Sunday Morning with H.S.H. Princess Stephanie of Monaco: The Fullness of Circus

"It's nice to have other types of shows and cabarets and all, but we must keep a little tradition. And for me a real circus is live animals and clowns, not only aerial acts or very choreographed acts; you need a bit of everything. We have to evolve, of course, but I think the most important thing is keeping animals in the circus."

-- as interviewed in Spectacle magazine.

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Friday Flashouts: Detroit Shriners Cry Homeless! Kelly-Miller Goes "First Time in America,” Ringling Menage, In Vitro, World Circus Day, in Premiere

John Ringling North II due in the states on Monday to monitor Kelly-Miller Circus rehearsals and opening dates in Texas late next week. Trucks painted all pretty may wear snowflakes when they reach the Lone Star state — assuming they can find roads out of snow-bound Oklahoma. (Promise; no jokes about you-know-what.) On paper, thanks to manager Jim Royal sending me information, show looks full of promising energy, comedy, novelty – a veritable fun fest in the making. Cast of some 20-plus performers include first time in America turns from Aussie aerialists Nikkie and Carla Oggle, plenty of animals, some from the Rices, the charismatic Poema Family of risley whirlwinds, along with returnees named Torales and Cainan and Oliveras. Costumes being designed by Luciana Loyal. A fifties-themed production number has clowns Ryan Combs and Steve Copleand working as soda jerks. These guys are also uncorking a new exterminator gag and a couple of walkarounds. There’s even a novelty by a woman whose name I misplaced working with flute and fabric. Entire spread sounds like a lively big top energizer ...

Orphans in motor city? “World’s first and oldest circus may now be homeless,” reads a Shrine temple website, hoping to reverse their eviction from the fairgrounds.. Says Shrine Circus director Chuck Baer, they can't understand why. They pay $40,000 in rental fees. Officials eyeing the venue for a job-creating project. “There it is,” says Bear, referencing the empty fairgrounds, “give us the keys.” Indeed, this is the city where the Shrine Circus (but not the oldest in the world) was born, back in 1906. Sadly symptomatic I think of a shrinking number of temples nationwide putting on circuses, and too many of them not being put on well at all.

World Circus Day: It’s now a reality, to be celebrated in some 12 countries. It will happen on April 17, and we can thank the formidable H.S.H. Princess Stephanie of Monaco for her prestigious support. I'd say the Princess deserves her own Gold Clown Award for so honorably carrying on the legacy of her late father, Prince Rainer, who founded the annual Monte Carlo Circus Festival. Sponsoring World Circus Day is the Federation Mondiale du Cirque consortium, founded in 2008. Group's members represent Monte Carlo, Europe, the U.S., Australia, Canada and South Africa, with Asia just admitted. I am impressed! Their goal is to “promote circus arts and culture worldwide.” We can all be proud.

Monte Carlo Gold: Brit animal man Martin Lacey, Jr. scoring for his country its very first Gold Clown. About time, considering that in London Town the modern-day circus was invented by equestrian Philip Astley. And it took our Lacey only a month, rounding up two lions and 12 lionesses and getting them to dazzle the judges. “Wining a gold is fantastic,” said he, “and it’s historic to be the first Brit. But I think it’s also about you as a person, how you work with the animals and we stand out very much. I think people realize how much we care for the animals and love them, and that shows in the ring.”


Artificial insemination a la Ringling produced Baby Barack (a first), who was born the day after Barack Obama's inauguration, such a polite little pachyderm holding off until our new president could have his day in the sun. Now a year old, Baby Barack got a taste of the bright lights on Ringling Blue, and is now en route back to visit his Mom for some quality time together in the shows’s Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk County, Florida. Good going, Feld Family! Now, what next on your in-vitro front: clown cloning?

Ryan Remembers: Pat Valdo was way up in years when a very young press agent Jack Ryan, during his first year out, ventured into Willis Lawson’s circus diner at the Venice quarters. Ringling's crack personnel director was not very hungry that morning.

