheon for someof the show folks. A few of those who at-tended were: Leanne Stables. Cherie Cun-ningham, Jimmy James, John Pugh andBridgette, Tina Storey, Mr. and Mrs. DaveHoover and Mary Ruth Herriott, Frank Ballwas the M.C.

The food for the circus people was pro-vided by a well-known U.C.A. unidentifiedcircus angel. There were about 18 CircusFans in attendance who paid their own way.The circus in Hagerstown was sponsored

by the Emmett Kelly Tent No. 41. LawrenceSpringer and Ed Norman were co-chairman.

My wife, Esther, and I, attended the 4:30p.m. show on May 3rd and I'd say it was afull house. Their performance was excellentand the band played good circus music.

We saw a lot of friends on the lot and hada wonderful circus day!

B May 31, 1982

ABOUT NAPCAA • In just four monthsThe National Association for the Preserva-tion of Circus Arts in America has over 300members.I do not have a complete roster of those

who have joined. However, I understand itreads like a Who's Who of Circus. How'sthis for a partial sampling? Buckles, GeeGee, Cliff Vargas, John Hernptt, John Cu-neo, Bill Biggerstaff, Rex Williams, WallyNaghtin, even yours truly are members.When there are serious problems in pro-

fessional circus circles, personal differencesseem to be quickly forgotten to solve mat-ters of mutual concern.

A solution is needed right now to offsetemployment and cost of living problemscurrently facing professional variety andcircus artists. For further details contact:

NAPCAA1648 Central AvenueNorthbrook, Illinois - 60062Phone:312-272-8062

Since the Great Depression, I have tried tomaintain a showman's high standard of pro-fessionalism to help public morale in a de-cent manner so the World would be a muchbrighter place because of civilized entertain-ment in the best tradition of the Americancircus and variety stage.

I can very easily see that professionals wholive to please need a boost of their own mor-ale also, during difficult times of unemploy-ment. I heartily endorse the NAPCAA plansno matter how grandiose the hopes of thisnew circus fund-raising effort may appearto those who may be naturally apath-etic.Artists who love American ideals of inno-

vative ingenuity most certainly know bestof all the solutions for any unemploymentproblems which now face us. Hopefully,thru mutual pooling of our own profession-al expertise as experienced artists and busi-ness people there is a workable solution.

Before anyone becomes too hypercriticalof NAPCAA,'my suggestion is for them to

investigate it more fully and perhaps join.Or at least be kind enough to advance amore practical solution to the immediateunemployment problem within what's leftof the circus industry. Most certainly thereshould be some kind of a renascent trend.

For those who say a circus renaissance isimpossible, I for one say that NAPCAA ob-jectives are possible to attain and desireable.Write and find out more about them!

A. W. "Art" MILLER, who is convalesingfrom major surgery, visited the Hoxie Bros.Circus recently at Doniphan, Mo. Art issemi-retired long-time general agent formany shows.

FRANK BUCK, the legendary big gamehunter and explorer, will live again in a newseries "Bring 'em Back Alive" on CBS-TV,starting this fall. Frank was born in Gaines-ville, Texas, in 1884 and was educated inDallas.Beginning in 1911, he made many expedi-

tions, all around the world, capturing wildanimals. He helped write several books, in-cluding "Bring 'em Back Alive" and produ-ced that and several other moves before hisdeath in 1950.

Happy BirthdayMAMA

"WE LOVE YOU THIS MUCH"

RASTUS

AND

TOBY

MAY 30th


A Great Showby HERMAN W.WALTER

The Royal Lichtenstein Circus was featur-ed during the Petunia Festival, of the annualplanting of 2,000 petunias at the Old Marketin Omaha, Nebr. Two performances were gi-ven, one each day of the festival on May 8and 9th.

