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Believe it, the circus has shut down after 146 years of entertainment, performed for the last time Sunday night before a SRO crowd at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New York
It brought ages of joy, excitement and fun for all ages
Commentary By Arnie Leshin
Back in the day, it was the circus or the rodeo at the old Madison Square Garden on 8th Avenue between 49th and 50th streets.
Nowadays, the rodeos remain, but after 146 years the circus has performed its final show, its farewell to an audience for the last time.
At Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York Sunday, the lights went up on the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus to reveal 14 lions and tigers sitting in a circle, surrounding a man in a sparkling suit.
It was a night too implausible to appear real, yet such an iconic piece of Americana that it was impossible to believe the show would not go on anymore.
But this was the final performance, and it was attended by a standing room only crowd who probably couldn’t believe it was watching the finale of what many had seen for ages. It was like, what do we tell the kids?
Well, inform them that the circus people are responding to a prolonged slump in ticket sales that has rendered the business unsustainable. It’s that time when the competition was far too much. Not so much rodeos, but sports events, converts and other events were bringing in the money while the circus struggled.
The circus was for the young and the old. Everyone loved it. Loved to see the elephants, lions, tigers, horses, other animals, the high wire and tightrope walkers, the motorcycles, the daredevils. It was a joyful event with its 500-person crew, some 100 animals, and mile-long trains. And let’s not forget the strutting ringmaster who ran the show.
Yes, the circus was all about being happy. Now the world is losing a place of wonder. It’s the last pure form of entertainment there is.
Imagine this for the outgoing performers with thick makeup and saddened faces. It was said they spoke with reporters with tears in their eyes in discussing the demise of the circus, their place of employment. As the final act wound down, some of the performers spoke directly to the audience, to reflect on the end.
But all this had become infeasible in an age in which video games and cell phone screens compete to provide childhood wonder. The circus had simply run out of time.
I can’t recall all of the circus I attended. I just know I grew up with them. Went with my friends, my family, my cousins, and there was only one time that I didn’t have a good time.
Parking in New York City wasn’t an easy task. I was on a date with Sheryl from Long Island, and we parked on the street where the newer MSG on 7th Avenue between 31st and 32nd streets was. Little did we know it was a tow-away zone.
And as we rode the escalator inside the Garden, I looked outside to see my car being hooked up and towed. I did not reveal this to Sheryl, but did not enjoy the show, could only think of how I get my car back and what it would cost.
After the show, I told her I witnessed the removal of my car, so we leaned from the police where it was taken, and within time was driving out of Manhattan. Paid $50 to get my car back and it sure wasn’t my finest time in the big apple or at the circus.
The original circus began in 1871 as P.T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome. The Feld Group bought it in 1967. Then, after the removal of elephants from a performance last year after fierce and prolonged condemnation from animal rights groups, already-falling ticket sales dropped even further.
Wrapping up all these negatives was enough for the circus officials to call an end to the show.
Despite the closing, Sunday night didn’t change the circus. It glittered, thundered and awed beneath the booms and klieg lights at the Coliseum that was once the home of the ABA’s New York Nets and the NHL’s New York Islanders.
But there was no tent over the final show, no striped eaves from which the daring young man on the flying trapeze could hang, and it was no doubt noticeable. The big top was all packed and ready to shut down, this time forever.
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.
