King Charles Troupe, a group

of basketball unicyclists,

perform in "Built to Amaze!"

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM AND BAILEY

Feld Media

illoomam,„

Greatest Show on Earth

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM AND BAILEY/Feld Media

Tabayara Maluenda, an animal trainer, works with tigers.

briefs Chinese theater

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Thursday, September 26, 2013

DAILY HERALD • www.heraldextra.com D5

High-wire unicyclists peddle extreme talent at Ringling Bros. circus

Kari Kenner DAILY HERALD

n this age of modernization and customization, people are pretty used to getting what they want. From personalized smart phones to custom cars, televisions and com-

puters, most things are made specifi-cally to order and come complete with door-side delivery. The customization doesn't even stop with how you like your food, so why should it stop with your entertainment?

That's the philosophy of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, at least, as it comes to Salt Lake City with the latest edition of The Greatest Show on Earth: "Built to Amaze!"

"Built to Amaze!" is exactly what its name implies — a circus experience custom-built and "extraordinarily engi-neered" to provide high-quality family fun to children of all ages. Featuring 110 talented artists, acrobats and athletes from 17 countries across the globe and 95 different exotic and domestic animals, "Built to Amaze!" is a show packed with imagination and specifically designed to leave you filled with wonder, no matter your age.

"I've always wanted to go to the cir-cus ever since I was a little kid," said Kimberly Golding, a Utah Valley Uni-versity student who will be heading to EnergySolutions arena for the upcoming show. "I've wanted to go and see what I've heard and seen on TV all my life about circuses come to life. I am hoping to see lions roar and tigers jump through hoops. ... I'm such a kid inside, so I'm just excited to see all the animals and all the great tricks they do and talents they have!"

According to Golding, the circus can do more than just provide you with amusement, though. For five days only, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bai-ley Circus will gladly provide you with all the high-flying quality entertainment you need to escape the stresses of life, something Golding said she's most look-ing forward to.

"I think it's important to take a break to de-stress yourself from the hectic

parts of life and to have some fun," she said. "Giving myself a break like this helps me have motivation and energy to go back to life after and deal with the stress and pressures of it all."

That is exactly what Joseph Gary of the King Charles Troupe in "Built to Amaze" said he hopes for all of his cir-cus audiences.

"It's just a great feeling to see every-one come in with excitement and leave with even more excitement," he said. "It's an uplifting end to see everyone smiling and having a great time, being thrilled and entertained."

The King Charles Troupe is one of the featured performances in "Built to Amaze," and actually came into being because of the circus.

It all began in 1918 when a young boy named Jerry King ducked under the tent of The Greatest Show on Earth and caught sight of a man on the high wire riding a unicycle. That image stayed with him throughout his life until, 40 years later, as a father concerned with the social situation in his South Bronx community, King taught his son and oth-er interested neighborhood children to ride a unicycle, forming a club based on direction, discipline and Christian prin-ciples. Only 10 years later, the troupe successfully auditioned for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, and became the first all-black circus act in the history of Ringling Bros.

It's been more than half a decade since that day, but according to Gary, though the members have changed, the values that founded the King Charles Troupe have not.

"My biggest hope for (the audience) to gain from King Charles Troupe is the

togetherness, the unity, the timing, the fun, the excitement and the thrill that we bring to them," Gary said. "The comedy and high-speed agility we produce by being on unicycles and entertaining you at the same time. I hope they gain the general ideal of 'There's nothing you cannot do so long as you put your mind and heart to it.' You can be successful at whatever you choose to do."

The King Charles Troupe now con-sists of 12 members who perform on uni-cycles up to 10 feet tall, bringing comedy and agility to the stage with games of basketball, football and even jump rope on just one wheel. Gary was introduced to the troupe by its leader, Kip Jones, a talented unicyclist who recently set a world record for performing 164 single jumps on a unicycle while double-dutch jump-roping, if you can imagine that! That introduction was all it took for Gary to be hooked.

"When I was a little kid I saw them, and was always fascinated and im-pressed by their scale and talent," he said. "When I was introduced to the team I was overwhelmed. It's been a lot of fun! Once I found them, I felt like a kid in a candy store. It was so exciting and I knew I wanted to do this."

