- December 18, 2024
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After entertainers and athletes make a splash in their debut outing, it’s not uncommon for their follow-up effort to be disappointing. But there’s no sign of sophomore slump in the second year of Nik Wallenda’s Wonderland Circus. This year’s show, called “Illuminate,” is more polished and exciting than last year’s inaugural circus, “A Brave New Wonderland.”
But, of course, Wallenda is no newcomer to the circus. In fact, the 45-year-old King of the Wire is quite the opposite. He’s part of a circus family that traces its roots to Austria-Hungary in the 1780s.
The Flying Wallendas acrobatic troupe made its American debut in John Ringling’s circus in 1928, without a net because it was lost in transit. For better or worse, it became part of the family’s act.
When the family first came to Sarasota, the winter home of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, they stayed at John Ringling’s Ca D’Zan mansion.
As consumer tastes changed and circuses fell out of favor, Nik Wallenda has pushed the envelope of his art (Or is it a sport?) with daring tightrope crossings over Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon and a live volcano on cable and network TV. In the process, he has won Emmy Awards and racked up 13 Guinness World Records.
When an interviewer comments on the high production values (showbiz talk for good quality) of the videos that introduce holiday traditions to the audience during “Illuminate,” Wallenda explains without boasting, “I’ve spent years working with the best in broadcasting. After you saw those videos opening weekend, we went back and made them even better.”
A lot of superstar performers are known for wanting to be the best — Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Beyonce, to name a few. Some want to achieve the highest ratings or concert tour grosses. Clearly, the drive for excellence motivates Wallenda too.
But there’s something else at work: Wallenda wants to redeem the circus in the eyes of the public.
As is the case with many things today, young people are the hardest to reach. “The 16- to 24-year-old demographic is tough for us,” Wallenda says during a phone interview.
“I was speaking with someone pretty powerful in Sarasota recently and he told me he can’t get his two teenaged daughters to go to the circus,” Wallenda laments. “They think circus is cheesy. We have to work hard to convince them that circus is cool.” Cue those TikTok #coolcircus videos.
If young people are staying away from Wonderland, it’s too bad because their peers are in the show. Nineteen-year-old Emma Clarke is performing along with Anna Buchmeier, who is still in high school, in a Hanukkah-themed performance during “Illuminate.”
Clarke, daughter of Circus Arts Conservatory President and CEO Jennifer Mitchell, and Buchmeier received their training at the Sailor Circus Academy, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
At one recent “Illuminate” show, Mitchell was in the audience near where her daughter and Buchmeier had a cheering section, presumably made up of friends and former classmates from Sailor Circus. Mitchell was congratulated by well-wishers after the show.
Along with Circus Arts Conservatory co-founders Pedro Reis and Dolly Jacobs, who recently passed the management reins of the nonprofit CAC to Mitchell, Wallenda and Company consider it their mission to “elevate” the circus.
That marketing buzzword gets tossed around a lot, usually in connection with high-rise condos and potent cocktails. But it seems apt in a world where a lot of action takes place off the ground.
“We want to get better and better,” Wallenda says. “We’re the only circus in the world with a red carpet when you walk in the door. We are building a brand new European tent as we speak. We want to elevate the entire experience.”
Wallenda and his Wonderland producing partners at the CAC have to educate the public that “Illuminate” is different from the Wonderland show last year as well as the performances of Circus Sarasota.
“We try to put the word ‘new’ on all our marketing materials,” Wallenda says.
Part of the problem is that many holiday shows like the Radio City Rockettes in New York City and Balanchine’s classic Christmas ballet, “The Nutcracker,” performed in Sarasota, New York and all around the world, are essentially the same every year but with new performers.
While the debut of Wonderland showcased Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, “Illuminate” also honors holidays from India and China with performances by artists from those countries.
What’s more, there’s an element of surprise in every show. Last year, Nik’s mother, retired circus performer Delilah Wallenda, celebrated her 71st birthday by coming out of retirement to perform in a pyramid with family members.
“Seventy-one is just a number,” Delilah told Miami TV 7 last year. “You’ve just got to keep on trucking on and follow your dream. Don’t give up on it no matter how old you are, just keep going.”
There’s a reason why “Never give up” is Nik Wallenda’s tagline. Like mother, like son.
Like any family, the Wallendas have suffered their share of heartbreak. Nik’s great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, died in 1978 when he fell during a high-wire stunt in Puerto Rico. There have been other injuries to family members over the years.
The one that hit close to home was when Nik’s sister, Lijana Wallenda, broke nearly every bone in her face when the troupe’s eight-man pyramid collapsed in 2017 while they were rehearsing at Circus Sarasota.
Even the normally stoic Nik was shaken by that accident. He recounts how faith and the support of his family and other troupe members helped him regain his confidence in his book, “Facing Fear: Step Out in Faith and Rise Above What’s Holding You Back.” Co-written with Don Yaeger, it’s surprisingly readable, even for those of little faith.
Among the Wallenda family members performing in this year’s “Wonderland” are Nik’s cousin, Blake, and wife, Erendira, who performed handstands and splits on a metal pole suspended on a shoulder bar between the two men. Erendira is also the director of “Illuminate.”
When the Wallendas are up on the high-wire performing their death-defying moves, Wonderland Master of Ceremonies Ty McFarlan asks the audience to turn off their cell phones and to be quiet so the troupe can communicate with each other.
A reassuring presence who stands in for Santa Claus in Wonderland, McFarlan is a veteran of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where he was only the second Black ringmaster in its history.
You never know what’s going to happen at Wonderland. Who will be plucked out of the audience to perform alongside professionals?
Kids in the audience were mesmerized by clown Johnny Rockett’s spiky hairdo, affable manner and wacky bicycle, which seemingly falls apart before he turns it into a unicycle.
Wallenda ends his “circus with a purpose” with a brief but heartfelt appeal for tolerance and unity. “What if we could learn to get along with people we disagree with?” he asks.
What indeed?
