“The Greatest Show On Earth” will die Sunday.
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus gives its last show on May 21 in Uniondale, N.Y.
The circus is dead.
Long live the circus – at least that’s what Villager Linda S. Strong believes. She grew up riding elephants, shoveling sawdust and performing under the Big Top.
“Ringling Brothers may be gone but I believe the circus will go on,” said Strong, a member of Clown Alley 179 in The Villages. “It’s part of our history and our culture; too many people love the circus to let it disappear. Without the circus coming to town, what would make so many people so happy?”
That is the question.
Ringling Brothers, the most famous circus in modern times, could not survive dwindling attendance, pressure from animal rights groups – Ringling was forced to retire its elephants in 2016 – and competition from technology. Kids today can find entertainment on smartphones, the internet, video games and 100s of cable television channels.
“Things are different today,” said Alene Kraus, also a member of the Villages Clown Alley group. “I find it very sad that Ringling Brothers is shutting down. We’re losing part of our history and our past. What will we lose next?”
Although Ringling Brothers may be gone, other circus companies operate in the U.S.
“There are still a lot of circuses out there,” Strong said.
Scott O’Donnell, executive director of Circus World, told The Christian Science Monitor about 50 circus companies operate in the States.
Youth circuses are also growing, O’Donnell, a former Ringling clown, said. The Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil, which recognized a cultural shift 30 years ago when it started a modernized circus without animals, has become one of the largest entertainment companies in the world, the Monitor reported. It produces shows not only under the big-top tent, but also in theaters on Broadway and in Las Vegas.
“The circus is a way of life,” Linda Strong said. She should know. Her father was known as Big John Strong. He and his wife, Ruth, in 1948, started The Big John Strong Circus in California. They would travel the country and had about 50 animals. “We played the county fairs and small towns,” Linda said.
“I was 4 years old when I started riding the elephants,” she added. Strong stressed her father took great care of the animals, adding that circuses didn’t “abuse” elephants.
Linda, who was adopted into the Strong family, was a regular circus performer. She and her brother did a balancing act. She walked the “low” wire; and also walked the elephants.
“We all pitched in and did everything we could,” Linda said. “That’s how it is in a circus family.”
She was still a teenager when she left the circus life to join the Navy. Her father, Big John, who stood 6 feet 5 inches tall, died in the early ‘90s and his circus closed.
Linda said when Ringling Brothers was forced to let the elephants go, “I knew it was over. They weren’t going to last.”
Linda Strong, who was seriously injured in an accident and must use a wheelchair, moved to The Villages in 2011. That’s when she decided to become a clown. “Until I came here, I never really wore the greasepaint,” she said. Her clown name is Tip-Z.
“It’s fun and I love making people smile,” she said.
Just like the circus.
Tony Violanti writes for Villages-News.com
