In the first hour, traveling by trailer caravan, the circus arrives in Virginia and pitches the tent for its first tour stop. On the eve of the first performance, a pivotal act is cut and there’s a mad scramble to rework the show.
Making matters worse, a seasoned company regular is diagnosed with cancer and must relinquish his act. Lackluster ticket sales only ratchet up the pressure.
CIRCUS clown Mark GindickNext: Survival of the Fittest
Experience winter in New York, which means packed stands under the big top and misery on the back lot — as the weather wrecks havoc on the tent, the trailers and the health of the company and crew.
Squeeze into a tiny lot at New York’s Lincoln Center with the entire Big Apple Circus — tent, trailers, performers, crew and animals. It’s the holiday season and shows are packed, but snow and ice are collecting on the big top and the hoses that run water to the trailers are frozen solid.
Cast and crew are sick and exhausted, but the show goes on. Some members of the Big Apple family — a crewman, a trapeze artist, even the artistic director — contemplate leaving the circus world behind.
Wednesday at 9 p.m. on PBS-HD.
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