Did you ever want to run away and join the circus as a kid? Good news: While you can’t actually join the circus, you can run away and enjoy it! The reimagined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is coming to Missouri Nov.10–12, 2023!
By Peg Cameron Gill
Get ready for The Greatest Show on Earth! The reimagined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey live experience invites children of all ages to the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City to witness a spectacle of superhuman feats and thrills.
Packed with explosive excitement, The Greatest Show On Earth begins and ends with a bang! Lauren Irving, Alex Stickels, and Jan Damm join forces as Aria, Stix, and Nick Nack who serve as the soul, rhythm, and funny bone of the show, guiding you through an interactive and immersive experience.
The music-filled journey is chock full of catchy rhythms, beats, songs, and laughter that will have you clapping, tapping, singing, and laughing along. Aria, Stix, and Nick Nack serve as show guides, who encounter never-before-seen stunts, acrobatic displays, and comedy acts along the way.
A globally diverse cast that includes 75 performers from 18 countries including Argentina, Canada, Cuba, Ethiopia, Italy, Mongolia, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States will inspire you through a variety of unbelievable circus acts, including never-before-seen stunts like the Triangular Highwire, led by The Lopez Family, sixth-generation circus artists hailing from Mexico and Chile.
You’ll be rolling in the aisles at the hilarious comedy as one of your three show guides, Nick Nack — alongside the Equivokee trio from the Ukraine — introduces a modern take on clowning that forgoes the customary clown makeup and focuses instead on delivering fun for children of all ages through a humorous blend of Rola Bola (a balance board made up of a board placed on a cylindrical tube), juggling, acrobatics, dancing, and much more.
You’ll be amazed at how the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey live experience has taken the elements of a traditional old-school circus and merged them with modern elements and technology.
You’ll marvel as BMX riders, a trial bike, and an extreme unicycle perform stunts on a unique trampoline box constructed in the center of a take-off and landing ramp.
This is the perfect opportunity for family fun. Be in the audience when the “Big Top” bows at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
There’ll be one show on Friday, Nov. 10 from 7–9 PM, two shows on Saturday, Nov. 11 from 3–5 PM, and 7–9 PM, and two shows on Sunday, Nov. 12 from 11 AM–1 PM, and 3–5 PM. You can purchase tickets here.
In more circus-related reading, learn about Ella Kate, born in 1872 in LaGrange, MO in rural Scotland County. She was known as the “Missouri Giantess” and would join Barnum & Bailey Circus on a nationwide tour in 1897.
For hundreds more events, visit Missouri Life’s Event Calendar.
