Number of Shows: 9
Location: Orlando, FL
Hello Brothers & Sisters! As
promised, I will be blogging during my time here with Ringling Bros. and Barnum
& Bailey Circus. I plan on writing about the day to day performing with the
circus, as well as my thoughts on other topics which are important to me such
as science, theatre, Disney, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Posts will
go up on average once a week, but there might be more as the tour gets going and
I become more settled and comfortable with the schedule.
Before I tell you about my first
week here at The Greatest Show on Earth (TGSOE), let me tell you about how I
got here. I auditioned for Ringling in July 2015 at the first Worldwide Circus
Summit up in MA. I work as a correspondent for the American Youth Circus
Organization, maintaining their social media presence and writing feature
articles for White Tops magazine, and was at the Summit as a member of their
team. There were auditions on the second to last day of the summit and I went.
The exercises were led by Tiffany Riley of the NY Goofs (my father and I are
both alumni of the Goofs), and my solo performance piece was the needle through
balloon which is now at the top of my one-man show, "I Think, Therefore I
Clown." Just trying to get my foot in the door, I was beyond surprised
when my number was called and I was asked to stay back. David Kiser, the then
director of talent for Ringling, asked me what I would be doing in the fall. I
replied that I would be going to start college for mechanical engineering with
a very large merit scholarship, so I couldn't accept the contract at that time.
They understood and applauded my commitment to education, assuring me that they
would still be there by the time I graduated (ironic, ain't it?).
Jump to August of this year. I am
messing around on Facebook and see that a majority of the clowns on Ringling's
red unit are not renewing their contract and leaving the show. I had spent
freshmen year of college upset and regretted not taking the contract, so I
contacted the deans of the Honors College. I explained to them what was going
on and asked for their blessing to take time off to go and fulfill a lifelong
dream. Within an hour they both said yes, and assured me that because I was in
excellent academic standing, my scholarship would be waiting for me upon my
return. Emails were sent to Ringling corporate, and I was offered a contract
the last week of August. Now back to the present.
I flew down from JFK to Orlando on
Tuesday. There's one other First of May (First of May is the term used for a
new clown. The term comes from a time when circuses would start their new
touring season on the first day of May.), Beth, who also joined the show on
Tuesday. Coincidentally, she's from Long Island and we have a few mutual
friends. We were picked up from the Orlando airport by the general manager of
the show, and then brought over to the arena, which this week was the Amway
Center. We signed lots of paperwork and watched various safety videos. A lot of
the stuff was common sense about the train and live lines. This was followed by
a trip over to wardrobe for costume fittings. We were greeted by members of
wardrobe and Taylor. Taylor has been the boss clown on the red unit for the past few years, and although he was
technically done at the end of 2016, but is staying with us for two more weeks
just to help with the transitions. Because I am a replacement for a female
clown, I couldn't take her costume. Wardrobe got a "new" costume for
me from the Feld Entertainment warehouse and then made minor adjustments so
that it would match the style of the show a little bit better. I really like
the costume I was given, and it is very similar in style to the Phineas costume
I've been wearing for a long time. Once we finished up with costumes, we were
brought to the circus train.
My room feels bigger than I
initially thought. Expect a whole post dedicated just to the train at the end
of the month once I am completely set up.
Wednesday morning I woke up,
showered, got dressed, and went to Pie Car (dining car) for breakfast before
heading to the arena. The day started with rehearsing the opening number.
Luckily the choreography for the opening is short and fairly repetitive, so it
wasn't too difficult to pick it up.
Back in the alley it was time for
the First of Mays to work on makeup. We started off by applying our makeup
based on our own design. In my case, this was the Phineas face I've worn for
many years. When I designed my makeup years ago, it was designed for theatrical
settings, and it worked. However, my makeup didn't have the Ringling look. At
the moment, there is a big push to use blending techniques with the makeup as
opposed to hard shapes. There shouldn't be a solid white circle around my eye,
but rather a white section that starts at the brow and diffuses into the cheek.
My makeup went through some significant changes, the most notable being the
addition of a white mouth. We went back and forth between a solid, round red
nose and a flesh colored nose with a small red tip, but after seeing the makeup
with the costume we went all red. Most importantly, the green glasses stayed. I
REPEAT, THE GREEN GLASSES THAT I HAVE WORN SINCE I WAS FIVE YEARS OLD ARE
STAYING.
After makeup we had the weekly cast
meeting in the seats. All of the cast sits in the bleachers while the
production manager gives us notes and other various pieces of important
information. Everything is said in English, then Russian, then Mongolian.
After that it was back to rehearsals, learning more choreography and the
various gags in the show. I will write about what the clowns do during the show
in the coming weeks, and will break it up.
Thursday I woke up extremely sore.
