CIRCUS REVIEW : Big Top’s a Flop With Kids

The 122nd incarnation of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus rolled into San Diego Wednesday night.

Excuse me--the all-new 122nd edition of the circus pitched its tent this week at the San Diego Sports Arena for a five-day, 10-performance run that began Wednesday.

Despite the advertised freshness, this is a pretty stale show. Clowns labor through their familiar routines with precision, Spandex-clad acrobats manufacture smiles as they leap and jump and yell “Hup!”, and a menagerie of beasts perform various maneuvers on cue. It’s the same old thing, folks, the same old tried-and-true formula that has made the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus a part of Americana for nearly a century.

Tradition or not, the show seems very dated and unspectacular. Today’s children are watching MTV, playing Nintendo and working with computers, so when it comes to entertainment, they are a demanding audience. On opening night, the kids seemed pretty aloof about the production, and many dozed off before the two-and-a-half-show came to a close.

Perhaps sensing its own archaic nature, the Ringling Bros. marketing division has come up with a few gimmicks to spur the interest of its fans. For the youngsters, this circus features live performances by N/Motion, a singing trio created by the circus to resemble Color Me Badd and New Kids on the Block. To attract the ticket-buying parents, Ringling Bros. is hyping the first-ever Western Hemisphere appearance of 40 Mongolian circus performers.

Both acts fall short. N/Motion--Jonn Ross, Andy Smithey and Shawn Doughty--is blatantly derivative of the kind of generic pop coined by New Kids, and it’s even more contrived. The kids in Wednesday night’s audience were too sophisticated to be bamboozled. The trio sang a heartless “Star-Spangled Banner” to open the evening and a few original numbers at intervals throughout the show. When ringmaster Jim Ragona--a Robert Stack/game-show host Wink Martindale amalgamation--announced that N/Motion would be signing autographs during intermission, the response was underwhelming. The kids seemed more interested in the electric Day-Glo laser rifles and broad swords on sale throughout the arena.

The Mongolian performers are a legitimate troupe, at least, but the most compelling thing about their appearance is that they come from Mongolia. Sandwiched between Russia and China, Mongolia has long been controlled by its two sizable neighbors. China dominated Mongolia from 1691-1921, and the land-locked nation gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. The fact that the troupe is performing in the United States is noteworthy, but their feats are far less exotic than one might have hoped.

The troupe opened with three simultaneous acrobat routines--handstands, headstands, tossing and catching--common material as far as circuses go. The follow-up act featured “The Amazing Armarjargal” performing a variety of strong-man feats. The beefy Mongolian tossed steel spheres around like they were softballs and later hefted 1,559 pounds with his arms and legs, but again, this is familiar circus fare.

Despite the drum rolls and billowing smoke, the third installment of the Mongolian experience was the least-interesting component--a horse-trick routine that ended the evening on an anti-climactic note.

As mundane as the Mongolian act was, a different, unrelated Asian troupe provided the most excitement on Thursday. Thirteen “ninjas” from the Shanghai Sports Federation demonstrated the Chinese martial art of Wushu in a subdued, precise performance. Brandishing scimitars, cudgels and spears, the Shanghai ensemble executed its “mock warfare” routine with an understated grace, a welcome departure from the posing and preening of the other performers.

Thanks to various animal-rights activists, the Ringling Bros.’ longtime practice of staging animal acts is constantly under question. Indeed, it was quite distasteful to watch a dozen or so elephants reduced to being a showy means of transportation for sequined, pink-clad performers. Still, there is some slight retribution for these domesticated pachyderms. The elephants seem more dignified--perhaps even more intelligent--than the gyrating, pandering Homo sapiens on board.

“The 122nd Edition of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus” runs through Sunday at the San Diego Sports Arena. Performances continue at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. today; 11 a.m., 3:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1:30 and 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $8.50-$12.50. Call 224-4176.