Said Antoinette Concello, "Pat! Eat your eggs. That will put lead in your pencil."

Replied Mr. Valdo, "It's OK, Tony. I don't do much writing anymore."

Funny, I don’t eat eggs much anymore, but I’m still writing.

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The Morning Midway: Betty Hutton Before and After The Greatest Show on Earth

I had known almost nothing about Betty Hutton other than the sweet -- some would say cloyingly sweet -- role she played in Cecil B. De Mille's mega movie, The Greatest Show on Earth. Not until a few nights ago, when TCM aired one of her films, Red, Hot and Blue. Instant discovery! WHAT A FABULOUS TALENT! I'm talking fantastic energetic dancer, VERY funny performer -- two talents that are virtually no where to be found in her De Mille assignment. So, all these many years in my mind I have unfairly typecast her.

And then, after that movie, Betty's career was fast fading. Interviewed in 2000 by Robert Osborn for Turner Classic Movies, and so far far away from the Hutton we knew (impossible to see the old Hutton in this Hutton), she talked from her heart of how horrible she was treated by cast and crew while away from Paramount making Annie Get Your Gun at MGM (I've heard they could treat people with cruel indifference -- think Judy Garland on pills). "They were mean to all their stars."

That experience, she said, killed her love of making movies and was what eventually drove her away from the cameras.

Betty was honest about feeling regretfully alienated from her kids and of finding a saving friend, at last, in a Catholic priest, at one time, down to pennies, working in a kitchen. When she returned to L.A., she hoped to reconnect with her children, and sensed they resented her reaching out; she could identify with aging parents suffering health problems being shunned aside by family members.

This was the same person who brought glamour and vitality to a movie about the American three-ring circus that thrilled millions. who entertained the troupes during World War II, as in this photo to your left.

So strange to understand why the playfully humorous, infectiously fun-loving Betty Hutton we saw in Red Hot and Blue is missing from the Greatest Show on Earth. And so, I had not a clue about her incredibly captivating dance and comedy gifts. Now, fifty years later, she was nearly crying her heart out before TCM cameras, so grateful for the attention she was being paid by Robert Osborn.

Hollywood: it's a heartless place. Betty talked about her campaign to get cast in De Mille's film. She said that she'd heard he was planning to cast a real trapeze artist and teach her to act (that doesn't make sense to me). On her own, Betty had circus people teach her how to work trap tricks. "Oh, Mr. De Mille, please let me try." Answered the director, "Let me see your feet." She removed her shoes and socks. Director looked. Director approved. "Okay, let's talk. What can you do?" A few weeks later, De Mille was watching Hutton amaze him at a circus training location in Los Angeles.

"I don't believe it. I just don't believe that you haven't done this since you were three years old," said De Mille.

"Mr. De Mille, I've done it for a year."

So that's how she got the part.

"Hey, Duffy, off your back and on your toes!"

"He wanted that Oscar so badly. He said, 'Betty, How do I get it?'"

"I said, 'Mr. De Mille, all that stuff you do is corny. But the circus IS corny; don't do anything to it!'"

While Betty was standing on a swinging trap bar filming a scene in Sarasota, De Mille handed his star an award from Photoplay magazine for her performance in Annie Get Your Gun ... the most popular actress of 1950.

"Now, don't fall off! I need you for the rest of the greatest show on earth!"

And they needed her -- until they no longer needed her. Betty Hutton. What a marvelous performer she was. And how touching was her story of finding her way back to a more real world and learning to embrace her dramatically diminished circumstances with gratitude and humility. She died on March 11, 2007.

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The Morning Midway: Kelly-Miller Signs Aussie Thriller; Trucks Painted Pretty Set To Roll Next Thursday

Signed to bring thrills and chills to Kelly-Miller Circus audiences in 2010, Aussie aerialist Nikki Ogle is set to join the show. John Ringling North II first spotted her act on a DVD, and was "greatly impressed," per show manager James Royal in an e-mail to Showbiz David.