Although I am in good shape, I'm not an overly athletic person, and my leg
muscles didn't waste any time whatsoever in reminding me. For the clowns, the
show is the equivalence of running about five miles, so it really is quite a
workout. The entire cast go into full costume for a run through of the opening
number for the media. This was my first time running the opening number with
real show conditions, so it was a bit overwhelming. You are compelled to look
around you and see what everyone else is doing, but that's extremely dangerous;
you run the risk of bumping into another performer or animal, or being run over
by a float or motorcycle. I don't want to say that my first time out was
necessarily bad, but it certainly wasn't anything to write home about either.
After a brief break we had a full dress rehearsal. I missed a few cues, but
nothing someone who doesn't know the show would notice. I did almost get hit in
the back of the head with a ladder because I didn't duck fast enough, as well
as stepped in the path of a speeding horse, but other than that the show went
well.
Thursday evening was our opening
night. Ringling is trying something relatively new in which a few clowns and
dancers start outside of the arena in the concourse and move in with the
ticket holders down to the preshow floor. I was on rotation this week to be
outside, so I mingled with patrons while bouncing on my pogo stick.
The preshow takes place an hour
before the show starts and goes for 45 minutes. Audience members are invited
down to the arena floor to take pictures, get autographs, try on costumes, and
watch short performances in the rings. We keep track of how much time has
passed and where we are supposed to be based on what music is being played.
After two songs I headed onto the arena floor, sliding down all of the
banisters. Preshow was great. I took tons of photos with people (including
selfies holding the phone using the card back palming method), signed programs,
and had lots of interactions. I felt very comfortable doing all of this; it was
extremely similar to things I've done with my family for Autism Speaks and the
Diabetes Research Institute. One little girl, maybe two years old, saw me and
ran over to give me a big hug, which made me smile a great deal. Preshow ended
with a dance party, and kids were having the time of their life dancing with
the clowns in ring two and ring three.
The show was spectacular. The clowns
come out at the top of the show for blowoff in order to hype up the crowd for
the main event. We hold up signs to get different sides of the arena to scream,
and the nearly deafening wall of noise hit me like a ton of bricks. When the
pyro went off at the top of opening I got major goose bumps. Truly an
unforgettable experience. There's a small shopping center just a few blocks
away from the train, so after the show I had dinner at a Chinese buffet and
picked up some groceries at Wal-Mart.
On Friday we had a split show day,
meaning we had one show in the morning and one in the evening. There was no
preshow for the morning show (it was mostly schools in attendance), but clowns
still went out to the concourse anyways. Again, I had a great time interacting
with the crowd. Between shows I walked around downtown Orlando.
I had lunch at
a small little salad shop, and then went to look at the local sights. I came
across a very cool bar called Sideshow, modeled after Coney Island.
I also
stumbled across a beautiful lake with a nice fountain in the center. I headed
back to the arena and took a short nap in the seats while the dogs rehearsed.
The evening show was a lot of fun. A
little girl was wearing a Hamilton shirt and a Schuyler sisters button, so we
took a photo together doing the Hamilton pose. Cliché? Very much so. We also
had several former Ringling clowns visit the alley that night and bring us free
roll (free food). Chris and Gina Allison were there with their famous salsa,
along with Todd Zimmerman, Ron Severini, Edge, David Kiser, Tom Wheaton, Peggy
Williams, and Ruth Chaddock. I know there were more people there but unfortunately
I can't remember everyone. My apologies to anyone I left out.
Saturday was a three show day, aka
exhausting. Saturday morning was David Shipman's last performance as
ringmaster, which was great to be a part of. David will now be going to Africa
to help children in underprivileged areas put on live theatre.
I
almost got kicked in the face by a flipping acrobat during the second show
because I was standing one foot off of my mark and had some family friends
visit after the third.
Then Saturday night we had a
meeting. We had heard during the last show that there was a mandatory meeting
for all employees at 10PM, which was a weird time for a meeting to take place. There
were several higher-ups from Feld in the audience that night, but we weren't
sure why. At the meeting, we were told by Juliette Feld that Ringling would be
closing in May. I don't really feel like talking about it anymore and writing
addition material about it, so here's a copy of what I wrote on my Facebook
page:
Well, I guess I should probably address the not literal elephant in the room: Ringling Bros. is closing in May. Our last show of Circus Xtreme will be May 7th in Providence, RI. This week can best be described as bizarre. I started on Tuesday and learned the show in time for opening on Thursday night. One show Thursday, two Friday, three Saturday. The shows went great; lots of energy and extremely responsive crowds. Without a doubt, these past few days have been some of the best days of my life. I am sore and have been using muscles I didn't even know existed, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Then post-show Saturday night we had a meeting. All of the cast. All of the crew. Everyone. We were told the our show, as well as the new blue show, would be closing in May. Ringling, at only 146 years young, will be shutting its doors for good. Silence. You could've heard a fly burp.
Now I am sitting in my train room, the Rent soundtrack playing in the background, trying to wrap my head around what happened. For starters, this sort of signifies the end of circus in America, with the Big Apple Circus declaring bankruptcy in 2016 and our upcoming closure. The times have changed. The circus is not as popular as it was ten years ago, even two years ago. It's a dollars and cents game.
