Special events review

'Super' circus battles boredom

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Super Circus Heroes opened at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock on Thursday with more than 2,700 folks in attendance. The production's performers, who are referred to as "real-life superheroes," have been assembled to battle boredom in an action-packed event that offers a good bit of audience participation.

The show, which started promptly at 7 p.m., opened with the introduction of Mr. Boredom, a clown of sorts who is on a mission to find his superhuman powers and earn his cape. So, throughout the rest of the show, the performers celebrated the bravery, courage and heroism that lives inside all of us.

Corny? You bet. But it was enjoyable all the way through.

This is the Gold Edition of "The Greatest Show on Earth." It has only one ring, so the crew worked double time to move the performers in and out. The action dragged a bit in spots, but two clowns, Ringmaster David Shipman and Mr. Boredom, helped fill in the gaps.

The show features an interesting variety of acts that seemed to really delight the audience. For those who love animals, there are the prerequisite elephants, as well as horses, dogs and camels. Folks who like a little more action might enjoy the Lopez Family's high-wire act or the teeterboard work of The Cuban Comets. And adrenaline junkies in the audience really seemed to enjoy the Fire Riders: two men, two motorcycles and a big steel cage. What's not to love?

Also enjoyable was the six-piece band that performed live during the whole show. The music set the tone and kept the action going, but it was a little loud. A few times the ringmaster was drowned out by it, and that got a little confusing.

Additional showtimes are 7 p.m. today; 11 a.m., 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday at Verizon Arena.

Metro on 08/15/2014

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