The selection of the Lichtenstein Circuswas an outstanding selection, bringing verylarge crowds to each performance. Profes-sionalism was the word for the performersand program, which was presented in thefollowing order:

Come-in, Nanci Olesen, flute; Welcome,Nick Weber; Poerty and Spiels, Weber; Lad-der balancing, Bob Lee, Jens Larson; JingleBells and Roman Rings, Larson; "Rough-sharing", all; Gags, Miss Suzie, (monkey);Ball Juggling, Olesen, Lee; Rope Magic, Lar-ry Ryan, Weber, Oleson; Card Magic, Weber;Pin Juggling, Lee, Larson, Weber; "Giles theGiant", Larson, Lee, Olesen; Miss Jill (bear);Escape, Larson, Olesen; Fire Eating, Weber;Dan Rice (horse) and dogs; Poetry, all.

One suggestion by the reviewer, the musicfurnished on a 50 note Calliola, was circusmusic, a few minutes of music before theshow would create a circus mood.

Weber announced a new policy, no longerwill the Circus cross the U. S. each year, butwill divide the states into three regions, theWest, Middle and East, taking three years tomake the complete circuit

Liebel Family CircusThe Liebel Family Circus, under the big

top, appeared at the Memorial Day Festivalat the North Alabama State Fairgrounds inMuscle Shoals, May 26-31. Two perform-ances were given each week day, with threeshows on Saturday, Sunday and MemorialDay.The entertainment package was arranged

and promoted by Paul Robinson, CreativeOutlet, Largo, Fla. A special "Pay-One-Price1' plan included the circus and a mid-way fielded by World of Pleasure Shows.

BATES BROS. INTERNATIONAL CIRCUS- WANTS IMMEDIATELY -

AERIAL - ANIMAL - GROUND ACTS - VARIETY ACTSMUSICIANS - SHOW GIRLS

- Send Photos and Price in First Letter -

BATES BROS. SHOW PRODUCTIONS, INC.Richard W. Bates, President

P. O. Box 18 Squamish, BC, Canada VON - 3GO

604 • 892 - 9851 or 604 • 898 • 3991- 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time -

- NO C O L L E C T C A L L S PLEASE -

ALSO W A N T BOOKING AGENTS, PHONE ROOMMANAGERS AND PHONEMEN WITH DAY ROOMA N D N I G H T ROOM E X P E R I E N C E .

Exhibit SavedAlexander Calder's "Circus/' a whimsical

wire-and-cloth collection of big top perfor-mers and animals, will remain at the Whit-ney Museum of American Art, in New York,thanks to a $625,000 gift.The gift, from the Robert Wood Johnson,

Jr. Charitable Trust meets the $1.25 milliongoal the museum was forced to set to keepthe work. The third-generation sculptor diedin 1976 and the executors of his estate need-ed the money to settle taxes he owed inFrance and the U. S.Calder created "Circus" in 1926, after a

visit to the Singling Bros.-Bamum & BaileyCircus the year before. He translated sket-ches of the performers and animals into aset of wire and cloth creations.

While his wife, Louisa, played circus musicon a Victrola, Calder acted as ringmaster,moving the characters about as if they wereactually performing."Circus" consists of a wire tightrope strung

across a center ring, with Calder's characterspositioned around the ring. The figurines in-

May 31,1982

elude a sword swallower, two Chinese wrest-lers, a cowboy on a rodeo horse, a chariotrider and a camel.

Novelty ActsSeveral novelty acts have been booked by

Simone Finner Enterprises, the Hollywoodbased theatrical agency specializing in var-iety acts for revue shows, including:The Jabczynski Troupe, teeterboard acro-

batics in "Razzle Dazzle" at the Las VegasHilton Hotel, Las Vegas; Nino Frediani jugg-ler in "City Lights" at the Flamingo Hotel,Las Veyas; The Thuranos, comedy low wireact and Georges LaFaye & Co., Franck blackart artists in "C'est Magnifique" at the Alad-din Hotel, Las Vegas.loni, the amazing French Automaton and

Billy Earl, ventriloquist in "Paris Vanities"at the El San Juan Hotel, Puerto Rico; Se-nor Wences, internationally acclaimed ven-triloquist in "C'est Paris" at the Condo Hol-iday Inn, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Mich-ael Chirrick, juggler in "Follies Russe" atLoew's Monte Carlo Hotel, Monte Carlo.


