Hey, son, you want to try the big top?
All aboard, Nebraska’s our next stop”
— “Wild Billy’s Circus,” Bruce Springsteen, 1973
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus announced earlier this winter it would soon be going out of business, just as the Cole Bros. circus Bruce Springsteen might have been singing about seemed to have done in the past year. The Ringling Bros. circus stopped being a tent show 60 years ago, further distinguishing itself from troupes like Cole Bros. that continued touring the U.S. for entertainment dollars in returns for laughs and oohs and aahs.
Even as it continued playing multiple dates in big arenas with thousands of children of all ages, however, the Greatest Show on Earth could not sustain itself economically. In its quest to update its circus to the tastes of the 21st century, Ringling Bros.’ costs escalated to the point where it could no longer expect to break even financially, let alone turn a profit.
Ironically, the Ringling Bros. circus is exiting with a production named “Out of This World” which features ice skaters but no elephants for the first time. It’s thoroughly entertaining. Circus performers can take a final bow and leave with their heads high, knowing there will never be a show quite like it again in the U.S.
For more photos from one of the circus' final performances at the Prudential Center in Newark, see my Tumblr post at http://charleybruns.tumblr.com/post/158329991745/ringside-view-of-the-end-of-the-circus-era-and
