Like many of my colleagues, the news that Ringling Bros. and Bar- num & Bailey Circus was coming to a close was both sad and shock- ing. Most of us have worked with this wonderful show over the many years of our careers and will miss it dearly as a great form of family entertainment. The news impacted me more profoundly than most as I couldn’t help but think of the similarities to another bygone enter- tainment tradition. My family owned and operated an entertainment show that was
Toby & Susie Theater was one of America’s last traveling Tent Shows. Much like Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey can trace its begin- - - of Ringling Bros. circus in the late 1960’s, my father purchased the - ginning a life-long involvement in entertainment for my entire family. In 1927, the esti-
mated there were over 400 travel- ing Tent Theater companies tour- ing across America playing to over 16,000 small town communities and entertaining upwards of 77 million people annually. In compar- ison, that same year Broadway performed to 48 million people. By the early 1980’s, there was only one show left in existence -- ours. Throughout the 1970’s and early 80’s I toured the country with my family traveling from town to town, setting up the show and perform- ing. Like the circus of years ago, we performed under the big top. The performances were inside a tent theater with wooden folding chairs for the audience and a stage built from the ground up each time. Not unlike the circus, our performers were also the crew who constructed the tent, assembled the stage and set up the chairs. It was also common for the actors to be selling popcorn and snow cones before the show, perform in the original three-act plays during the show and tear it all down afterward week after week. We toured the Midwest in a truck and trailer caravan hauling thousands of pounds of equipment, props, and gear, from city to city. Again, drawing similarities to the way the circus moved from town to town, but they had the added challenge
of movement by railroad (and we didn’t have any animals to worry about).
“Throughout the 1970’s and early 80’s I toured the country with my family traveling from town to town, setting up the show ago, we performed under the big top. The
performances were inside a tent theater with wooden folding chairs for the audience and a stage built from the ground up each time.”
My entire family was involved in the show. My father was a man with many hats; he was the original author of the scripts, he played the lead character of Toby Tolliver, performed musical numbers between career), selling advertising prior to each engagement, booking and routing the tour each season and general administration of tour oper- ations each year. My mother also performed and played saxophone in the show’s orchestra. My brothers and I were involved in every aspect of the tour as well. Each of us played instruments, sang and performed acrobatic feats on the trampoline during breaks in the show. There were also other novelty acts performed by the traveling cast members interspersed throughout each performance, similar to those you might see in a circus or the early days of Vaudeville. highlight of the summer for most middle-American farm commu- nities. The tour always began in Wapello, Iowa, and spanned 15 weeks each year. The show was the main draw for numerous state fairs throughout the Midwest. Its most prestigious performance occurred in 1969 when the tent show was set up on the lawn of the Nation- The Smithsonian Institute.
in his recent announcement, capturing the attention of today’s au- can directly be attributed to the downfall of American Tent Theater much like the distractions of today have negatively impacted circus at- 1998 and coincidentally, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will cease performances also in May of this year. live entertainment. While the circus will be missed, I’m certain that FM
Darren Davis, CFE, is vice president of entertainment at Mandalay Bay Resort
Photos provided by Darren Davis, CFE
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