Jim K Global Moderator Posted January 15, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted January 15, 2017 Quote After much evaluation and deliberation, my family and I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® will hold its final performances in May of this year. Ringling Bros. ticket sales have been declining, but following the transition of the elephants off the road, we saw an even more dramatic drop. This, coupled with high operating costs, made the circus an unsustainable business for the company. Nearly 50 years ago, my father founded our company with the acquisition of Ringling Bros. The circus and its people have continually been a source of inspiration and joy to my family and me, which is why this was such a tough business decision to make. The decision was even more difficult because of the amazing fans that have become part of our extended circus family over the years, and we are extremely grateful to the millions of families who have made Ringling Bros. part of their lives for generations. We know Ringling Bros. isn’t only our family business, but also your family tradition. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents Circus XTREME will conclude its tour at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., on May 7, 2017, and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents Out Of This World will conclude its tour at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., on May 21, 2017. We hope you will come to celebrate this American icon for one last time before our tours conclude. Our company provides quality, live family entertainment, and we invite you to bring your family to one of our other events, including Marvel Universe LIVE!, Monster Jam, Monster Energy Supercross, AMSOIL Arenacross, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!, as well as future productions. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has served as inspiration for all of the live entertainment produced at Feld Entertainment. We learned from the circus, and applied those learnings to our other productions. Without Ringling Bros., we wouldn’t have the vibrant live entertainment company that we have today. Ringling Bros. will always be part of Feld Entertainment, and its spirit will live on in every production and project we do. https://www.ringling.com/ringling-bros-final-performances/ To which Stephen King responds .... DConnell 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3X4S Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Good riddance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 While I am obviously against the use of animals in circuses, because mistreatment was rife across the board and I feel the rallying against circuses with a good name (of which there were VERY few) was unjust, and while it was mostly cleaned up earlier this century it still left a sour taste - I am sad to see this icon disappear. Circuses are certainly a throwback to a bygone era. Mando and Jim K 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 (edited) funny i was speaking about similar things to my younger partner, I was telling her i remember meeting an elephant at my school fete and have pictures of me riding it, as you say a bygone era, that poor elephant must have had a crap life. Doubt you would see such things these days.....(you would hope!) Animals in circus is such an outdated concept and should be banned outright IMO. I see no place for it these days, clowns and acrobatics fair enough I dont have issues with any other form of circus tours, just the exploitation of former "wild" animals. Dick Montage 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 8 hours ago, Mando said: I dont have issues with any other form of circus tours, just the exploitation of former "wild" animals. See... Clowns... I have no issue with clowns, in fact I know the absolute honor that went with being one of the original types of clowns. The problem is the bad image that clowns have now - vaguely disturbing, a hint of paedophilia, every teenage girl claiming "I hate clowns" and acting as if they are terrified. I can see why traditional circuses now are on their way out - that and the parade of freaks no longer being an acceptable thing. So what are we left with? Dramatic displays of acrobatics, which Circque du Soleil have monteized the back end out of. Sure, they are genuinely amazing, but they have crafted a model that touring circuses are unable to compete with. Mando 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Berry Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 The Pennywise Traveling Terror Tour sounds appealing actually. Jim K, Draconian Guppy, The Evil Overlord and 2 others 5 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 sad DConnell 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Circuses in the UK did away with animal acts years ago and seem perfectly able to survive without. Plenty of human animals to parade in front of the masses for entertainment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPreston Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Not surprising too many clowns in 2017 to compete with Jim K and Dick Montage 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 On 1/15/2017 at 9:18 AM, Nefarious Trigger said: While I am obviously against the use of animals in circuses, because mistreatment was rife across the board and I feel the rallying against circuses with a good name (of which there were VERY few) was unjust, and while it was mostly cleaned up earlier this century it still left a sour taste - I am sad to see this icon disappear. Circuses are certainly a throwback to a bygone era. Not all circuses even USE animal acts; the Universoul Circus (which has been competing with Ringling for over a decade and also tours) does not, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 13 minutes ago, PGHammer said: Not all circuses even USE animal acts; the Universoul Circus (which has been competing with Ringling for over a decade and also tours) does not, for example. Absolutely agreed. But MOST do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
restroom Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 On 15/01/2017 at 2:18 PM, Nefarious Trigger said: While I am obviously against the use of animals in circuses, because mistreatment was rife across the board and I feel the rallying against circuses with a good name (of which there were VERY few) was unjust, and while it was mostly cleaned up earlier this century it still left a sour taste - I am sad to see this icon disappear. Circuses are certainly a throwback to a bygone era. I went to the circus at Halloween last year and it was such a disappointment. The acrobatics where "ok", but you just don't get the excitement that I remember as a child. Even my 4 year old said he was bored Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts