Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's 'The Happiest Place' is More Than Just a Show

"This is the happiest place ever," said the adorable, freckle faced, red headed girl who couldn’t have been more than 8 years old.

At first it struck me as a bit odd considering the fact that this was Hershey Park, Pennsylvania, the Chocolate Capital of the World. After all, one of the nation’s most treasured theme parks was just around the corner, yet, for this little girl “the happiest place ever,” was the Giant Center? That’s when the infamous light bulb went off and I swear I could hear Homer Simpson echoing in my head.

Of course, “this,” the Giant Center, wasn’t the “happiest place ever.” No offense to the Giant Center. Like most of the arenas I’ve visited over the years theirs is a welcoming and professionally run environment. But, the happiness this beaming tyke was speaking of was the sights, sounds, and yes, smells of the circus. That annual event that sends fathers to the railways with their sons atop their shoulders to wave at the inhabitants of the world’s largest privately owned train.

The event that sets moms blogging in anticipation of those famous elephants that will descend from their custom made train cars to take their triumphant stroll down Main Street. For this freckle-faced princess, this place, the Giant Center, which only 12 hours earlier, before she, along with thousands of other patrons would fill the seats, laid barren and uneventful, was now, at least for these few moments, the epitome of bliss. One can never underestimate what a little sawdust can do or what it means to the tens of millions who consume its magic annually.

For well over 142 years, many a little girl, freckle-faced and all, as well as her rowdy brother with parents and even grandparents in tow, have convened; be it under the legendary big top or for the last fifty six years, an arena near you, for none other than Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey The Greatest Show On Earth. Older than Major League Baseball, more enduring than Coca-Cola and Hollywood, this great American icon has been the annual “happiest place ever,” for countless children of all ages, from every conceivable walk of life. Everyone is the demographic of The Greatest Show On Earth.

From delightfully rowdy tattooed bikers to nuns who can cut a mean rug during our All Access Pre Show to the Muslim family with an unrelenting case of the giggles to the overwhelmed teens dumbfounded by the excitement their younger siblings nagged them about only days prior to the shows arrival to celebrities who are humbled by the reality that the biggest stars on earth walk on all fours to the wannabe fashionista who salivates over every detail of our finely woven attire to the budding Animal Scientists picking the brains of our animal experts during our Animal Open House to the woman and her husband who absolutely have to spend her birthday with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey every year to the impeccably dressed elderly woman who grasped my hand, pulled me close, smiled and whispered, “this is my first circus and I’m loving it.”

Very soon into my tenure with The Greatest Show On Earth it was clear that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is much more than a show it is an event. For our audience, the experience is without a doubt the home of the grandest and most diverse array of talent and adventure in all of show business, both human and animal. Cuban acrobats who leap nearly forty feet in the air, Shaolin Kung Fu Masters who bend metal with their throats, gargantuan size pachyderms with the grace of ballerinas, daredevils who sneer at fear, and a Dragon that casts its fiery
spell everywhere it treads. These talents are a mere portion of “the happiest place ever.” Even one visit may not suffice, as was the case for a young California dad who attended the show twice, in two different cities.

As you can imagine tens of millions of people will have a multiplicity of reasons as to why they come. For some it is tradition. Many a grandparent, even great grandparent have disclosed quite confidently how they’ve established a visit to The Greatest Show On Earth as their family tradition. For others, it’s simply a matter of affordable family amusement. For others, like the members of the Circus Fans Association of America it is an unapologetic appreciation and advocacy of the great American circus. For one teary eyed mother whom I became acquainted with in Jacksonville, Fla. it was a matter of trust.

“The imagination of my family is safe at The Greatest Show On Earth.” As a father I understood her sentiments clearly. There was no need for the infamous light bulb or the echoes of Homer Simpson. The industry of entertainment is inundated with that which has the potential to violate and corrode the heart and mind, and access to it has never been easier. For that teary eyed mother and many like her, including myself (after all if the Ringmaster is nothing else, he is the world’s best dressed fan), the circus is arguably the last pure magic there is. That magic is not limited to patrons either. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is an experience that reverberates beyond the box office.

The Clara White Mission and the Florence N. Davis shelter in Jacksonville, FL, the Kipps Academy in Atlanta, GA, the local Boys and Girls Clubs and the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, and many institutions like them have been “the happiest place ever,” for those who will likely never be able to attend a show. The circus is a mission of spectacle and goodwill. The circus lifts and welcomes everyone. The circus is a refuge from the mundane and mediocre, as well as, the harsh realities of our world. It is exactly what we crave from our entertainment, ecstasy and artistry. Nothing more, nothing less.

As I write this I am aboard our legendary Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus train en route to the city of Oakland. Very soon the Oracle Arena will be transformed into “the happiest place ever.”

Tens of thousands will fill the arena this week and revel in this treasured spectacle. The scent of popcorn and cotton candy will be thick. Glow lights will illuminate the darkness, but, nothing will outshine the many smiles that will result from the joy and anticipation of the greatest of American past times. There will be shrieks of fright as motorcycles blaze across high wires, and belly laughs as the renowned Clown Alley conjures their comical mischief. And of course, when those beautiful elephants make their much anticipated entrance, everyone will be rapt. There will be tens of thousands of reasons that will make the Oracle Arena “the happiest place ever.” For that and that alone is our service to the public. The great commission our founder, the great P.T. Barnum called us to. “The noblest art of all, is that of making other people happy.”

Johnathan Lee Iverson is the Ringmaster for 142nd Edition of The Greatest Show On Earth, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Dragons. You may join Mr. Iverson on Twitter and Instagram @bigtopvoice.