It's been over 30 years since Gary first joined the Troupe, and he's been touring with them ever since, both in and out of the circus. Aside from just getting to see the country and the world, Gary said his favorite thing about traveling is the many unique individuals he gets to encounter.

"With performing, traveling and en-tertaining, no matter where you go you meet interesting people of all nationali-ties and cultures," he said. "The thing

If you go

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM AND BAILEY CIRCUS When: Tonight through Monday with shows starting at 7 p.m. tonight and running at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday Where: EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple in Salt Lake City Cost: $20 to $90 depending on location and ticket package. Save 50 percent tonight only with special $10 tickets. Info: 800-888-TIXX, www.smithstix.com , www.ringling.com More on the King Charles Troupe: www. kingcharlestroupe.com

I've learned from it is that you meet lifelong friends — everything from other performers to the floor crew, backstage crew and training crew. You just be-come friends working together, laugh-ing, joking and hanging out. It's really a great feeling."

Among the other featured performers scheduled to show at the Big Top with the King Charles Troupe are the comedic animal-presenting duo of Alex and Irina Emelin, the Ukrainian Trampoline Tow-er Tumblers (aerial athletes), the Dan-guir Family high-wire act and Tabayara Maluenda, a professional tiger trainer.

"(You) can expect to see great deal of things," Gary said of the show's lineup. "Elephants doing dances, horses performing — they'll also see 18 fero-cious tigers. ... It's The Greatest Show on Earth, built with so much amazement you'll be at edge of your seat the whole show. What they're bringing to the arena this year is just unbelievable and phenomenal. You'll have no choice but to just smile, laugh and enjoy yourself. That's all you can do!"

To add to the amazement, one hour before each performance, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus in-vites audience members to its All Access Pre-Show, where audience members can meet with the show's international performers, try on costumes and learn circus skills such as juggling from the Ringling Bros. Clown Alley.

"Come onto the floor and become part of a great pre-show where you get to meet with some performers of the show," Gary said. "From start to finish the show is just nothing but excite-ment!"

The Brigham Young University Department of Theatre and Media Arts will open its season on Friday with its premiere performance of "The Night-ingale."

Written by Hans Chris-tian Anderson and adapted for the stage by Timothy Mason, "The Nightingale" weaves the tale of an an-cient Chinese emperor who neglects the beautiful song of a real nightingale for the artificial and hollow mag-nificence of a mechanical one, leaving audiences to ponder the true worth of what we value most.

"The Nightingale" will show in the Margetts The-atre of the Harris Fine Arts Center on the BYU campus Friday through Oct. 12 with evening performances Fri-day and Oct. 2 to 4 and 8 to 11 at 7 p.m. and matinee performances Friday and Oct. 12 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Tickets to the production range in price from $4 to $7 and can be purchased in ad-vance by visiting byuarts. com/tickets or calling (801) 422-2981.

Submissions due for UCAG exhibit

The Utah County Art Gallery is now taking sub-missions for its 2012 Pho-tography and Digital Art Show. The exhibit will run from Oct. 1 through Nov. 16. Submissions will be ac-cepted Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Health & Justice Building, 151 S. University Ave. in Provo. The Utah County Art Gal-lery is on the main floor. A $10 non-refundble fee will be charged per entry, and up to two entries may be submitted.

For rules, more infor-mation or to download an application, visit www.utah-countyartgallery.com.

Author lecture

This Saturday, the Provo City Library, Provo Can-yon Review and the Utah Humanities Council will join together to present an evening with acclaimed author and journalist David Abrams.

Abrams made his debut in the literary world with his award-winning novel about the Iraq War, "Fob-bit." Based on personal experiences and journal entries from his own time serving in Iraq, "Fobbit" stands as a new perspec-tive on military life, and is filled with the dark humor surrounding a modern-day war zone.

Abrams also served for 20 years as a journalist in the active-duty Army and still actively blogs about his experiences and view-points.

Abrams will visit the Young Special Events Room of the Provo City Library, 550 N. University Ave., on Saturday at 7 p.m. in conjunction with the Utah Humanities Book Festival in a lecture event that is free and open to the public.

For more information on Abrams or other Book Festival Events, visit www. utahhumanities.org/Book-Festival.

— Kari Kenner

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