Feld Entertainment plans comeback for ‘Greatest Show on Earth,’ but with a twist
Ellenton-based Feld Entertainment, which retired the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 2017, is planning a comeback for the “Greatest Show on Earth” — but without the animals.
“We are still in the very initial planning phase, but we do know that the The Greatest Show On Earth will return without animals,” a spokesperson for Ellenton-based Feld Entertainment said in an email. “An official announcement will be made in 2022.”
Among factors previously cited in shutting down the circus was declining ticket sales, high operating costs, the public’s changing tastes and costly fights with animal rights groups.
The news that Feld was planning a comeback for the circus was first reported last week by VenuesNow out of a conference in Seattle during an interview with Kenneth Feld and his daughter, Juliette Feld Grossman. Kenneth Feld serves as CEO and chairman of Feld Entertainment and Juliette Feld Grossman serves as Feld’s chief operating officer.
The circus relaunch is planned for 2023, the Felds told VenuesNow.
In response, animal rights group PETA issued a statement praising the reemergence of an animal-free circus: “Ringling is back, but this time, PETA may just be in attendance, because the company has abandoned the chains, cages, and whips in favor of hiring only human performers—who are allowed to go home to their families at night. The animal-free version of Ringling may well inspire any remaining animal-abusing circuses to let aerialists, jugglers, clowns, and other talented human performers shine under the big top.”
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus dates to 1871. It was Feld Entertainment’s longest running show until being shut down in 2017.
Feld Entertainment traces its roots to 1938, when founder Irvin Feld opened a drugstore in Washington, D.C. One of his store’s best-selling items was records, eventually leading to the opening of a chain of record stores.
In 1956, Irvin Feld joined the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus as manager and booking agent.
With his brother, Israel, and politician-developer Roy “The Judge” Hofheinz, Irvin Feld bought the circus in 1967, and sold it four years later to toymaker Mattel.
In 1981, the Feld family purchased the circus back from Mattel for almost $23 million.
About 10 years ago, Feld Entertainment consolidated its operations in Ellenton in a massive facility that General Electric once used to manufacture wind turbines, and introduced new touring shows, including Monster Jam, Sesame Street Live, Trolls the Experience, Marvel Universe LIVE and Jurassic World Live Tour.
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, Feld Entertainment shut down all its tours and announced company-wide layoffs.
In May 2020, Feld began a cautious return to touring, when it announced it was resuming Monster Energy Supercross.
Disney on Ice resumed touring in November. Feld has previously said it plans to have all of its companies touring nationally and globally in 2022, including Disney On Ice, Supercross, Monster Jam, Sesame Street Live, Marvel and Jurassic World Live Tour.
In 2017, when Feld Entertainment announced it was shutting down its circus operation, high-wire daredevil Nik Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of The Flying Wallendas family, said he did not believe that anyone had heard the last of the Greatest Show on Earth.
“Why wouldn’t he (Kenneth Feld) choose to sell it unless he has something in his back pocket that none of us know about?” Wallenda said. “My gut tells me they’re going to sell the name eventually, or I think he will regroup and bring back the brand in a different fashion.”
This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 1:36 PM.
