High Fashion in Freeport
Wow! So much to say about our first day of shows in Freeport! Yesterday afternoon the troupers were called to have Council in the tent. However, this was no ordinary council meeting. Today was WATER COUNCIL! This long-running Smirkus tradition is a huge water fight where the staff ambushes the unsuspecting troupers. The troupers were set, the staff, who had spent the entire morning filling water balloons, squirt guns, buckets of water, and other fillable containers moved into action. The sidewalls had been let down after the afternoon show so the staff could walk around and spring into action without…
Smirkus Makes A Difference
Laughter is the best medicine. During yesterday’s “jump,” (move from one town to another) a group of Smirkos paid a visit to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at the Maine Medical Center in Portland to share the healing power of laughter with some of the patients at the hospital. This visit is a tradition for Smirkos and patients alike. Trace Salter, from the Merriconeag Waldorf School, which will be presenting our shows in Freeport today and tomorrow, welcomed the Smirkos to the hospital with a moving story of a Make A Wish™ patient who had attended the hospital performance for…
Bringing smiles to hospitalized children on our way to Freeport
As the Big Top tent and the Smirkus crew head to Freeport, ME for 4 upcoming shows Thursday and Friday, the troupers head to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland to bring some circus joy to young patients there. As much fun as our troupers have performing in the ring, they’ll tell you in a minute that this hospital visit is one of their favorite “performances” of the season! The visit is arranged each year by our presenters at the Merriconeag Waldorf School in Freeport. Like many Waldorf schools, Merriconeag incorporates circus arts as part of its curriculum. Proceeds…
Backstage Tour
Kennebunkport, Maine, welcomed us with two sold-out shows yesterday and we performed our 50th show of the season! The troupers prepared in the backstage tent (as usual). But you may be wondering what goes on in the backstage area at Smirkus. Here’s your exclusive backstage tour! Before the show, the troupers all gather in the backstage area to put on their costumes in their respective dressing rooms, put on makeup, and set their props for the show. The clowns gather in a special section of the backstage tent known as Clown Alley. They keep their costumes, makeup, and props in…
Good morning, Kennebunkport!
Tickets to our FOUR SHOWS AT ROCKIN’ HORSE STABLES have been selling like cold lemonade on a hot day! We are currently out of online tickets for the 1:00 and 6:00 pm shows TODAY, August 8th and the 1:00 pm show tomorrow, August 9th. For the August 9th 6:00 pm shows, Please call the Clam Shack at 207-216-7075 to check availability. More tickets will be released at the door one hour prior to show time, based on space available in the tent. See you at the circus!
Kennebunkport, ME, here we come!
Kennebunkport, Maine is perhaps best known as a the summer home of former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush. And, for two days in August for the past 6 years, this popular resort town has been a “home” for Circus Smirkus! Last summer, the Bushes attended a Smirkus show (above). This year, Smirkus comes to town for 4 shows on Monday & Tuesday. Our shows in Kennebunkport are sponsored by the PTA of the Kennebunkport Consolidated School, a K – 5 school that in 2010 was named one of the 300 Blue Ribbon Schools in the country! Money raised through…
Some Healthy Competition
Yesterday between shows in Revere, MA, the troupers and staff had their annual athletic showdown. It was trouper versus staff in a healthy game of Kickball. The game started out with a coin toss. The troupers were given the call and they called heads. Troy gave them the opportunity to change calls, but they chose not to, which resulted in the staff up at bat first. The first inning was intense! Kick after kick the staff landed spots on the field. I made a valiant effort my first kick and ran to first. Jenny followed and kicked a foul ball…
GOOD MORNING, REVERE!
The city that brought you novelist Horatio Alger, singer Freddy Cannon, actor Bill Macy and ballplayers Billy and Tony Conigliaro brings you…drum roll please… CIRCUS SMIRKUS! August 5 & 6 Beachmont School 15 Everard Street, Revere, MA 4 shows: 1 & 7 pm Presented by the Revere Department of Recreation Tickets at the Rec Department, online here and by calling 1-877-SMIRKUS (1-877-764-7587) See you at the circus!
On to Revere!
Circus Smirkus pulled up stakes on the beautiful Cape after last night’s final performance in Sandwich, and lands at Beachmont School in Revere, MA today. This historic town – just 5 miles from downtown Boston! – is home to the famed Revere Beach (oldest public beach in the US!) and home, for a few days each summer, to Circus Smirkus! Our shows in Revere are presented by the Revere Recreation Department, which uses money raised from ticket sales for an incredible array of programs. In the summer, the Rec Department offers free entertainment – movies, concerts and the like –…
What Happens When It Rains?
It pours… AND the show goes on! This is the nature of show business, folks! Last night at our sold-out show in Sandwich, MA, we experienced a torrential downpour which lasted the entire hour before we opened the house. Besides laying down some plywood to make it safer and easier to walk around, everything went on as it had routinely in the past. Some spectators did put their umbrellas to work, though, and others got a little bit damp — but their spirits weren’t dampened. Our Big Top is able to withstand 60-mile-per-hour winds and is grounded, so the safety…