Clockwise from top: A circus tiger and his tamer go one-on-one in
the center ring of the Ringling Brothers Barnumand Bailey Circus.
The stars of the circus parade around the three rings at the
beginning of the event Tuesday night at the Omana Civic
Auditorium. A member of the Children of the Rainbow comes
flying over a group of spectators and members of the crew.
Photos by Jeff Haller
Performers dazzle
young and old alike
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
The circus has come to town!
The Ringling Brothers and Bamum
and Bailey circus entertained children
and adults alike in a 2 1 /2-hour show at
the Omaha Civic Auditorium on Tues
day and Wednesday.
The circus was chock lull of clown
acts, including a featured act by re
nowned harlequin David Lariblc.
Larible’s comedy utilized audience
members to help him perform his hilar
ious antics. The unsuspecting circus
patrons added a special flavor of impro
visation to the scene.
Other clowns entertained each sec
tion of the aud iencc dur i ng changco vers
and the intermission.
The music of this three-ring specta
cle was delivered by the circus’ own full
orchestra. They played instrumental
songs from such artists as U2, Peter
Gabriel, Michael Jackson and John
Williams.
Original circus tunes were also per
formed by the orchestra and sung by the
multi-talented ringmaster, Eric Micha
el Gillctt.
Of course, there were many impres
sive animal acts. Tyrone Taylor and his
11 Bengal tigers shook the center ring
with a roaring performance. At one
point, a monstrous cat sat perched on a
disco ball, spinning it around with most
of the lights off.
Mark OliverGebel.sonoflegendary
circus performer Gunther Gebel-Will
iams, presented an act featuring two
animals that weren't on the best of
terms in the wild — elephants and
zebras.
Gcbcl, along with his sister Tina,
also brought out an impressive array of
Lippizancr horses and Arabian stal
lions that responded only to their train
er’s voice.
And the Bogersof Arkansas brought
out their bison-and-mountain lion act,
which brought back memories from
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.
There were a number of traditional
circus acts, including a number of big,
burly men who spanned nearly half the
length of the Civic with their (lying
trapeze performance.
There were also several balancing
acts, featuring children from around the
world. The hand-balancing of the
Tumens from Mongolia came close to
suspending gravity.
And 13-year old Olga Pikhienko
from Moscow extended grace and flex
ibility beyond its norms as she dazzled
the audience with her combination of
ballet and gymnastics.
The Children of Cherepovets from
Russia and the 12 Chicago Kid/, per
formed amazing floor acrobatics and
redefined rope-jumping as an art form.
One of the final acts was.the infa
mous Globe of Death, a noisy show
featuring three motorcyclists in a seem
ingly too small steel sphere that sped
around each other, and at one point a
woman standing in the middle, at every
angle and degree.
When the lights.were turned out and
ultraviolet rays pointed at the cyclists in
their day-glo outfits, the audience look
a collective gasp of awe.
Ringling Brothers and Bamum and
Baileyonceagainproved that they give,
w ithout a doubt, “The G rcatest Show on
Earth."