MILWAUKEE — After announcing it was shutting down seemingly for good in 2017, it looked like the end of the road for “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
But like the magician’s sleight of hand, there may be a future again in the works.
A year ago, parent company Feld Entertainment Inc. posted a job notice for “Casting Director – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – The Greatest Show on Earth.”
Feld Entertainment operates all kinds of touring shows, such as Disney on Ice, Jurassic World Live Tour, Sesame Street Live and monster truck programs. The Feld family began working with Ringling descendants in the 1950s.
Now, the circuses new website, Ringling.com, has announced its new tour with a stop at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum Oct. 13-15, 2023. TICKETS
The show no longer will include live animals, but promises an arena spectacle at unbelievable scale, with stunning feats of real human achievement, musical performances blended with aerial artistry, modern comedy and never-before-seen acts on highwire, trapeze, bicycles, and more.
Founded in Delavan, in 1881 following the merger of two older circuses, the Barnum and Bailey’s Circus went on to become one of the largest in the world.
It was one of more than 26 circuses that set up winter quarters in Delavan from 1847 to 1894, according to the Delavan-Delavan Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.
Then in 1884, The Ringling Brothers Circus got its start in Baraboo when five brothers decided to start a vaudeville-style show.
Ringling Brothers purchased Barnum and Bailey in 1907 and formally joined with it in 1919, creating the “Greatest Show on Earth.”
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