After 146 years, Ringling Brothers folds its tent

Wow. From The New York Times: 

In a statement on the company’s website, Kenneth Feld, the chief executive of Feld Entertainment, the producer of Ringling, said the circus would hold its final performances in May. He cited declining ticket sales, which dropped even more drastically after elephants were phased out from the shows last year.

“This, coupled with high operating costs, made the circus an unsustainable business for the company,” the statement said. “The circus and its people have continually been a source of inspiration and joy to my family and me.”

Related: Ministering to Catholics under the Big Top

Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, said in an interview on Saturday night that the closing would affect about 400 cast and crew members.

“We looked at the performance in 2016 and advance tickets sales in 2017, and we decided it was not a viable business model,” he said.

Read on. 

For those of us with so many happy memories of the circus from our youth, this is a sad loss.

Meantime, here’s something from the vault: a terrific video from a couple years ago on Catholic circus performers practicing their faith, from CNS: