News out of New York City yesterday. Feld Entertainment's 141st Edition of the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus will not play Madison Square Garden in 2011. The news is not likely as dire as it sounds. The Garden will be undergoing renovations. And since the first Barnum show palyed the Garden over 130 years ago, there have been several different "Madison Square Gardens," Including the incredible Moorish inspired twoer that was "The Garden" from 1890 through the Golden Age of circus in the 1920s. The show is exiled from Manhattan only for a season, at least so far as the press is reporting. And given the successful Coney Island summer runs in recent years, the Feld/Ringling title remains a New York favorite. That said, long gone are the days when the circus could play the Garden literally for months... If I remember correctly at least once the B&B show was forced out of the Garden by rebuilding during the Bailey era -- only to come back stronger the next season. And the Bailey filled the Garden with other titles when he took the Barnum show to Europe.
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