Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus!

Hang onto your seats because I just read that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has re-imagined the circus, without animals, as the new family event!

Feld Entertainment, which owns “The Greatest Show on Earth,” will kick off a North American tour this fall! Over 75 performers from 18 countries will perform high wire acts, ride BMX trail bikes, have unicycle riders and skateboarders, etc., on moveable staircases and two main stages. This way, the audience will have a 360-degree view with live camera feeds and virtual reality, and lighting and sound design that will track every performance of the three ring circus. They want to ensure no one misses the show’s biggest moments. The team has been rethinking and redesigning the circus for the past four years, ever since it took down its tents after several years of declining ticket sales because of the treatment of circus animals concerns.

Feld Entertainment not only owns the circus, which it bought in 1967, but the organization has branched out and bought and created other large-scale touring shows such as Disney On Ice, Marvel Live, and Monster Jam. But as they know, there is something about the circus that people think is magical since it dates back to a time before automobiles, airplanes, or movies.

In its Hey Day, the excitement would grow when the circus train pulled into town, and the tents began to rise from nothing! Now the entertainment will be held in buildings instead of the Big Top, giving this generation a glimpse into the magic.

I am excited about this new chapter in circus life, but I will miss the elephants, tigers, lions, and horses. So I will marvel at the talent of those who take to the high wire and trapeze to perform those death-defying feats using the new technology of this age.

And if you are feeling nostalgic and want to enjoy a movie about the circuses of the past, check out these films that I love starring some of the heartthrobs of yesteryear: “Water for Elephants,” “The Greatest Show On Earth” with James Stewart, Charlton Heston, and Cornel Wilde,” “Roustabout” starring Elvis, “Toby Tyler” (my childhood favorite movie), “Trapeze” with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, “Billy Rose’s Jumbo,” “Dumbo, “The Greatest Showman” with Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron, and “The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.”