It also means that my initial 18 month contract, along with the other clowns' contract, are now only 5 months. 14 cities, and then the costumes go into storage, the steamer trunks get locked, and the greasepaint dries out. There are a lot of unknowns in regards to what people will do next. Some will go back to their home countries, others will continue the circus arts in America, and some people will go into an entirely new field all together. I'll go back home to NYC and back to Hofstra in the fall, and continue to perform with my family.
The next few days are bound to be weird. However, the negative feelings will stay backstage so we can continue to deliver the Greatest Show on Earth for just a little bit longer. Now there's this really unique quality about live entertainment. Whether it's Broadway, a concert, or the circus, the audience is right there with you. Watching your every move. There are no do-over's, it's live. There's something even more special about live entertainment where the fourth wall is not there. Not only does the audience know you're there, but you also know the audience is there. There's a new level of intimacy. A new type of connection. So far I've done 6 shows with Ringling, and I have already had enough personal interactions and connections to write the great American novel. Add on the thousands of other performances with my dad and sister and you're looking at even more. To me, clowning is these connections. Sure the juggling, makeup, and costume are great, but they're all just icing on the cake when it comes down to it. My goal, every single day of my life, is to make a connection with someone and make there day just a little bit better. The Penn & Teller show closes with Penn eating firing. It's a 10 minute bit done by candlelight that's really powerful. I've seen it 3 times and it still makes me emotional. Heck, when I read the script for it I get misty. There's a point towards the end of the monologue where Penn says the following: "And if light happens to fall on one of your faces while we're doing the show we'll do a small part of the show for you, I mean, just for you, just staring right in your face. And when we do that, and we've picked you, and you know it, and you can feel it...we're not paying any attention to you at all. We're trying to get the tricks to work, get the laughs. We can't worry about you individually. So what I'm saying--convolutedly--is that right now is the place in the show we can look at you in the same light we're in, and we can kinda pay attention. And it's really important. And I used to feel that importance should be made explicit, so I would do these little speeches about community and these speeches were superficial and they were contrived, and I really believed them, so they were embarrassing. So now I'm trying to learn to shut up and look at you. Teller's got it down. And if you're the kind of person that needs to sum things up, all you need to know now is that you're in our tent, so it's okay." Now, more than ever, is the time to shut up. It's time to shut up and just be there. Take it all in. Connect.
I've wanted to be a Ringling clown for 16 years. I did it, and although I am heartbroken it's not going to be for as long as originally planned, it's still there. That rush I felt after the pyro went off at the top of the show opening night will never go away. It's put away and stored in a jar (that's a reference to the show; it's actually rather clever). When that final curtain falls on May 7, I'll be there along with the rest of our wonderful alley. Last show, and last clowns. If that's not something special, I don't know what is. I'm not going to use the word luck, because luck is just statistics and probability taken personally, but I will use the word fortunate. I'm fortunate to be here and will take in every moment of it as much as I can. Thank you to the list of people too long to name who encouraged me, mentored me, and helped me get here. Things are weird now. A giant cloud that won't stay on a mountain (that's another reference to the show; again, it's actually rather clever) is hanging over us right now, but this is, and will forever be the Greatest Show on Earth. And my fellow alley members, I can't wait to wave more flags, push more ladders, and ride more floats with you. See you on the floor. Peace.
-Matthew Lish, First of May, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 145th edition
Sunday was a two show day, and felt
extremely weird. The first show was low energy and a lot of us were fighting
back tears during a few parts, but we got through it. The evening show was much
better and everyone was much more energetic. There was a clown BBQ back at the
train yard after the shows.
Because Monday was MLK Jr. Day and
schools were closed we had one show. We were completely sold out. In fact,
tickets for that show, which was Ringling's final show in Orlando, were going
for over $700 on StubHub. We don't get any information other than what the
public gets in terms of ticket sales and prices, but everyone believes this
trend will continue.
Former Ringling clowns David and
Cherie Gregg were at the show, along with former Big Apple Circus Boston Clown
Care Doctor Steve Cook. I met Steve many years ago at a convention in Mystic,
CT, and he has always provided me with good advice in terms of balancing school
and performing.
After the show I went to Theme Park Connection,
a very cool store that sells old Disney props, and then walked two miles to the
Florida mall to go see the Crayola store.
The train pulled out of Orlando
extremely early Tuesday morning to head to Jacksonville. The rocking of the
train was beyond soothing and I was able to get a much needed rest. When I woke
up we were still moving, so I went out to the vestibule to watch the back roads
of Florida go by. I went back to my room and got dressed, slamming my head on
the microwave a few times (doing things on a moving train is not as easy as you
think it would be) before heading to Pie Car for Clown Breakfast. During each
train run, the clowns go get breakfast together and swap stories while we wait
for the train to reach its final destination. A good time was had by all.
Tuesday night most of the circus
went to go see the touring production of The Book of Mormon. It was my third
time seeing the show and just as I expected, it absolutely destroyed me. It was
rather interesting to see that jokes that play really well in NYC barely got a
response, and vice versa. See you next week.