CHS ProgramThe program for the 1982 CHS Convention

at Washington, DC, April 21-25, featured:April 21 • Registration and Festival of

Films.April 22 - Welcome by Roger Kennedy of

the Museum of American History, Smith-sonian Institute; Dressage Riding in the19th Century, Ellen Wells; The WPA Circus,1935-1939, Jeanne S. Burch; Center Ring:The Exhibit, John S. Still.

Circus, a project 20 film about the historyand traditions of the circus and its people,narrated by Emmett Kelly.Tour and View of the Library of Congress

circus poster collection.Feiice Navidad: Christmas Season Circuses

in Mexico City, William T. Randolph; Note*on the American Circus Corporation, Leon-ard V. Farley.

Festival of Films, George C. Bingaman; An-nual Business Meeting.April 23 - The Bamum Circus Train, Fred

Dahlinger; Poetry of the Pitchman, Steve andAmanda Zeitlin; Tippoo Sultan, Stuart Tha-yer; The 1905 McCaddon Show, John Pola-csek.

Spring Celebration; Introduction, Micro-computer Data Base for Circus Information,James F. Stetjall; Picasso's Saltimbanques, afilm; The Wild West Show, Frank Dean; TheRoping Fool, a film on Will Rogers.April 24 - The Polish State Circus School,

Christopher Knop; A Juggling Workshop,Shelly Harris, Bill Fry and Co.; The Barnum& Bailey Triumphant Return Parades, 1903-04, Greg Parkinson,

Center Ring: The Artist, at the CorcoranGallery of Art; Cocktail Hour; Banquet andJohn Herriott, master of ceremonies withBill Baltantine. speaking on Clown Alley.April 25 - A Celebration of American Cir-

cus Music, National Concert Band of Amer-ica with John Herriott, announcer.

BEAUTIFUL EUROPEANDESIGNED BIG TOPS

ALL SIZES A STYLESALSO DECORATIVE RING MAIS

MARQUEES ft BACKDOOR CURTAINSOtIAUTY MATERIALS 4

WORKMANSHIPEMERGENCY REPAIRSANYWHERE ANYTIME

CALL OR WRITE

(214) 630-13705450 DENTON DRIVE CUTOFF

DALLAS. TX 75235-1001P.O.BOX 36001

Fair PlansThe 1982 Gulf Coast State Fair and Expo-

sition, Biloxi, Miss., will advertise the Oct.27-31 event as 'The Animal Fair/'

Carlotta Robinson, of Creative Outlet, Lar-go, Fla., which operates the Fair for Amuse-ment Corporation of America, has bookedWood Family Shows International Produc-tions of Windsor, Ontario, to provide a Pet-ting Zoo and one ring animal circus. Otheranimal acts and attractions are being nego-tiated.

Link Shows will provide the midway forthe first time this year.

May 31,1982

Lifers a Circus for Jimmy ColeBy JOE KELLY

The two mm in • corner booth at the Village Inn were eating breakfast at noon and talking about Emmett Kelly, theclown, about John Ringling. of cirrus fame, and about CecilB DeMitle's filming of the Greatest Show on Earth

A chance to listen In on a conversation such as this doesn'tcome along often When it does, you sit back, listen anddon't interrupt And you keep filling their coffee cups tothey will keep talking

' Emmett Kelly was food.' said the man eating eggs andsausage "but he wasn't the best The best down ever wasOtto Grilling v

* Yes ' said the man eating eggs and bacon "clowns andother cirrus people didn't think Kelly was that great ButKelly was a marvelous fellow and Griebling was a tough guylo like "

THE MAN BEHIND the nausagc and eggs was JimmyCole of Florida The man behind the bacon and eggs wasDavid Murphy of Trenton Falls

