Maybe its ground in the iconic image of P.T. Barnum’s elephants putting the newly constructed Brooklyn Bridge to the test in 1884, but there’s something undeniably awe-inspiring about the idea of putting on a circus in the middle of Manhattan. After all, it can’t be easy to take an island with nary an inch of unused space and bound on all sides by water; and transplanting in an army’s worth of tents, trailers, animals, and performers. .
To see what it takes to bring a circus into the city, I spoke to the minds behind the New York-based Big Apple Circus, which is currently camped out at Lincoln Center. Here are seven fact that you probably don’t know about this circus, and the challenges that come with setting up shop in the ever-crowded confines of New York City—a feat that is arguably more awe-inspiring than anything that takes place in the ring.
It Takes Three Weeks To Load In The Circus
“Getting the circus ready requires a three-week load-in period, which is necessary because we schedule more than 52 semi delivers and more than 40 buses and travel trailers housing over 110 people on location. If things don’t work like clockwork, this show would not go on.” — Larry Solheim, general manager of the Big Apple Circus.
The Circus Is Packed In Like A Jigsaw Puzzle
“We’re right next to the Metropolitan Opera and there’s a little paved park and it just blows my mind. You’ve got trailers parked like six inches apart from each other filling every square inch of space. The way the staff has to figure out things like which trailer do we park first up against the side of the Opera? Once you’re in, you’re in. It’s a jigsaw puzzle. You can’t move them around. And we’re on a deadline to get out of there. There’s a specific order to back out trucks. In the past, some of the later elements like the cookhouses had to be dropped in by crane.” —Will Weiss, executive director
More Than 100 People Sleep In The Park
“All of the performers and full-time crew live on site. There’s 135 people. Everybody lives on site except for the New York-based musicians. I like to always use the term nomadic tribe when we travel. We are a community. A working community. And we are together for economic reasons. You have families, and you have people alone. Everybody tends to have their own independent life, but we work together very well. We certainly assist each other in case of difficulties. ” — Guillaume Dufresnoy, artistic director

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