***Big Apple Circus
Fewer frills but guaranteed chills
Kung Fu Boys (courtesy of Big Apple Circus)
The latest embodiment of this hallowed institution – 48 years and counting! – hints at hard times, or at minimum a budget crunch. So clap your hands, kids of all ages, to keep the tradition going!
The show is pretty pared down this time around: no fancy projections or ambitious script. The band may reduced to a jazzy octet, but they’re excellent: nightclub-worthy, in fact.
The burden of keeping the all-ages crowd engaged falls mostly on a Little Tramp-ish clown, Johnny Rico, who’s definitely up to the job. The segment in which he plays opera director to a handful of lip-syncing audience-member enactors is an absolute treat – for us as well as them.
It’s easy to get blasé about a juggler keeping multiple hula hoops spinning – but when a smiling beauty from Kyiv’s Bingo Troupe launches then sustains a dozen or more, circling every available limb? Respect!
Our favorite act was the understated Kung Fu Boys, who shun showy circus costumery in favor of plain tunics; they perform with a Zen concentration that goes for elegance over snazz. High-wire artists are always impressive, and the seventh-generation Flying Maluendas flown in from Chile represent, but try ascending a set of stairs while balancing on your head – just head. The implicit warning (don’t try this at home) goes without saying.
We usually trend chintzy when it comes to refreshments and merch, but I’d recommend going all out – just to keep the tradition going. An in-ring photo opp with show-dogs at $25 a pop? Splurge away!
This circus comes but once a year, and you’ll want to have it awaiting you and the fam when you circle back in ‘26.
Details: Big Apple Circus, to January 4