Ringling Bros. Circus curtain is coming down.

[marylander1940]

ELLENTON, Fla. (AP) — After 146 years, the curtain is coming down on "The Greatest Show on Earth." The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus told The Associated Press that the show will close forever in May.

 

The iconic American spectacle was felled by a variety of factors, company executives say. Declining attendance combined with high operating costs, along with changing public tastes and prolonged battles with animal rights groups all contributed to its demise.

 

"There isn't any one thing," said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment. "This has been a very difficult decision for me and for the entire family."

 

The company broke the news to circus employees Saturday night after shows in Orlando and Miami.

 

Ringling Bros. has two touring circuses this season and will perform 30 shows between now and May. Major stops include Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Brooklyn. The final shows will be in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 7 and in Uniondale, New York, at the Nassau County Coliseum on May 21.

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/apnewsbreak-ringling-bros-circus-close-031022225.html

This pics are too strong for animal lovers like me, open at your own choice:

https://emptyallcages.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/picture4.jpg

 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/c2/f0/f6/c2f0f615f8951ea7edd70d70c836998d.jpg

 

 

http://thedailymaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/When-the-Animals-Ran-the-Circus-e1349741358453.jpg

 

[Okliehomo]

Guess it's hard out there for a chimp.

 

Wish the one in DC would close as well.

[Phil_musc]

I expect I may take some heat here.

 

This is sad, I think. I remember going to see the circus when I was a child - it was quite a spectacle which I didn't really appreciate until I saw it again when I was in college. Then I loved it. To me, the circus is almost a classic part of American culture. It sounds like another chapter is closing.

[mike carey]

Circus has developed, just look at the Cirque du Soleil!

[+ sniper]

One of my first inklings I was gay was that I took the program(it was a huge magazine) and would stare long and hard at the full page photos of the male acrobats, studying the bulges in their leotards.

[Phil_musc]

Circus has developed, just look at the Cirque du Soleil!

 

Two points here:

1) It seems a bit of comparing apples and oranges

2) I'm reminded of long ago when the local NPR station (WHYY) abandoned their classical music programing in favor of total talk. They justified this change to one of their contributors by saying that they would still have programs about classical music ("We'll have programs about Beethoven." The response from a listener was right on the money: "Talking about Beethoven isn't the same as listening to Beethoven." Cirque du Soleil is fantastic at what it does, but it is a different form of entertainment.

[Phil_musc]

Sniper

One of my first inklings I was gay was that I took the program(it was a huge magazine) and would stare long and hard at the full page photos of the male acrobats, studying the bulges in their leotards.

 

I so get this. I was in love with the man on the flying trapeze. I had never seen shoulders like that. And that was probably my first time seeing a man in tights - my, my, that was a revelation. Coupled with the shoulders, I was seeing the world anew.

[+ sync]

I have always had an admiration for circus people for what they are able to do, but it was all lost on me. I don't like to see animals caged or made to perform, high-wire acts make me nervous, and I don't think clowns are funny.

[marylander1940]

Madrid banned circus in that city, maybe this would be the way to make them disappear.

 

http://www.lr21.com.uy/ecologia/1321048-circos-animales-madrid-prohibidos

[+ purplekow]

I expect I may take some heat here.

 

This is sad, I think. I remember going to see the circus when I was a child - it was quite a spectacle which I didn't really appreciate until I saw it again when I was in college. Then I loved it. To me, the circus is almost a classic part of American culture. It sounds like another chapter is closing.

 

Human circus performers are one thing. The animals are treated poorly and forced to live in cages for the most part except when performing.

[kewtex]

Madrid banned circus in that city…

 

The circus, no. The corridas, yes. It's a matter of perspective.