“The Greatest Show on Earth” has rolled into Washington with a trainload of clowns, tigers and trapeze artists prepared to amaze and delight audiences this weekend at the Verizon Center — for the last time.
After 146 years of entertaining throngs across the country, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has decided to end its traveling showcase after this farewell tour. The circus’ final show is scheduled for May 21 in Uniondale, New York.
“This really is the end of an era,” said Steve Payne, vice president of corporate communications for Feld Entertainment Inc., the family-run company that owns Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.
Company officials announced in January that the circus would embark on a final series of performances that once were widely considered the epitome of entertainment.
But entertainment — from television and movies to video games and the internet — has changed since the circus’ founding in 1871, and Mr. Payne said the circus has changed over the decades to reach out and attract new spectators. Ringling Bros. even developed a circus mobile app and employed social media to hawk its shows.
Still, the circus found it could no longer withstand mounting costs and declining ticket sales.
“It’s a massive production, and it’s an expensive production,” Mr. Payne said Thursday, watching crews set up the Verizon Center auditorium, where the show will open Friday.
“Ringling Bros. has always been about seeing the most amazing human and animal performers, which you couldn’t see anywhere else. When it started, there was no television. Now there’s, what, a thousand channels? It’s just a very different entertainment landscape than it used to be,” he said.
Feld Entertainment is helping roughly 600 performers and crew members transition into new positions following the show’s final run, said Mr. Payne, who has been with the company for 10 years.
“It’s an emotional time,” he said. “We all recognize it was a bittersweet decision to have to do this, and it’s going to be a drastic change.”
Years of protests by animal rights activists prompted some localities to ban certain animal acts and eventually pressured Ringling Bros. to abandon its elephant acts last year, which further drove down ticket sales, Mr. Payne said.
He said that tickets have been selling fast since January’s announcement, with longtime circus fans eager to see the show under the big top for a final time.
“The outpouring of support from fans has just been extraordinary,” he said, adding that the District has always been a “great market” for the circus.
While the circus is on its way out, Feld Entertainment’s 24 other shows are going strong, according to Mr. Payne.
“Ringling Bros. may be taking its final bow,” he said, “but there’s going to be a lot of family entertainment coming out over the years for people to enjoy.”
The circus is scheduled for the Verizon Center through Sunday before it moves on to EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, on April 7.
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