Over the Top – Taking TJ to the Circus

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey came to town a few weeks ago. We happen to be on the mailing list of specials at the Times Union Center, and I took advantage of the awesome pre-sale coupon code that let me order tickets before they went on sale to the general public, at the special Opening Night $10 rate, and at an additional 20% pre-sale discount! Moral of the story: Sign up for the mailing list of your favorite local event venue. It’s worth it!

Warning: This post is photo-intensive!

We showed up exactly one hour early to take advantage of the circus pre-show. We did this last year, too, for the “Bellobration” show, but TJ wasn’t quite three yet, so he didn’t know quite what to make it. This year, for “Over the Top,” he knew that this was pretty cool, and he loved gawking at all of the sights from atop Daddy’s shoulders.

It was pretty crowded down on the arena floor, but Tom (aka Daddy) is a pretty big guy, so he can make his way through a crowd. I just kind of suck in my gut and try to follow as quickly as possible. It was hard to get to the main stage where the animals were being brought out, but we managed it.

The little circus ponies were pretty cute, although I wasn’t able to snap a [decent] picture until the pony trainer was leading this one away.

TJ was enthralled by the man on stilts. Would it be right if I called him a moco jumbie? Or is that term just springing to mind because of the song “Papa Moco Jumbie” on Noggin? In any case, this man was amazing on stilts!

I don’t know if she’s technically referred to as a gymnast or an acrobat, but she was beautiful and talented up there on the rings!

I think that’s why TJ was more interested in looking at her than he was at riding the fake horse they had set up for photo opportunities. I couldn’t even get him to look at the camera and smile for me!

It absolutely amazes me what some of these performers can do with their bodies. The things this man could do with that pot were amazing. Not only did he balance it on his head, but he rolled it across his shoulders, tossed it in the air, and caught it on his back!

Seeing this look on TJ’s face makes the whole thing worth the price of admission.

Seriously, who doesn’t love elephants? We learned that an elephant has something like a thumb on the end of its trunk, and that’s what helps them move things and pick things up. Pretty cool, huh?

And this elephant knows how to paint! I entered us all into a drawing to win the picture she painted that night. My heart was in my throat when they announced the winner – whose first name was TJ. Not my TJ though.

I thought this was a sweet picture of TJ by the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey sign. He couldn’t take his eyes off the man on stilts.

I don’t know what I would’ve done without Tom there. Besides some quality family time at the circus, he made it possible for TJ to see the really cool stuff over the tops of people’s heads. He definitely got to see more of the animals than I did!

We heard the announcement about taking our seats so the show could begin… so we did. A local news personality, Jim Kambrich from WNYT-13, announced the show as “Guest Ringmaster.” And then it started.

This is the one decent picture I got from the entire show. I failed to check the battery before leaving the house, and it died shortly after this. The “Showtime” number was excellent. So much to see! The Ringmaster, Chuck Wagner, had such a beautiful voice. I didn’t realize why until I was researching this blog post – he played the role of Rapunzel’s Prince in the Original Broadway cast of Into the Woods. One of my favorite musicals of all time. I got a little giddy when I discovered that!

This is what it was all about. The look of pure joy on TJ’s face after the lights went out and the show started. It made me so happy, especially since it was so loud, and TJ doesn’t really care for loud noises! He was enrapt. His little head was bopping along with the music, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of anything. Even when he was obviously so tired he looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.

As I mentioned up above, my camera died in the middle of the show. Which really sucked, because there was some amazing stuff going on. Thankfully, Ringling Bros was kind enough to provide photos in their media kit, and all remaining pictures you see are courtesy of Feld Entertainment. (Thanks for the permission to use them!)

I really enjoyed the costuming this year. There was a bit of a Medieval/Renaissance theme in the beginning, and I thought that was pretty cool. And Gail’s Flying Dogs were so cute. When I saw dogs at the circus, I thought they would be kind of lame. (I mean, bring on the tigers and elephants!) But they were SO fast and so well trained, I took back the accusation of lame in my head.

Next was the “Queen of the Clouds.” The aerialists were amazing. The women in the rings and the men climbing ribbons of fabric – it was just breathtaking. I was a little disappointed by the comedy trapeze bit at the end, but the kids all loved it.

There was a bit where Tom, the head clown, grabbed a woman from the audience who was on her cell phone. It was obvious to me that it was staged, but I think most of the kids were fooled. I wonder if the woman was some sort of contest winner or if she was a member of the circus troupe.

The Cossack Cavalry was one of my favorite acts. The horses were amazing. So beautiful! Both the horses and their riders could do so many things, it was just incredible. (I’m starting to run out of adjectives to capture my thoughts!) Jenny Vidbel and her animals were great, too… although the white ponies were my favorite of the bunch. (A porcupine and a pig? Really?)

The Act 1 finale was indeed “Over the Top.” The Ringmaster had a crew of biker babes to “fire it up” and Tom the Clown had his crew to “pump it up.” Seven motorcycles in the cage! Wow!

Intermission brought a potty break for the guys and a trip to the concession stand for me. I also stopped by the souvenir stand to grab TJ a crown. It came with a “S’mores Puff” on a stick, but that didn’t get eaten. We really didn’t think that TJ would last past intermission, but he wanted to stay – even though he didn’t blink for a minute at a time!

Act 2 started with clowns in penguin suits. I’ve never been a huge fan of clowns. But Daniel Raffo’s tigers were really cool. I never fail to be amazed when a man can make such enormous beasts hop on two legs, roll over, and play fight!

I could have done without the bubble gag with Tom and the Ringmaster.

But then came the contortionists and the hand balancers. I don’t know who was more fun to watch. How can they DO those things? Super Silva and his foot looping on the trapeze? Pretty cool. But I was looking forward to what was coming next.

The Flying Caceres Double Trapeze act. Unfortunately, this is exactly when TJ decided he wanted to go home. I can’t say I blame him – it was over an hour past his bedtime. But I definitely missed the climax of the whole thing.

What else did we miss? I believe we missed the elephant act, a swinging pole act, and whatever they did for a finale.

But whatever we missed, we had a little boy who fell asleep on the car ride home with a smile on his face. We’ll get to stay for the whole show another year!

Christina Gleason (976 Posts)

That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.