Circus

[bobquasit]

We went to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus in Providence on Saturday. Teri hates the circus; she thinks that they're cruel to their animals. I'm afraid that she might be right. But at the same time, seeing a Russian circus was one of the more memorable moments of my childhood, and I wanted to provide that for Sebastian.

We picked up the cheapest tickets via Ticketmaster; they were $15. Teri decided that she wanted to come along too. Ticketmaster pissed me off royally by charging an additional $3.50 per ticket "convenience charge" (what the hell is convenient about that?) and $5.85 in assorted additional "screw you, we're a monopoly" fees.

That includes charging us a "delivery" fee for letting ME PRINT OUT THE TICKETS!

Ticketmaster is a monopoly and should be broken up. The executives who run it should be executed. Sorry, I might have lost my temper for a minute there.

Anyway, we went, and even though we were in the cheap seats, we had a good view of the circus. The Dunkin' Donuts Center is quite small, so even the upper-level seats get a closer view of the stage (or ice, during hockey) than you get in larger venues. We all had a lot of fun. It was a long show, close to three hours, but it was really well-done and impressive. Okay, there were some cheesy moments, yes. But circuses are primarily for kids, after all.

The one thing that bothered me and Teri was the tiger part of the show. Teri suspected that the tigers' spirits had been broken, and I could easily imagine that that was true. Sebastian was very excited to see the tigers, though.

There were more acrobatics than Teri and I had expected. Maybe B&B has been influenced by some of the new human-only circuses.

I was stunned to pay FIFTEEN DOLLARS for a snow-cone in a light-up circus cup. Stunned.

But we'll definitely go again. In the meantime, we're looking forward to seeing They Might Be Giants at a family show in Boston in May!

Comments

Circus is wonderful!

[(Anonymous)]

Sir,

I am extremely glad that you took your son to visit the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show. The circus is definitely a place for children of ALL ages. It's sitting in the audience and hearing the laughter and amusement of young children that make the circus one of my favorite places.

I just wanted to stop by and reassure you on the treatment of animals at Ringling Bros. I have spent many hours with this same show you have seen and can guarantee I know the animals and animal caretakers personally. The animals are treated with the utmost care and respect. All of the performers would also tell you the animals rank above themselves. As for the cats' "spirits", these cats are amazingly trained and wonderful to be around, but during a 5-7 min performance their individual personalities or spirits are not highlighted unless they pertain to athletic capability. They are definitely healthy animals (albeit a little chubby) under the watchful eyes of one of the most diverse and well qualified veterinary teams, surpassing many zoos and sanctuaries.

I encourage you to go again to a Ringling Bros. circus and maybe try in a different venue as depending on the hosting arena some of the shows will have an Animal Open House where you can view the animals' homes for yourself.

Thank you again for letting your son experience such the opportunity...next time in stead of the snow cone go for the cotton candy, I always do!

Cheers,
Chris

[donnad.livejournal.com]

You should check out the Big Apple Circus sometime. It is an entirely different experience, much more intimate and actually under a big top, not in a building. They might be a little more expensive that RBB&B's cheap seats, but no seat is more than about 15 rows from the ring. They come to Boston once a year, usually around this time.

[audacian.livejournal.com]

Well, I came in to tell you that yes, the circus is notoriously bad at the way it treats its animals, but it looks like a PR rep got here before I did! Oh well, I'm sure you're satisfied to trust the source, after all. :)

It's a shame, because the circus really is rather neat.

[mom-o-cass.livejournal.com]

yay circus and HEY They Might BE Ginats? in BOston? in MAY?!?! we are SOOOO there! Cass has been itching to see them :)