Page 37 - The Outdoor Showman OCT-DEC 2018

RODEO NEWS
By Geoff Greaves
3. BUSY CIRCUS YEAR
It has been a busy but enjoyable year for me attending circus performances in the Newcastle area, beginning with Stardust Circus at Cessnock in January. I was in the ‘sell-out’ audience enjoying a top programme of artistes, clowning and animals, including lions.
Sometime ago Pepe Ashton mothballed his Joseph Ashton Circus in Western Australia, to tour his new Big Top production Infamous, wowing audiences on its national tour. I saw the sensational programme on NSW Central Coast and again in Newcastle under the Spiegel Big Top. Infamous is a combination of sexy circus acts, raunchy dancing and cheeky comedy that had audiences crying with laughter.
I was privileged to attend the first anniversary performance of Circus Phoenix Extreme, at Raymond Terrace, north of Newcastle. Proprietor is Phoenix Harrison, son of well-known circus entrepreneurs Carl Harrison and Sue (nee Perry). Nine artistes presented an array of acts not in the usual circus ring but on a large square patch enabling three sections of seating to be ‘upfront and personal. ’Weeks later I was in the ‘sell-out’ audience at Weber’s Circus with its exciting, well balanced production in Croudace Bay Park on the shore of Lake Macquarie, west of Newcastle.
Near Weber’s Big Top was a Gypsy Cobb foal from mare named Butterfly (pictured). Named De-la Vega the colt is the 19th for proud owner Wonita (Weber) Matousek, a popular artiste on Weber’s Circus. Wonita also has her own Gypsy Cobb Stud in Australia’s top horse breeding area, the Hunter Valley north of Newcastle. I took the above photo some hours after the birth.
I am planning to conclude the year with a late November visit to Circus Rio in Newcastle. I am told it is a fun and inspiring experience under the Big Top, based on the electric atmosphere of Rio De Janerio’s Carnival. I am told Circus Rio is a performance that celebrates the capability of the human form through colour, dance, music and life.
3. FAREWELL
And so another year is coming to an end. Sadly, this is my final contribution of the Circus and Rodeo News to The Outdoor Showman. I am retiring after more than 40 years, during which time I have met hundreds of wonderful circus proprietors and their lovely families, as well as the dedicated artistes etc.
I became a fan of the circus when a six-year-old. I saw a performance of the original Silver’s Circus in 1946. The next
day in the Barraba (NSW) school class room, I told my fellow pupils: ‘I went to the circus last night and saw the Tamer (the late Mervyn King, pictured above) place a bib around the lion’s neck and fed the animal a plate of bacon and eggs’!
I wish to thank these wonderful people for their hospitality and great friendship over the past 70 years. Also, it was both fun and rewarding assisting in ‘the ideas and stunts to ensure good houses’ when the various circuses played Newcastle and neighbouring Lake Macquarie City over the past 40 years. Also the stories that “made good copy” every three months in my double page spread of The Outdoor Showman. Wishing Australian circus and sideshows continuing health, wealth and prosperity in the years to come.
Thank you all. Sincerely Geoff Greaves
OCT-DEC 2018 THE OUTDOOR SHOWMAN 35