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A32 FEATURE
Friday 5 May 2017

AP NewsBreak: Ringling’s final show coming to Facebook Live

TAMARA LUSH and relationship marketing, er.
Associated Press said Ringling did something The live show allows people
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — similar, although on a small- to “witness the end of an
Ringling Bros. and Barnum er scale, during the final el- era.”
& Bailey Circus first wowed ephant act performance in “We wanted to give fami-
audiences in the 19th cen- 2016. lies around the world one
tury. For the iconic Ameri- During that broadcast last chance to experience
can spectacle’s final act, it on Facebook, Ringling ‘the greatest show on
will broadcast the final per- showed a pre-recorded earth’ together,” he said.
formance on a 21st centu- intro, then cut to the live Ringling Bros. has two
ry medium: Facebook Live. act. For the May 21 show, touring circuses; one will
The company told The As- the entire performance will perform for four nights in
sociated Press this week be broadcast live from start Providence, Rhode Island,
that the final circus show to finish and will be hosted starting Thursday and end-
on the evening of May 21 by Kristen Michelle Wilson, ing for good in that city on
will be streamed live on the Ringling’s first female ring- Sunday. The other touring
social media network and master. show will end at the Nassau
on the circus’s website. The Organizers have taken into Coliseum in New York on
final performance will be in consideration that most May 21.
Uniondale, New York. people will probably tune The circus, with its exotic an-
Earlier this year , Feld En- in on phones or tablets. imals, flashy costumes and
tertainment, the company “It’s basically a TV shoot death-defying acrobats,
that owns the iconic circus, and we’re certainly think- has been a staple of en-
announced that the show ing about lighting and tertainment in the United
would end in May. sound,” said Gomez. “How States since the mid-1800s.
The circus’s decline hap- will this look when you’re Phineas Taylor Barnum
pened due to a variety looking at it on your phone made a traveling specta-
of factors. Declining at- or your tablet? We’ve had cle of animals and human
tendance, combined lots of conversations about oddities popular, while the
with high operating costs, tight shots so you can see five Ringling brothers per-
changing public tastes the performer’s skill and ex- formed juggling acts and
and prolonged battles with pressions and their artistry.” skits from their home base
animal rights groups all In this May 1, 2016 file photo, an Asian elephant performs during Gomez said Ringling will in Wisconsin. Eventually,
contributed to its demise. the national anthem for the final time in the Ringling Bros. and leave the video up for a they merged and the mod-
Sam Gomez, the circus’s Barnum & Bailey Circus in Providence, R.I. short while — it’s unclear ern circus was born.q
vice president of digital Associated Press how long — but not forev-