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…
“For me, founding Big Apple Circus was an act of love,” says the legendary Paul Binder. For founders Michael Christensen and Paul Binder, that love began as jugglers on the streets of Europe. Their talents would take them from London to Istanbul, eventually landing them in the Nouveau Cirque de Paris. “Being in the circus…
On Friday, thanks to our partners Feld Entertainment, Phase 3 Marketing and Chick-fil-A, Johnathan Lee Iverson, the first African-American Ringmaster in 129 years and 15 year Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baileys Ringmaster, came to the Usher’s New Look office to speak to our Atlanta high school Leadership Academy students about how to follow their…
We know change is the only constant in life, and yet we are always rattled to some degree when it arrives. Ease and familiarity is what we crave most, yet ease and familiarity defies what it is to be alive. It is therefore an unrealistic hope so many of us are guilty of clinging to….
“I never wanted fame; I just wanted to be valuable,” says Peggy Williams. Such a sentiment sounds terribly out of sorts in the age of selfies and YouTube stardom, where fame is the sole aspiration. For Peggy Williams, such a sentiment isn’t hyperbole, it’s simply the truth. Peggy’s journey to The Greatest Show On Earth…
When Megan O’Malley got the call to join the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® band, she was concerned. “Initially I was apprehensive,” she says. “The trombonist before me was also a woman. I wondered what she was like and what the band’s impression of her might have been and how that would affect me.”…
“It was only going to be a year,” said Vanessa Thomas about her intentions upon joining the cast of The Greatest Show On Earth®. I said the exact same thing when I joined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® as well, over 17 years ago. After all, Thomas, a Philadelphia native, was on course to…
For Bernice Collins, life in Kansas City, KS, was quaint and easygoing. She was one of six children in a musical, church-going family. Her father, a musician, emphasized education, encouraging his children to learn all they could and try to see as much of the world as possible. Somewhere in Bernice’s young imagination her father’s…
For eleven minutes during our presentation of The Greatest Show On Earth®, audiences sit spellbound by Alexander Lacey and his bevy of big cats. Eleven magnificent lions and tigers join the dashing British star in the center ring for one of the most timeless displays in all of circus. The scent of danger looms heavily…
