Circus fans have seen last Ringling Bros. show at Covelli Centre

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Fans of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus apparently will not get another chance to see the show at the Covelli Centre.

Stephen Payne, spokesman for the “Greatest Show on Earth” parent company, told The Vindicator on Monday: “I fear Ringling Bros. has been there already for the last time.”

The last Youngstown shows were two months ago, Nov. 18 and 19.

Kelsey Klim, director of marketing and sales for the Covelli Centre, said it’s too soon to say what type of show will replace the circus, “but we’re certainly prepared to fill those dates.”

The circus announced that its last shows will be in May in Rhode Island and Uniondale, N.Y.

The circus has been a staple of entertainment in the United States since the mid-1800s – for 146 years.

But it has faced a number of challenges in recent years, including declining attendance and high operating costs, company executives told the Associated Press.

Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, and his daughter, Juliette Feld, the company’s chief operating officer, told the AP that being targeted by animal activists who say forcing animals to perform is cruel also took its toll.

The company removed elephants from the show in May 2016 after a long and costly legal battle.

Klim and Payne said they didn’t know whether attendance at the Covelli shows in November experienced a drop from previous years, but Payne said attendance at shows overall did drop after the elephants were removed.

Among the closest shows on the schedule are the Circus Extreme shows in Cincinnati on March 10-19. The schedule is at www.ringling.com/tickets-schedules.