NEW CIRCUS ON THE BLOCK : Ringling Bros. Throws Pop Music Into the Ring With Lions, Acrobats and Mongolians (Oh, My!)

From a pack of nasty-looking alligators to a Great White Rhino named Thor, some frighteningly unpredictable critters have been lured into the center ring by the folks at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. But with the 122nd edition (which continues through Tuesday at the Anaheim Convention Center), circus organizers are after even more elusive game: the American Adolescent.

In a bid to attract teens and pre-teens, Ringling Bros. executive producer Kenneth Feld has baited his trap with N/Motion, a G-rated pop-rock trio that seems to have been created specifically with the New Kids on the Block crowd in mind. With music by songwriter Jeff (“Leader of the Pack” and “Chapel of Love”) Barry and oh-so-hip garb by Bill Whitten (the guy who gave Michael Jackson his glove), N/Motion bops in and out of the 2 1/2-hour show performing two special effects-drenched tunes and setting the stage for several full-cast production numbers.

Mere pups themselves (band members Jonn Ross, Andy Smithey and Shawn Doughty range in age from 17 to 22), the three performers were brought together for a two-year circus stint through a collaboration of Barry, Feld and producer Richard Goldsmith.

“Mr. Feld has three young daughters, and he saw that groups like New Kids and acts of that type are very popular with kids,” explained Diane Oaks, a spokeswoman for the circus. “He’s very aware of the MTV influence on today’s audiences.” Accordingly, N/Motion’s act is backed by dozens of exotically clad showgirls, billowing stage smoke and a full complement of circus glitz.

The boys also come out at intermission to schmooze (“The little girls in the audience just mob them for autographs,” said Oaks) and to hawk their first music video and album, “N/Motion,” released in January by Warner Bros. Records.

On a decidedly more subdued note, the 122nd edition also features a three-ring performance by the Shanghai Wushu Team, a group of 13 martial artists ages 16 to 24. Representatives of the Shanghai Sports Federation, the team demonstrates kicks, punches and dodges, and brandishes mock swords, whips, spears and cudgels in an impressive display that dates back more than 5,000 years.

Mongolia, the nation sandwiched between China and the former Soviet Union, takes the spotlight for much of this edition in what is billed as the first appearance in the Western Hemisphere by Mongolian circus performers. Among the 40-member company are the Qorchin, a high-speed equestrian act headed by Kadur Khan, and the Amarjargals, a strong-man act climaxed by Yadamsurengiin Amarjargal’s hefting of a nearly 1,600-pound pyramid of iron weights and fellow performers.

Heading the “don’t try this at home” department are performances by four limber young ladies in what the circus calls a “rare display of classic Mongolian contortion.”

The usual assortment of derring-do and deviltry rounds out the 122nd edition, including a number of aerialist and acrobatic troupes, and the Fausto Scorpions, a Filipino troupe that practices Risley, or foot-juggling, and recruits audience members into the act. Animal acts include Wade Burck and his Bengal tigers, Bernice Collins and her Belgian draft horses, and Lloyd’s Old English sheep dogs. King Tusk, the Ringling Bros.’ seven-ton pachyderm, makes his appearance as a platform for the acrobatic Pivaral Brothers.

What: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

When: Thursday, July 23, at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Friday, July 24, at 1:30 and 8 p.m.; Saturday, July 25, at 11:30 a.m., 3:30 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, July 26, at 11:30 a.m., 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Monday and Tuesday, July 27 and 28, at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Where: Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim.

Whereabouts: From the northbound Santa Ana (5) Freeway exit at Harbor Boulevard south, then go right on Katella Avenue. Southbound, exit at Ball Road east, then take Harbor south to Katella.

Wherewithal: $8.50 to $13.50. Parking is $6.

Where to call: (714) 999-8950, or (714) 740-2000, Ticketmaster.

* NOT SO BIG TOP: The more modest Circus Vargas pitches its tent in Orange County. Page 9