John Ringling. of Ringling Brothers. Barnum & BaileyCircus, was another guy easy to dislike, said Murphy andCole long time friends They sad Ring ling bought circusesand then destroyed them to eliminate competition

•Remember those beautiful circus wagons* I cried whenhehurnedthem/'saidCole "Ihjledhim"

"Johnny loved money and power." said Murphy "He wasan easy man to hate "

THERE MIGHT BE circus people who disagree with Murphy and Cole, but (hey would listen to what the two had (osay Both men know the circus

Cole, the ?»• year-old owner of the Cole Circus, got his firstcircus job. selling tickets, in I9M The circus has been hislife ever since He has gone with the circus from east coastto west coast and from Florida to Canada

Murphy, who recently retired from his public relations )obal L'lica Psychiatric Center, was once a circus advance marand. In mi S3. ringmaster for Ringling Brothers Barnum tBalky

Murphy s friendship with Cole goes back lo the 1940s whenhe helped Cole put up his tent show Murphy now acts asCole's honking agent in Central New York

V

AS'D NOW. IN THE CENTER RING - D«'M Murphyatwvf. rerrnily retired from Ms public relations Job at 1'llral*V\rM»irk Center. Hut Da»M Murj**. W»» ringmavUr In 1WI-M far Rl»f1lnf Hr*ther«. Barnvm * Baileyi in m F«r m«n< yean k* was * rlrrM adtanrf man

•/THE MEN WERE eating breakfast at noon because there

hadn't been lime earlier They were up before dawn to gel (othe I tic a Memorial Auditorium hy 7 a m to help get thecircus set up for a 9 a m performance Wednesday whichwas watched by about 2.500 laughing screaming andapplauding children

"That's music to my ears." said ColeCole's circus, no relation to the Cole Brother's Circus, i<

not a big circus It Is a small, one ring, everybody-doe*everything kind of circus The ringmaster, for example, alsodoe* a Juggling act. dresses up as a gorilla and runs throughthe audience, assists in the shows aerial act, and helpsunload the trucks with the » or so others in the circus

It's a quality show with talented performer who k>vr what(hey are doing, but the "Greatest Show on Earth" it's not

MI'RPHV worm BE the first to agree with that Murph> was with the "Greatest Show on Earth when Cecil Brv Mille was filming the movie of the same name Murphyhad a "microscopic" part in the movie, but his main dutywas acting as a technicaj adviser It gave him the chance towatch De Mille up close

'De Mille." said Murphy, "was a tyrant "An angry, yelling DeMitle was a common sight, said Mur

phy A box of gold watches, wtlh De Mille's name inscribedon the back, was always on the movie set. Murphy said Atthe end of the day's shooting, a watch would be given to anyone De Mille had racked over the coals

Cole, who recalls the days when 6.000 and more peoplejammed under (he Rig Top of a circus ho was working, saidhe foresaw problems for the circus years ago Movies andespecially television put a big dent In the circus business

James M. ColeTHAT'S WHAT PROMPTED Cole to form a cirrus thai

wouldn't need big crowds to survive, a circus small enoughthat it could play in school gymnasiums

"I figured that if the kids wouldn't come to (he circus 1 dtake the circus to the kids "

And that's what he has been doing for 44 yearsWhat's the name of (he big high school in L'Uca" asked

Cole"1TA.' said Murphy



Strange PeopleThe Norman Brooks show "Strange Peo-

ple" is touring with the Billy Burr Fun-0-Rama show this summer. Later the showis expected to be with the Coleman Shows.They will return to the Burr organizationlate this year, closing at Topsfield, Mass.

Personnel with the "Strange People" showinclude: Wayne La Charite, manager, magic,fire; Brett Stewart, blockhead; Sabrina (JoanLeslie) and Wayne, blade box; Capt DonLeslie, swords; Joe Oi Francesca, elephantskin boy; Joan and Wayne, electric chair;Bret Stewart, pincushion. Norman Brooksmakes the opening and David King is thefront talker.

Circus Visitby MATT WILTSHIRE, Jr.

