Circus

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.

There's probably a reason why baton twirling isn't yet an Olympic event, but it's not the reason you might think. So, all you indignant mothers of cheerleaders, put down your pens and give your dialing fingers a rest. I'm not dissing your talented sons and daughters; I'm just saying I don't want to pay up to $63.50 to watch them perform on stage for two hours, accompanied by a 320-piece marching band - minus the woodwinds. And yet, that's essentially what's on the Lyric Opera House stage through Sunday.

When Maryland-born Irvin Feld bought and saved the Greatest Show on Earth and combined it with a European import 33 years ago, he simultaneously gave his audiences a circus extravaganza and its headlining animal trainer. Gunther Gebel-Williams was the golden-haired star with a passion for big cats - Bengal tigers, cheetahs, leopards - inside and outside of the ring. The German-born trainer with the jaunty gait performed for generations of circus goers, Baltimoreans among them, and brought his family into the act as well.

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."

MOSCOW - Vitaly Tikhonov sounds vaguely wounded at the suggestion that he spends his days teaching cows to jump through flaming hoops for his Moscow circus act. "Cows!" he says, his voice rising with disdain. "Cows would be easy. But yaks! Yaks are aggressive. You never know when a yak might attack you." What Tikhonov does is devote his working life to teaching lumbering, half-ton yaks to jump through fiery hoops. He is a splendid example of what makes Russian circuses so wonderful. Standing in the single circus ring, he embodies the virtues of hard work, brute patience and a little wacky imagination.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blakewants to teach Jada Pinkett Smith a lesson in that old, scratch my back, I'll scratch yours thing. Earlier this week the actress sent the mayor a letter, asking her to make sure the elephants are well treated when the Ringling Bros. circus comes to town later this month. She feared the circus would be jabbing the animals with pointy sticks. But the mayor is something less than moved to act. Particularly after the actress didn't exactly help her out. “We've reached out about homelessness, about school issues,” Rawlings-Blake told WJZ. “I would have loved to gotten some feedback, support or concern about those issues that are very pressing to the city.” And that's not all. The mayor, a known fan of the circus, who's accepted free tickets to the show and even a ceremonial role in the event, said she's still looking forward to it this year.