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Big
top times — Tigers, trapeze artists and tiny horses come to town
By
Lucy Chumbley
Staff
Writer
Tonight, while Prince William sleeps, 36 tractor-trailers will pull into
the Woodbridge Senior High School parking lot under cover of darkness.
At twilight’s first gleaming, a crew of 100 – plus three elephants –
will raise the big top: The circus is coming to town!
The Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus is the United States’ oldest traveling
tented circus and has been on the road since 1884.
And, for 36 years, Ringmaster Jimmy James has been on the road with it.
He joined the circus at 19, worked in wardrobe and then as a white-face
clown. Now he starts the show, announces the acts, calls attention to different
feats, keeps time and, well, keeps the show on the road.
“The ringmaster is the icing on the cake – the centerpiece,”
said James in his deep, rich, ringmaster’s voice. “He’s in command.”
No small task, as the circus tours for 40 weeks of the year, putting
on two shows a day – three on Saturdays and Sundays – with only travel days
in between.
“There are no lazy people around the circus,” he said.
Circus folk come from all over the world – countries like Russia, Bulgaria,
Ukraine, France and Spain are well represented.
“You have to have the patience of God, because you’re dealing with
a traveling United Nations,” said James. “Actually, we get on
beautifully.”
The same is true of the animals: In one of the show’s most popular acts,
Persian cats perform with pigeons, said James.
“They love each other,” he said.
Co-ringmistress Bonnie Bell has international blood. Her father, an animal
trainer, and her mother, a costume designer and aerial trapeze artist, are
both English, although her father was born in Copenhagen, Denmark.
She also has the circus in her veins: Her family has been in show business
for more than 330 years.
At age 5, Bell was doing trapeze acts. She started attending regular
school at age 7, spending her summers with the circus. But a few years later
she went back on the road, completing her schooling with tutors.
“Growing up in the circus, being a kid, you just want to do like
everybody’s act,” she said.
So she learned how. She sings and composes songs, designs and sews costumes,
does aerial acrobatic and trapeze work and works with animals. These days,
she also appears in her boyfriend Adam Hill’s act – with the elephants.
“I was always around animals,” said Bell, whose father trained
lions, tigers and horses. “I just love them – especially the horses.”
In keeping with family tradition, one of Bell’s sisters, Gloria Bale,
is also with the circus. She puts on the prancing pony pageant, taking a
group of tiny horses through their paces.
Their brother, Elvin Bale, is vice president of operations. Until he
broke his back being shot from a cannon in 1987, he was a human cannonball.
Today, he is still involved with the act, but from the other side of the
cannon.
“This is home: This is where I’m comfortable,” said Bell. “But
it’s a hard life. You’re not at home for nine months of the year. There’s
a lot of driving, a lot of late nights.”
She has a house near Deland, Fla., where the circus winters. But even
in the off-season, the circus works. Circus members practice, develop new
acts, make costumes and train the animals for next year’s shows.
The circus is a small world, and creative energy is constantly brewing.
“We all have friends in other circuses traveling around the world,”
said James. “We know what other shows are doing and we get trade magazines.”
“It’s a small industry, and everybody knows everybody,” said
Bob Marsh, a.k.a. Mr. Jiggs the clown.
Marsh ran off to join the circus at 61, after the youngest of his three
children left for college.
“One of my kids was a bit embarrassed when the local paper did a
big spread on his dad running off to the circus – but he got over that in
short order,” said Marsh, who hails from High Point, N.C.
Marsh fell in love with the circus as a preschooler.
“My dad used to take me to the circus grounds over 50 years ago
to watch them unload and set up tents,” he said. “My first love
was always the circus. The older I got, the more intense this desire became.”
But his road to the circus was a long one. Marsh started doing comic
work in a traveling burlesque show in college – he has a degree in economics
– and was offered a job as a clown with the Ringling Bros. Circus when he
graduated.
But life intervened. He was drafted into the army, then spent the next
35 years in sales and marketing for a North Carolina furniture manufacturing
firm.
Over the years he kept his dream alive by doing club work as a comic
and occasional guest work with the circus.
A clown at last, he is bursting with enthusiasm for the circus life:
“The circus represents everything that is good about America,”
he said. “It requires strict discipline, a high work ethic, daily lessons
in dealing with adversity and cooperation like you would not believe.”
Marsh travels ahead of the circus, visiting kids in schools, hospitals
and organizations like the YMCA, to bring good cheer and let them know the
circus is coming.
“The circus is not a kiddie show, it’s a family show,” he said.
“This is a genuine circus – like when your grandparents went to
the circus.”
Old-fashioned as it may seem in this age of computer games, DVDs and
television, the allure of the circus is still alive.
“A lot of children will come up to me and just hug me. They’ll say
they like the show, they like my costumes… It just makes you feel good
– you feel worth something,” said Bell.
“The circus – well, you would just have to be here: It’s like sawdust
in your veins,” said James.
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