‘The Greatest Show on Earth’

In an age of CGI-laden movies and TV shows that have distorted the very concept of “reality,” it’s nice that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus exists.

The Flying Caceres attempting quadruple somersaults on the trapeze? The Puyang Troupe’s acrobatic artistry? The Balancing Body Benders cramming three people into an area the size of a milk crate? The assorted animals, clowns, dancers, acrobats and other performers who will take over the Orleans Arena today when the circus returns to town for a four-day run?

All real. All live. And all performing in front of your very eyes, without the benefit of computers or green screens.

Don’t misunderstand: The “Greatest Show on Earth” is happy to embrace technology — video screens, for instance — to create a more wow-worthy show, says ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson, but only when that doesn’t mean “selling our souls.”

The result: Today, just as it was nearly a century-and-a-half ago, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus remains “a show for children of all ages,” Iverson says, “and the goal is always to prove that it can be just as appealing for any and every child, whether they’re 2 years old or 102 years old.”

This year’s edition of the show, dubbed “Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Barnum’s FUNundrum!” commemorates the 200th anniversary of P.T. Barnum’s birth and is “a really incredible tribute to the circus arts,” Iverson says.

But, this year, the show also salutes the great showman’s “great imagination,” Iverson says.

Barnum is “the father of pop culture,” he explains, and the embodiment of the adventure, innovation and commitment to excellence and diversity that always have been part of America’s character.

About 130 performers from six continents will perform in this year’s shows, Iverson notes, and “what you are going to see is second to none. There is no other show where you see a woman, five-foot-two and 98 pounds, while wearing pumps, balancing her husband of over 150 pounds of muscle over her head.”

Nor is there any other show with a strongman who lies on his back and “lifts half-a-ton over his head,” Iverson says, or with “a 58-year-old man doing double backward somersaults on double stilts,” or with “seven motorcycles going 70 miles an hour within inches of each other in a 16-foot sphere.

“Broadway can’t give you that. Hollywood can’t without special effects. We are our own special effects. We are our own stunt people.”

And at the center of it all is Iverson, a vocalist and performer who first joined the circus as ringmaster at the age of 22.

“I was the youngest ringmaster ever,” he says. “I was the first African-American (ringmaster) and I was the first New Yorker to do it. I did the grand slam.”

Before each Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performance this weekend, audiences also will have the chance to become, if only for a little while, a part of it, too. Ninety minutes before showtime, ticket holders may attend an Animal Open House to view and take photos of the Asian elephants, Bengal tigers, miniature horses and zebras that appear in the show. That open house ends 30 minutes before showtime.

Then, 60 minutes before each show, ticket holders may go onto the arena floor and mingle with, take photos of and obtain autographs from the show’s clowns, dancers, acrobats and performers.

So, including the grand show itself, “basically you’re going to experience nearly four hours of entertainment for as low as $15,” Iverson says.

Although Iverson knows the circus and its performers better than anyone, he declines to name a favorite act.

“I can’t say I have favorite acts,” he explains. “I do have favorite moments, and they’re mostly nerve-wracking, and I think that’s what keeps the shows fresh for me: It’s not the same show every night.”

The unpredictability of each performance is what makes the circus “the greatest show on earth,” he says. “I like the fluidity of it. I like to think on my feet. I think the arts should be like life, in a sense: There should be some unpredictability there.

“And, again, it’s hard to get bored with excellence. I mean, I’m still so fascinated when I see how good these people are. I’ve seen it hundreds of times, but I’m still, ‘My goodness, how do these folks get their bodies to do that all the time?’ ”

“It’s just wild to me,” Iverson says with a laugh. “I feel like I’m in the audience. I’m a paid audience member who gets to run his mouth and wear fabulous clothes and tell the world that Superman and Wonder Woman happen to be in the building.”

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.