After 146 Years, Ringling Brothers Circus Comes to an End

Having provided live entertainment for the past 146 years, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey has finally come to a close.  Responding to a low in ticket sales, the circus has realized that its form of business has become unsustainable—the circus glittered, sparkled and roared for one last time on Sunday, May 21.

Autumn Luciano, a pinup photographer from Lansing, Michigan, says, “It feels a little like a funeral today, but I’m trying not to mourn it in a sad way.  Circus is all about being happy.”  Her reaction to the conclusion of circuses is just one of many towards this sad occurrence.  Pulling up her sleeve to display her tattoo of a circus tent, she adds by saying that without circuses, “we lose the ability to go and see that humans can do anything.  You go to the circus and see human beings doing insane things, but the truth is, we all have the ability to do crazy things.”

The circus began as P.T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome in 1871—Feld Entertainment thus bought the company in 1967.  The circus, which was already suffering from falling ticket sales, received another blow when it discontinued its inclusion of elephants in performances due to criticisms and vilifications from animal activist groups.  Competing against an age of video games and virtual entertainment, the circus did not have much of a chance to provide joyous entertainment for newer generations of children.

Ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson describes that the world is losing a “place of wonder”.  He says, “It’s the last safe space.  It’s the last pure form of entertainment there is.”  Around him, performers in thick makeup and somber faces talk to reporters about the end of the circus.

Ashley Vargas, a skater in the show, notes that the loss of elephants in the circus shows marked the beginning of the end.  She explains, “To this day, the final performance with the elephants is the hardest performance I have ever had to go through.  I had to say goodbye to elephants I’d been with since they were born.  They were part of my family.”

Motorcycle rider Daniel Eguino elucidates his feelings by voicing that he was anguished, “Not because they close the show that I work in—it’s that they close history.”  The son of a mother who was a contortionist and a father who was a trapeze artist, Eguino had a family history that was close to the circus.

Circuses are usually known for being harsh and cruel towards their animals, but tiger master Alexander Lacey wants audiences to know that there are still humane circuses and zoos that should still be supported.  He urges, “People are not really concerned with lots of wildlife until they can feel it and see it, enjoy it and love it as much as I do.”

Even many audience members felt the bitter sweetness of the last moments of the show.  59-year-old William Holden says, “It’s the greatest last show on earth, but we have to live and change and adapt and keep moving.  That’s the beauty of America: We keep changing, and we move on.”[8]

In the circus’s final moments, the entire cast and crew assembled on the arena floor and sang a round of “Auld Lang Syne”[9].  Crowd members rose to their feet for a standing ovation.  The ringmaster cheered at the crowd, “You mean the circus isn’t antiquated?  You mean you love the circus?”[10]  The roar from the crowd was deafening.