Author Archives: Circus Smirkus
Meet the Ferlo Fan Club
At our second New York State jump — Saratoga Springs— our resident New York trouper, Sam Ferlo of Rome, NY, had quite the following. Nearly 35 of Sam’s friends and family — which I have dubbed as the Ferlo Fan Club — traveled to visit him at the show. With them they brought enthusiasm, excitement, and delicious cookies for the cast and crew. After seeing the performance Sam’s mom, Mary Beth, said, “The troupers stamina and energy is amazing!” Everyone else in their party agreed and had nothing but wonderful comments about our show. It was quite a sight seeing…
Good Morning, Saratoga Springs!
The Big Top is up, the ticket booth is ready to open, and the concessionnaires will soon start popping corn and spinning cotton candy in anticipation of the FIRST OF FOUR CIRCUS SMIRKUS SHOWS at 1 pm today! Today, the country’s oldest, organized sporting venue – the storied Saratoga Race Track – hosts the fresh, young talent of Circus Smirkus! Not far from the spot where longshot Jim Dandy defeated Gallant Fox, and where Man ‘O War met his match , Smirkus troupers will thrill audiences on high wire, trapeze, trampoline, Chinese Pole, rola-bola and more! Clowns, jugglers, acrobats — we’ve…
Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs presents Smirkus
The Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs is an independent, nonsectarian, co-educational school for children from birth to Grade 12. This year, 2011, marks the fifth year that the school is presenting Circus Smirkus; money raised supports the school’s tuition assistance program, educational programs, facilities and faculty salaries. The school has received a lot of attention for innovative programs like the Forest Kindergarten — written up in the The New York Times — in which kindergarteners spend most of their day outdoors. Waldorf High School grads have gone on to such achievements as earning a Fulbright Scholarship, rowing in the Royal English Henley,…
They Just Keep Going, and Going, and Going, and Going…
Despite our smaller audiences in Plattsburgh, our troupers still were able to keep their show energetic and full of intensity. These kids — I truly have a hard time calling them that — these PERFORMERS… are truly remarkable. They start their day at 9 a.m. and begin unloading the prop truck. They have a noon call for warm-ups and then makeup, perform a two-hour-long show, sell concessions during intermission, and after the show they clean up the bleachers. Between performances the troupers eat dinner and clean pots and pans in the pie car, and then warm up for the evening…
Hello, Plattsburgh!
If you take a moment to look around the circus tent, you’ll notice that from city to city it is almost exactly the same inside — the lights are in the same place, the bleachers surround the ring, the proscenium remains at the top of the ring, and the entrances remain stationary. For the first three weeks of my internship, the Smirkus tent was hugged by the mountains of the Northeast Kingdom. The luscious greenery and picturesque mountain views were breathtaking. Our first jump brought us to Essex, Vermont. After spending three weeks detached from a “city” in Greensboro, it…
Meet our Plattsburgh presenters….
We left the Champlain Valley Expo grounds to travel to Plattsburgh, NY, where the colorful Smirkus Big Top is going up at City Beach, on the shores of Lake Champlain. Our four shows – at 1 & 6 pm on Sunday, July 10 and Monday, July 11 – are presented by the Champlain Valley Transportation Museum for the second year in a row. The money raised will go toward a $1 MILLION matching grant, from the New York State Department of Transportation, to enhance “Kids’ Station,” an interactive arm of the non-profit museum designed especially for kids. CVTM was founded in…
Like camp counselors…but more
Everyone at Smirkus has a vital role. The directors create the show, the composer writes and plays the music, the coaches train the troupers, the cooks feed everyone. What about the counselors? At summer camp, counselors are the campers’ guardians. Smirkus’ counselors are so much more! The three counselors — Willow Yonika, head counselor (who is also an ICU nurse and a former trouper), Danielle Kehlmann from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and Andrew Jones from Chicago — support the troupers in every way. The trio ensures the troupers are staying healthy by urging them to eat nutritious meals, drink lots of…
When it Rains…
…it pours! Essex welcomed us with open arms — and six sold-out shows! Our gleeful audiences packed the Big Top and were enthusiastic throughout both shows. The performances are much tighter and smoother with each show. It will be amazing to see the difference between our current show and the performance at the end of the season. It was balmy and sunny when our first performance began. Fox 44 meteorologist Steve Glazier interviewed troupers Maia Gawor-Sloane and Al Mireault for a feature on Smirkus which was broadcast last night on ABC-22. Check out the story and video here! During the…
“STRAW HOUSES” IN ESSEX
In circus lingo, a “straw house” is a sold-out show, so-called because the ushers would spread straw for people to sit on in front of the general admissions seats in an attempt to squeeze in a few more audience members. We launched our 2011 Big Top Tour with a “straw house” in Greensboro, and just got the word this morning that all tickets for all six shows at our current location, at Champlain Valley Expo in Essex, VT, are SOLD! This is great news for our young performers, who deserve a packed house, but it is always hard to turn…
Load-Out, Jump, Load-In
The final bars of the vibrant finale music were just fading from the Big Top after the first shows in Greensboro on Sunday night, when the members of the Smirkus tent crew began the process known as “tear-down.” The sidewalls of the Big Top came down: the first step in a long process of dismantling the tent and packing up everything to move to the next town — Essex, Vermont. After the crowds left the grounds, “load-out” went into full swing. First, all of the novelties and food items from the two concessions tents were carefully packed into bins, road cases,…