"She performs a hair raising single trap with plenty of thrills," states Royal. In a second turn, Nikki executes a "superb double trap" with her identical twin sister, Carla.

Getting visa approval, launched last November, took more time than the show expected, due to lost paperwork, among other details. The U.S. signed off only yesterday; Since the Ogle sisters are expected to arrive a little late, filling in for them during the interim will be Becky Ostroff.

Royal reports, "everything is looking great." All trucks bear fresh paint applied artfully, complete with illustrations by Robert Rawls, "the Cezanne of the Circus," declares the upbeat manager.

Show hits the road next Thursday for another early opening in Texas, repeating last year's Jim Judkins' promoted dates.

Spring is here, already.

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The Next Late Night Round: Who Will Rule -- Letterman, Leno or (No Kidding) O'Brien?

Jay Leno needs upgrades; Dave Letterman, humility; Conan O'Brien, a challenging network to reset his act.

What drama we've just been through. Three late night competitors battling it out for ratings and media attention: Beleaguered Conan O'Brien, gone from The Tonight Show, essentially due to his own poor showing; Jay Leno, a failed prime time host about to return to the coveted late night spot he dominated for nearly 15 years, and the other guy -- acerbic David Letterman, who grudgingly believed all along that he should have landed the Tonight Show desk when Johnny Carson retired from it at age 66.

It's been an amusinglgy bloody slug fest between these three entertainers. What prospects loom ahead? Moreover, who will now rule? Handicapping the possibilities, here I go:

Jay Leno: When he returns to his old 11:35 spot come March 1, no doubt his most avid fans will be there. And if he can convince them that he is not damaged goods but still the same jovial comic waiting to make them laugh and feel comfortable, he has the best chance of winning this precarious race. He'll need to rearrange the furniture, back mostly to the more intimate Tonight Show set up. I think his biggest challenge will be, at least initially, to pack the show with top-flight comedy, engaging guests and a few novel upgrades, not so much as to upset but to advance tradition. He can't come on looking winded or watered down, or, horror of horror's, old hat, from the wars just fought.


David Letterman: Still not in his favor is the man's edgy mean-spirited personality. And he faces a potentially ugly chapter in court arising out of the bribery charges he has leveled against a CBS producer for threatening to expose Letterman's extra curricular sex life with staffers. He is obviously angry over having to compete once again with his ratings better, and this, too, could alienate viewers.

In Letterman's favor, he comes out looking the most established and enduring of the three personalities. And the image of success can breed continued success. So there is a fighting chance that Letterman could come out on top. This largely depends on whether or not he can soften his harsher side into a warmer and fuzzier Dave.

The question yet to be answered: Will any of Leno's fans who defaulted to Letterman while Leno was away return to Leno, or decide they like Letterman more? No doubt a few, but not many -- if Leno again delivers. Leno is the far more comfortably congenial of the two comedians, so I don't see him having a problem getting back his audience. Still, the ratings difference between the two established hosts should be slimmer, which could make for a lively new late night battle, and viewers will benefit from enhanced material. However, these above forecasts could become clouded if the third party enters the fray:


Conan O'Brien: In a sense, he is the biggest victor out of this well reported mess, for he is far better known coming out of it than he was going in. He turned himself into something of an attraction. The public saw much more of him, they may even have laughed a little (he'll have to be funnier than he has been if he is to draw beyond his narrow fan base), and he will garner some sympathetic attention if he launches another late night show on another network -- up to a point. He's not a particularly winning figure at the desk, even more prickly than Letterman. And his comedy bits -- at least those I tried watching several years ago -- struck me as a little too torutured. Moreoever, a reported rigid inflexibility on O'Brien's part in resisting notes given to him by The Tonight Show directors seeking to improve his performance and audience appeal does not bode well.

