CIRCUS WILL ARRIVE WITH GRAND WALK

The arrival of "The Greatest Show on Earth" June 10 will be marked by a "Grand Animal Walk" through the streets of Cape Girardeau.

Elephants, camels, llamas, horses and a host of other animals of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus will be paraded on Broadway and Sprigg streets, en route to the Show Me Center where the circus will perform four shows in two days.

"It's a spectacle," said Show Me Center Events Coordinator Christopher Washko.

The "animal walk" will take place June 10 at approximately 5 p.m. The 44-car train, on which the performers and animals travel, is scheduled to stop in Cape Girardeau early that morning.

The train will stop at the intersection of Broadway and Water streets. In all, more than 50 animals will be led through the streets of Cape Girardeau.

Leading the animals will be Ringling's head animal trainer, Flavio Togni. Other performers, including clowns, will take part in the walk, Washko said.

He explained that the circus' lions, tigers, and leopards will not be walked through the streets but transported in cages.

The show includes 17 elephants, 39 horses, 14 baboons, six tigers, two lions, one wolf, two bears, two hyenas, four llamas, three camels, five leopards, one rhinoceros, three goats, a skunk and a chicken.

Some of the animals, including the elephants, will be housed in tents outside the Show Me Center during the circus' two-day run, Washko said.

"You just can't comprehend what's going to happen here," he said. "We're literally turning the Show Me Center into a three-ring circus."

Washko said Ringling Brothers runs a self-contained show. "They set up their own equipment and everything. We just supply the box office, they handle all the nuts and bolts," he said.

Washko explained that Ringling's "animal walk" takes place in each city where the circus performs.

This year, the show is celebrating its 120th year, something Washko attributes to its long-standing emphasis on a quality, family-oriented show.

"Ringling represents one of the highest standards of family entertainment," he said. "It's the pinnacle of quality as far as entertainment goes."

This year's show is all new and features high-wire acts, world-class acrobatics and, of course, lots of clowns.

"This show is in really high demand," Washko said. "David Ross (Show Me Center director) has been trying to get them to come here since 1987. It's because of his determination that they're here."

Ringling Brothers has brought their show to Cape Girardeau only four times in its more than a century of performing. Ringling Brothers last performed here in 1968.

"It really gets here only once each generation," Washko said.

Performances will be June 11 and 12 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the Show Me Center box office and all area ticket outlets. To order tickets by phone, call the Show Me Center at 651-5000.