Circus

The French artist Georges Rouault (1871-1958) may be best known for his works on religious subjects, in his signature ``stained glass'' style of colors encapsulated in dark outlines. But between 1932 and 1935, Rouault produced for the publisher and art dealer Ambroise Vollard 45 color etchings, aquatints and wood engravings on the subject of the circus. Called collectively ``Le Cirque de l'Etoile Filante'' or ``The Circus of the Shooting Star,'' they reflect Rouault's long interest in the circus.

When Ted McRae was growing up near the corner of Lafayette Street and Ashburton Avenue, he was a big fan of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" and liked to leave the hot city sidewalks for hikes through nearby woods and brush.McRae's expeditions -- driven by the search for toads and snakes -- took him through graveyards, across the rushing waters of the Gwynns Falls to his cousin Cedric Walker's house on Deniston Street near Edmondson Avenue.Years later, the 42-year-old McRae's love of nature was all the resume he needed for Walker to sign him up as a lion tamer in the UniverSoul Circus, which parades around Mondawmin Mall at 6 p.m. today and opens tomorrow for a 10-day engagement on the parking lot of the West Baltimore shopping center.

THE STRIPED BIG TOP will go up in Manchester on Sept. 15, transforming the Manchester Carnival Grounds on York Street into the magic of the Roberts Brothers Three-Ring Circus.This circus is one of only a dozen or so in the nation that travel all summer, performing two shows a night at firehouses and parks in small towns like ours from New England to Florida.Show times in Manchester are at 5: 30 p.m. and 7: 30 p.m. Tickets, available at Millers Market, are $6 for adults and $4 for children.

If circus clown Bryan Fulton had to change the image of his Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey colleagues, he'd inject a little testosterone."I'd kinda like to be a superhero, all suave out of makeup," says Fulton, a 19-year-old Baltimore native wearing knee socks, shorts, checked blue and red vest and oversized red tie. "Then, I'd go into a phone booth and come out as Super Clown."Fulton, in Baltimore for performances through Sunday, may have his chance, because the 127-year-old circus is changing the way it approaches clown training.

The artistic director never dreamed of running off and joining the circus. Neither did the playwright he hired to put his vision of a circus on stage.For "Cirque Ingenieux," the show that opens Tuesday at the Lyric Opera House, that's probably a good thing, because this "cirque" is intended to have more in common with the theater than with the circus."It's a little bit of the 'Wizard of Oz,' a little of 'Alice in Wonderland,' a little bit of a lot of fairy tales," says Neil Goldberg, co-producer of "Cirque Ingenieux" and founder and artistic director of its Florida-based parent company, Cirque Inc.And, unlike the story of its creators, "It's the story of a little girl who decides she wants to join the circus, and by the end of the play she does, and her dreams are realized," explains Washington-based playwright Norman Allen, who wrote the libretto for "Cirque Ingenieux."

Akil Al-Jundi,56, who served 15 years in jail for murder and survived the Attica prison takeover to become a leading legal advocate for young criminals, died of complications from diabetes Aug. 13 in New York.Mr. Al-Jundi, whose given name was Herbert Scott Dean, was lead plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking damages on behalf of 1,200 prisoners who were beaten, tortured or deprived of medical care after the 1971 Attica uprising.His meticulous preparation and passionate courtroom arguments helped win reduced sentences for some of his clients.

Circus and midwayStep under the big top and into an old-time circus at the Boumi Temple Shriners' Circus and Midway today through Sunday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. Experience a circus in the round with three shows each day at 10:30 a.m., 2: 30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.Cross over to the midway and hop onto thrill rides, tame rides and old favorites. This year's midway promises to be the grandest yet with its array of rides, amusements and concessions.The circus and midway are open today through Sunday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, York Road in Timonium.

It's been a long trip - 31 hours from Cincinnati into Baltimore, another nine sitting in the rail yard by the B&O Museum. At last the doors of the silver Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey train slide open and 15 unchained Asian elephants begin stepping carefully down ramps into the morning sunlight in one more city on the circus trail. The animals trumpet, snort, grope the pavement with their trunks as the crew lines them up to march down Pratt Street toward the Baltimore Arena.Folks from the neighborhood are out with their kids and their cameras.

At Towson, festival ends with 'Circus'Towson State University's 1995 Maryland Arts Festival concludes with five performances of Theatricks' "Circus Berserkus" in the Studio Theatre in the Fine Arts Center, Osler and Cross Campus drives.Maryland-based Theatricks specializes in innovative family entertainment and features company co-founder Tom Dougherty, a former Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus clown. Show times are 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. July 29; and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. July 30. Tickets are $7. For more information, call (410)

Ladies and gentlemen, if you would give your undivided attention to the center ring, please.Presenting Mr. P. T. Barnum, showman extraordinarie, dreamer, schemer, patriot, newspaper editor and politician, in "Barnum," the play.The story of one of America's most colorful characters arrives on stage Thursday when Theatre on the Hill opens for its 13th season on the main stage of Alumni Hall on the Western Maryland College campus."He was the ultimate showman, he wrote the book on showmanship," said Ray Ficca, who plays Barnum.

