Dan Shipton and Ross Nicholson, directors of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, find it refreshing to reinvent the “Greatest Show on Earth” for a new audience, despite not growing up in the place the show has long called home.
The London natives have had a creative hand in several high-profile entertainment acts, and they told HuffPost that their circus roles speak to the “forward-thinking” approach of the show’s operator, Feld Entertainment.
“It’ll be everything that people know and love, but with this whole new focus and this whole new lens on it that should feel really inspiring,” Shipton said.
Ringling offered details about its upcoming 55-city, animal-free tour on Tuesday, following a six-year hiatus from road performances.
The circus, set to return in September, saw its 146-year run come to a halt in 2017. Factors in the stoppage included high operating costs, declining ticket sales and an “even more dramatic drop” after the circus retired its elephants, Feld Entertainment CEO Kenneth Feld said at the time.
The company split with its elephants after legal battles with animal rights activists and groups that criticized the circus for its treatment of animals.
Juliette Feld Grossman, producer and chief operating officer of Feld Entertainment, told HuffPost that the circus revival began with a “blank sheet of paper” and questions about how to showcase parts of the show’s past in a new light.
“As we continue to evolve, we look to new ways that we can surprise our guests,” Grossman said. “It’s about getting to those feelings: joy, fun, wonder [and] that connectivity of being in the experience together with people that you love and care about.”
The latest incarnation of the circus operates in a 360-degree environment with a circular stage surrounded by video panels at its base.
The set includes seesaws, bicycles and areas for performers’ skilled acts, according to a press release.
The circus will feature a 25-foot-high “Triangular Highwire,” a double “Wheel of Destiny” for acrobatic jumps between apparatuses up to 30 feet off the ground, an “Extreme Box Jump Trampoline” that can send bikes and unicycles airborne, and a physical comedy troupe.
For its new iteration, the circus whittled 4,000 performer applicants down to a group of 75 performers from 18 different countries.
“They are all just absolutely amazing people that have honed their skills…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Entertainment…