By Michael P Coleman There’s a time-worn axiom that speaks about there being two sides to every story. With regard to the circus, and the perceived treatment of animals, it’s absolutely true. Late last week, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey announced they were ending their 146-year run this May. Animal rights activists, including PETA…
Ringmaster Jonathan Lee Iverson is now speaking out about the “The Greatest Show on Earth” coming to an end. Reaction to the news that the Ringling Bros. Circus was coming to end after 146 years has been mixed. Some called it a win for animal rights group and others have not. Ringmaster Jonathan Lee Iverson…
It was 2009 when Sister Dorothy Fabritze entered the office of Father Frank Cancro’s parish in Charlotte, NC. She was there to petition funds on behalf of the Circus and Traveling Show Ministries of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is a ministry that has served the great American circus for decades — be…
Johnathan Lee Iverson is the luckiest man in show business. For 48 weeks a year, he is in a different U.S. city in front of bright spotlights, wearing a radiant smile underneath a top hat, entertaining alongside a diverse cast in lively costumes and doing what he loves most – singing. “I’m a fierce advocate…
Don’t just be mindful of the company you keep, but also the environment in which you live. For better or worse, there’s life everywhere. Even if you were a hermit, your community would still impact you. It is inescapable. You cannot retreat from the world, yet, you can impact it. You can do far more…
I have no idea when, where or how it began. If it’s not the ridiculous clown sightings, it’s the mayhem of political campaigns, their candidates and the media who are leading one and all to deem the melee a circus. I don’t know what’s worse, the predictable circus jabs during the heated political debates that…
“To be the voice of The Greatest Show On Earth® is a huge honor,” explains current Ringmaster David Shipman of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents Circus XTREME. “It is an incredibly fun position. It is my job to make sure that the audience has a fantastic experience from the moment they sit down…
P.T. Barnum once said, “The noblest art is that of making others happy.” Ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson takes that quote to heart. A classically trained singer, he understands what so many successful artists and entrepreneurs discover, often later in life: that true success comes when the emphasis is on giving, making others happy, rather than…
Three years after I married my wonderful wife, our beloved son was born. He had me at the sonogram. He was merely a centimeter when we first saw him, but he was the most precious centimeter I’d ever laid eyes on. When he was born I became certain of two things: first, I never wanted…
