Page 22 - The Outdoor Showman April - June 2025

CIRCUS NEWS
Happy Days!
“The day after Election Day (May 3), people
started spending again,” says Hudson’s
Circus proprietor Shane Lennon.
“Then the Reserve Bank dropped
Interest Rates, and the purses opened.
Happy days are here again.”
For about six months, the looming Federal
election and high interest rates cast a
shadow over the Australian economy.
The entertainment industry, circuses
and the whole field of discretionary
spending had been doing it tough.
Some shows stripped down and cut staff,
bringing in casuals where needed. Some
did shorter jumps. Some proprietors
drove trucks to keep the cash flow.
One way or another shows survived.
“As we always have to,” says Shane. “
“We’re show people. It’s a life-style, a
living, a profession, a service to brighten
the lives of other people. We love it, and
we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Ashton Entertainments
Starting late last year, a new
evolution of the Ashton Family has
become Ashton Entertainments,
working mainly Queensland.
It uses the clean peaky white two-
poler from Circus Xsavia, formerly
owned by Chantal’s parents, Brasil
and Jan (Ashton) Rodriguez.
Brasil came to Australia when Ashtons
brought out Los Muchachos, the
Spanish youth circus, about 1974.
Chantal (Ashton) Rodriguez, with
partner Jefferson Amiral and two-year-
old Matias, are the driving forces.
In the ring, Chantal does her famous
descent rope, chandelier hoop and
hula-hoop ground numbers.
Jefferson, originally from South America,
does several clown numbers (kids’
disappearing paper and shoes, balloon
bow-and-arrow, and the knife-throwing
act famously presented by Uncle Gary
Grant), and rides in the Globe.
Program includes Tiffany, a contortionist
with very strong tricks, two solo aerials,
trapeze and hoop, Cyr wheel, ballet
and a six-high chair-balancing act.
The show moves on two semis,
(one impressive Freightliner) four
smaller trucks with trailers or vans,
and several car-and-van-units,
doing one-week-or-more stands.
From big-business January holidays at
Coolangatta-Tweed Heads, they played
mostly showgrounds , some near-
Brisbane sites, Kingaroy, western towns to
Roma, Beaudesert, April-May at Lowood,
then Warwick and Stanthorpe in May.
Four new Big Tops
Always optimists, Australian
circuses have been showing under
four new Big Tops this season.
Lassu, Merrik Ashton’s new cabaret circus,
has a 30-metre white Italian spiegeltent,
trimmed in black. They showed Perth
at New Year, Adelaide for the Fringe
Festival in March, Newcastle after that
- 7,000kms. Some good houses, too.
Harrington’s Circus Show has a
new yellow-and-red Big Top, only
slightly larger than his still-good
two-and-a-half-year-old Top.
Kane and Camelia have kept it
relatively small and neat, to keep up
the “house full” intimacy they get in
those country towns they play.
Because it costs so much now to move
larger shows, they’ve got a great rural and
regional market almost to themselves.
And they’ve bought their first semi-
trailer (from Rudi and Natalie Weber,
of no-longer-operating Weber Bros’
Circus.) it’s a 48-footer, for the tents.
Shane Lennon has bought two
new Italian Big Tops in the past 18
months - one more for Hudson’s
Circus and one for “Scandalous.”
The cabaret circus, now in its second
year after last year’s North Queensland
run, has a re-vamped new program,
with a new comedy lead: Marty
Ashton-Grant’s daughter, Kieama.
That’s three generations of comedy.
They were on the Sunshine
Coast in March, and Lismore,
to reasonable business.
But they lobbed in Newcastle, just
in time for the North Coast 500-
year floods. There’s no business like
no business, for weeks in May, but
they’re off and running now.
Hudson’s had a month of doldrums
- a Tropical Cyclone, then a month
of pre-election, before the .25
percent Interest Rate drop.
It all changed after the cuts were
announced, and the election
result was decisive.
Hudson’s jumped from Brisbane, 1,200
ks to Townsville, via Maryborough
and Mackay, in April and May.
After Townsville’s four good weeks last
year, they’re now on a new site, opposite
The Willows shopping centre and near
Riverway Stadium, for five weeks.
Everyone, Everywhere
Anton and Anna Gasser’s Silvers Circus
played Warragul, then Lakes Entrance,
Victoria, for four weeks in May.
It followed up with three weeks at
Wangaratta - probably the longest
anyone’s ever played either town.
But that seems to suit them. Some
years, they’ve played as few as twelve
Melbourne sites in a year. (And done well!)
It’s now a year since their long-time
Administrator, Margaret Petersen, died.
“Infamous,” Pepe Ashton’s cabaret
circus, was at Penrith, NSW, in May, six
months after their three-month American
tour. Doing good business, too!
Circus Rio was late May at Ballarat,
Victoria’s coldest city.
Observers say Uri’s corflute billing
around the city is excellent. Like the
ballet, for which they’re famous.
Damien Syred’s Circus Royale
played Hampton Park and Ferntree
Gully Hotel site, Melbourne, (at
enormous rental) in May. Melbourne
people still come out in winter.
Gary and Caroline Brophy’s Circus
were at Lithgow, NSW, in May, to good
business, after Orange show, and on
to Yass. Their western acts, which they
showed in Europe, are top class.
Gustavo Barellos’ Circus Latino started
Ashton’s program, Newcastle 1956.
20 THE OUTDOOR SHOWMAN