When the new year begins in Atlanta, you can almost hear the calliope of the circus jangling in the breeze. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, UniverSoul and Big Apple all set up shop.
But every other year Gwinnett Arena in Duluth gets an extra shot of circus fun in the fall.
That’s when Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Gold Unit rolls into town with a more up-close-and-personal version of high-flying acrobats, clown shenanigans and wild animals. And this time a master magician is leading the troupe under the figurative big top.
David DaVinci plays the role of the Illuscinator in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey: Illuscination, a union of how-did-he-do-that flash and classic circus pizazz. DaVinci’s wife Jamie plays his lovely assistant on and off stage, and the couple travels with a cast of 10 exotic feathered co-stars, including a toucan and a blue-throated macaw.
DaVinci recently checked in over the phone to explain what audiences should expect at this second serving of circus.
Q. How does the Gold Unit differ from your company’s other productions?
A. It's a single-ring circus. Instead of just going to bigger cities that are only accessible by rail, it's ultimately designed so we're able to go to the more intimate settings and play a much more intimate show. And sometimes these small cities don't have the venues to seat 20,000 people.
Q. One of your acts finds you doing a straitjacket escape three stories in the air, upside down over a cage of lions. Explain.
A. We wanted to try to stay true to Houdini-esque escapes. So I was doing a comedy straitjacket routine in my show for years. And when Ringling Bros. came and said they wanted me in the show, they wanted to figure out how to take the straitjacket act to the next level and kind of keep that Houdini, traditional magic vibe elevated for the Greatest Show on Earth. So what we did was decide to not only be hoisted up in the air, but to be upside down over the lions and have to do that escape that way. It adds an element of danger that's never been done before: But when he escapes, now what does he do?
Q. After doing so many performances, what circus acts do you never tire of watching?
A. This is not a PR response by any means, because I can honestly say there's easily a good half dozen acts I watch over and over and over, and I never seem to tire of them. We're 250 shows into the tour, and one of the acts I watch almost every time is the KungFu Kings. They hands-down steal the show. They're fantastic. They do a lot of mixed martial arts, and the highlight of it is they have this contraption that spins and it has four hoops on there full of machetes pointing toward the center. It leaves like a foot and a half, maybe 2 feet in the center for someone to jump through. And so not only does this guy jump through it, he lights it on fire and makes it spin, and he puts on a blindfold.
Sept. 10-12. $21.55-$64.45. Gwinnett Arena, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com
CIRCO HERMANOS VAZQUEZ
America may lay claim to the Greatest Show on Earth, but sawdust runs deep in Mexican culture.
They have equally eye-widening circus productions of their own, including Circo Hermanos Vazquez, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary and will soon bring its air-conditioned big top to the parking lot of Plaza Fiesta in Atlanta.
It is the largest Spanish-speaking circus touring America and brings with it the flavor of Mexico with a different pace and style to what Americans might be used to. A group of five brothers own the circus, and even a fourth-generation Vazquez, juggler Jose Alberto Vazquez Atayde, is part of the family business.
Other performers include pros from Russia, South America and Germany. And among the thrills is the wacky clowning around of Pastelito, a popular seventh-generation circus performer.
Sept. 17-Oct. 3. $15-$45. Plaza Fiesta. 4166 Buford Highway, Atlanta. www.circovazquez.com
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