WASHINGTON - A coalition of animal protection organizations is suing Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey to stop what they call harsh methods of training and controlling the circus's Asian elephants. The group argues that the chains and instruments shaped like fireplace pokers are inhumane and violate the Endangered Species Act. In a trial that begins here today in U.S. District Court, lawyers for the plaintiffs will argue that Ringling abuses its elephants by using a hooked pole, or "bull hook," that punctures the animals' leathery hide behind the ears, under the trunk and on the legs, where skin is thinnest.

There's probably little Britney Spears can do to reverse the damage done to her image. The glorious, teasingly sexy bubble in which she floated a decade ago has long since burst. Her madhouse life, as covered by the ravenous pop press, has all but obliterated Spears' relevance as a recording star. Last year was especially rough for the former teen-pop phenom. Not long after her fumbling lip-sync performance of "Gimme More" on the MTV Video Music Awards, she was institutionalized and lost custody of her baby boys.

The zebras made a run for it. Spotting a door ajar, three striped members of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus broke out yesterday from their temporary home in Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena. But they didn't get far. Evidently bewildered by the bustle on Hopkins Place downtown, Mali, Giza and Lima -- geldings born in Missouri seven or eight years ago -- allowed themselves to be corralled by trainer Karin Houcke and two handlers within half a block of their exit point. No need for a lasso, since each animal wore a bridle.

Circuses and kids, dancing and singing: That's what has led to the revival of Barnum, the Circus Musical on community stages. It's opening today at the Talent Machine in Annapolis, where the talent is teenagers. The lead performer, Kory Kinney as P.T. Barnum, is 16. With its circus theme, the 1980 Tony Award-winning musical Barnum seems to be an ideal vehicle for a cast ages 14 to 18, which danced, clowned and tumbled during a recent rehearsal. For this show, cast members were also getting "lessons in fire eating and stilt walking from Talent Machine alumni," said Lea Capps, daughter of TM founder Bobbi Smith.

Duina Zacchini Norman, human cannonball Duina Zacchini Norman, a member of a famed circus family who joined the human cannonball act when her brothers were drafted, died Wednesday in Nashville, where she had lived after a circus career that began on the trapeze when she was 16. The Flying Zacchinis had traveled Africa and Europe during the 1920s and '30s, performing a cannonball routine perfected by her father, Edmundo Zacchini.

NEW YORK -- In The Times They Are A-Changin', Twyla Tharp's fascinating but ultimately derailed circus musical with Bob Dylan songs, dancers literally jump through hoops. They also tumble above the stage on trampolines, cavort on stilts, jump rope so fast we lose sight of the ropes and tie their limbs into shapes that mere mortals should not imagine. For all the gorgeous and diabolical virtuosity, however, this 90-minute experiment, which opened last week on Broadway, gets lost in its own messy - all right, preachy - allegorical ambitions.

Arthur Lee, 61, singer and songwriter for the 1960s psychedelic band Love, died of complications from leukemia Thursday in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital. He formed Love in Los Angeles, and the group was signed to the newly formed Elektra label to release its self-titled debut album in 1966. The band's best-known album, Forever Changes, released in 1968, is considered a classic of 1960s rock. Love was considered one of the defining groups of the psychedelic era in Los Angeles. Though the band never reached the levels of stardom enjoyed by the Byrds and the Doors - unlike them, Love rarely toured - it had a wide and lasting influence.

Family Circus comes to town Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' Red Tour per forms at 1st Mariner Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St., today through March 19. The Red Tour in cludes the comedy of Bello, who was named America's best clown by Time magazine. Tyron McFarlan, the 34th ringmaster, hosts the action. Show times vary. Tickets are $13-$60. Call 410-547-SEAT or visit ticket master.com. For more informa tion, visit ringling.com.

Gravity-defying trapeze artists. Animals performing tricks at a trainer's command. A zany, obnoxious clown and a ringmaster orchestrating the show with powerful orations. That's the circus Baltimore native Cedric Walker relished when his mother took him to the big top as a child. The UniverSoul Circus is his remix. The creator of the 11-year-old traveling show, which begins a six-day run at Security Square Mall tonight, includes all the mainstays that circus enthusiasts have come to love.

Circus at Mondawmin Starting tomorrow, enjoy performances by the Universoul Circus, the nation's only African-American-owned circus. Experience classic circus fun and innovative urban showmanship all in one show. Laugh at clowns, be amazed by aerialists and daredevil motorcyclists, and watch elephants and horses. Performances will be held tomorrow-Aug. 22 at Mondawmin Mall, 2301 Liberty Heights Ave. To buy tickets, call Ticketmaster at 800-277-1700 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. MPT picnic Spend Sunday eating and having fun at Maryland Public Television's Family Fun-Raising Picnic.