The comfort factor will still be easily owned by Jay. And O'Brien, wherever he goes, brings a losing track record; as a brief host of the nation's most popular late night talk show, he simply could not produce. Only Fox might be able to turn him from also-ran into a competitive novelty born of fresh cutting-edge, new age showmanship. Indeed, over at Fox, where he has less to lose and can afford to take bigger risks, he might help network television craft an exciting new form of late night entertainment. But unless Fox's savvy can produce a miraculous turnaround, O'Brien will soon join the scrape heap of failed talk show hosts.

Summing up, across the finish line: Leno, Letterman, O'Brien

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The Morning Midway: Sean Penn in the Big Cage? New Circus Movie Worth Dreaming About ...

Based on the bestselling novel about circus life set in the Great Depression, Water for the Elephants is about to become a film, and Sean Penn is reported to be in the running to play "a charismatic but dangerous animal trainer."

Penn might then co-star with Reese Witherspoon, herself cast as an alluring equestrienne and wife to the wild man in the Big Cage.

And then there's Robert Pattinson (above), about whom I know nothing. Said to be a heartthrob, he would play a young veterinarian student hired to assist with the animals. The three figures become embroiled in a love triangle. Sounds promising, if not precariously melodramatic. Another mediocre circus movie trading on the usual cliches and spectacle? Few rise to the occasion. Even the Greatest Show On Earth has its critics. Most agree on the superlative Trapeze, possibly the finest big top flick ever made.

Now I have this urge to get my hands on the novel, wondering how many degrees of history underpin the author's narrative approach. The story promises a gritty look at what a more realistic form of circus once was up and down our free-wheeling sawdust trails. That could be refreshing if done right.

I'm waiting.

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The Morning Midway: Does Big Apple Circus Need Better Marketing? Just Ask Forbes ...

I've never exactly regarded New York's own circus as in dire need of cash, although a look at its masthead in the program magazine resembles an out-of-control bureaucracy. Perhaps pink slips to half the staff would bring instant solvency.

In fact, according to Forbes magazine, the economic downturn has hit BAC fairly hard, with the show discounting tickets to fill seats. "It has also had to initiate layoffs and pay cuts for its administrative staff. It is more important than ever for Big Apple, which advertises its shows through direct mail, traditional advertising and social media, to have an effective marketing plan."

So Forbes last September assigned a marketing interventionist (my term) to examine the operation inside and out and make voluntary recommendations. What Linda Sawyer, chief executive of the ad agency Deutsch, found was an organization that needs to better "trumpet its good works through communications and use of its media partners to make sure its audience knows about its community programs." Duh? New Yorkers don't already know? Forecasts expert Linda, "It might sway more people to chose its show over performances by rivals Ringling Bros. and Cirque du Soleil." I was not nervously aware of BAC having problems getting bodies into the tent.

Onward and downward: This might make better sense. Ms. Sawyer suggested that Binder's big top reduce the number of media outlets it employs, "picking the most effective ones and spending more money with them." She advocates "larger, more eye-catching ads." I'll agree to that; the small one they've been placing for several years in The New York Times featuring Grandma looks awfully threadbare and hand-me-down, especially for a New York show advertising in a New York paper. On the other hand, they may have reason to believe that the recurrence of this redundant design identifies their brand by subliminally appealing to the idea of Big Apple Circus as an annual holiday event.

Okay, one more Sawyer appeal, and this one I like. BAC should reward repeat visitors (Hey, that's me!) rather than just those who donate (that's not me) with some of the discounts or benefits offered the latter.

She also slights the circus's presence on the web, arguing they need to be more effective at reaching their target audience of moms and kids. The show was using only 1% of its ad budget on the Internet. Maybe she's onto something.

Now, Forbes & Sawyer, I have your next assignment: How Ringling-Barnum can get more bodies into the seats here in Oakland, as well as, I assume, elsewhere. They play to thousands more empty chairs than does their far smaller rival back there in Gotham.

Really, I'm serious. And after that, I've got a whole list of other circuses you need to take a look at.

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