On May 5th, I had the rare priveledge ofvisiting Carson & Barnes Circus in Grape-vine, Texas, where they played to a fullhouse.When I say rare, it is because after two

seasons with the show, and only seeing theshow five times as I was head Bill Poster. Itwas nice to be able to see them perform andknow that I had paid to see the show andwas helping a worthy cause, as this showwas sponsored by the Grapevine Jaycees.

The show was great. The performers reallydid their job in the proper way of goodshowmanship. The animals alt looked good.And above all, Dorey does not look as if hehas aged a day since I went to work for himthree years ago.

The tent in all of its magnificane looks asgood today as it did to me when I saw it inCleveland two years ago. Although seeingsomething new that was being added to theshow as tear-down was going on, Bruno ofDallas, was there with a new type of ringcurb. It was inflatable and was in the blue-yellow and orange colors of Carson & Bar-nes Circus. It looked great to me and Bru-no said that the elephants could walk on itwithout damage.

Well, by now, the tent was down and theshow must move on. Bidding goodbye toGary, Barbara, Dorey and above all to TedBowman, 1 took my two friends back toDallas to await another year before seeingmy friends once again.

LIFE'S A CIRCUS (Continued)

'No. the other one." said ColeCroc-tor " said Murphy

"That's the n«m«.' said Cole "I remember back In 1939we look an elephant up the stairs at Proctor and into thegymnasium "

Murphy laughed What about that time back In Cleveland* We took the baby elephant Into the newsroom of theCleveland Plain Dealer The elephant had diarrhea "

"It wasn't diarrhea " said Cole "IV elevator ride up tothe newsroom made him nervous "

THE ELEPHANTS ARE gone now as is the menagerieCole once had And he doesn't stay on the road as long as heonce did These days Cole limit* his tours to three monthskeeps his route within Pennsylvania and New York and performs In schools most of the time

Everybody In the circus calls him Mr Cole Maybebecause na's b*en in the business so long Maybe becausethe performers In his show respect him so much He has giv-en breaks to a lot of performers over the years

Cot* remembers whtn he got his big break It was 1928TV tricfram arrived at his home in Penn Van. N Y It wasan offer to Join Circus Beautiful, a circus that In its prim*rivaled Rtn jling 'i

Circus Beautiful toured tV country by train Its SO whiterailroad cars were fitted wKh more than 500 performer*.laborers and administrators Including Cole the newly hiredassistant treasurer

"I got ITS a week, a tower berth and meaU "

BUT WHEN HE left Peru* Van he left behind hi* childhoodsweetheart

Cole logged thousands of miles worth of train and trucktravel and hundreds of towns and two marriages in (heyears that followed TV first one ended In divorce TV second was a success

She was a beautiful. 22 year ok) acrobat He was w yearold circus owner

"SV proposed Itofdherno 1 told her I was old enough tobe her grandfather She said. '1 don't car* < love you Wegot married "

TV next seven years "were the best of my life." saidCole "Youhavenever seen a happier couple in your life

But the beautiful acrobat had cancer She died nl 2*He was devastated For many years. tV only thing thai

kept Ofe going was (hr ctrru* he'wid He didn't careatxHitmuch eta*

Oh ye* remember thai «weethrart fn|«- left hack in PmnVan' SV mamrd. but alw had to copp with grief Her hir*hand died of cancer several year* ago

Cole stopped by lo *.iy hrlln to the widow last yp.ir HPwalked into IV office of (V interior drrorating hu<ine«-\h«-"prrates in Penn Yan

We shook hands and then she hugged me and then 1hugged Vr and then *Vki«**d me and'hen I kiwH her .inlthai old spark of 50 year* ag<i « as still there

Jimmy Cole and his childhood sweetheart were marriedf iv? months ago

Mis Florida home is up for *jfc and he will move h»cknomelo Penn Yan

A* for the circus Cole ha< no intention of stopping ' I |o\e11 too much

circus report, may 31, 1982, vol. 11, no. 22 · pdf fileexcitement and travel of circus life....

Documents