The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-04-16
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

New York.-Small boys of Man
 haitian don't get much of break
 when the Greatest Show on Earth
 comes to town. There's no parade,
 no carrying of water for the ele- plants, and no standing by to
 watch tents go up.
 The tents, of course, don't go up.
 The circus just disappears into the
 labyrinthine ramps and corridors of Madison Square Garden. And the
 Garden is impregnable to the stra- tagmes of small boys. The latter can do no better ethan congregate
 at the main entrance and plead
 with tears in n-their vopces: Hey,
 mister, take me in!" A great many
 of them, I'm gratified to report, are
 taken in.
 Day before the circus opens, {. your correspondent can be foundR- at the arena, grateful that he is as, reporter and not a small boy. get, in the way of triggers and rousters, 2, am shouted out of the paths of gall :. lopiflg horses, stroll through th~e, rane of fire of Sitting Bull. Jr, th$s archer, and have grand time gen. z orally. TX ys@ Rehearsal Is Best Show . sy. For me a circus rehearsal holds.~ fascination that never can finds again in a spangled, regular perS~a formance. The performers thenl-s~ selves are excited. Hundreds of ' friends are meeting again after aga winter of vaudeville or circus tourss- in Europe. They'll sit on crate. z and chat with you about their tri- < umphs, their families. their new < acts, or circus life in general. They , represent every nationality from Chrinese to Arab. watched tear :. full reunion between Japanese juggler and Spanish aerialist. .4a
 My guess Is that there's less.' Jealousy between circus stars than.s between people of the theater. A-.' dozen women rushed to congratu<ys Hate the girl of the Wallenda troupe when they all had come down solely from their high wire.
 The Rooneys drew a round of spon-1.' taneous applause. A hundred ad-s. mirers were wkilling to hold Annie-s' Lauries dressing gown when she slid down a rope from the Gar-.s. den's rafters. " v.
 z sayal Costumes Informal. 5i-.
 Nondescript rehearsal costumes = heighten my interest in the pro-s- ceedings. Clowns look sillier than ever dressed in natty suits and irlv-~s nocent of makeup Acrobats are no- loss acrobatic while wearing any~s~ thing from oyeralls to sliortss- Aerialists seem to prefer working, ,. in bathing suits. Equestriennes rider. in beach pajamas or anything else ,,' that happens to be handy in their {. dressing roms. Dorothy Herbert's favorite prac
 tice costume is an old sweater and ! some voluminous white silk shorts. : Con Colleano likes plus-fours and q. !. dirty sweater bearing the name ofs. Brooklyn gymnasium when hes rehearses his dancing on tight+s- cape that the cash customers see,. he swirls an ancient raincoat. ",
 Fred Bradna, the ringmaster,. is. an unimposing figure in q browns suit, but he's absolute dictator Ofs~ the proceedings. Newspapermeps.. cluster around Dexter Fellowssia dean of circus press aents, and,.' guffaw when he confides that El-ue mer Twisto, the contortionist.s- comes from Big Bend, Kansas.s. Frank Braden, another eonjurer of. publicity, says he hopes the. stork.s will hurry up and visit the, me.~a nagerie, because the best kind. of circus story is the arrival ofs' a baby. Quintuplets, of course.... would be the most blessed ofss all possible events. - -.-. More Sex Appeal M. My principal circus enthusi.s
 asms this year are for tha@, performing bears, practically all~s of the aerialists, and the Wair.s l lendas, who always give nre- nervous indigestion. Incidentss. ally, that handkerchief-sized net which . few flunkies hold.s beneath the high-wire troupAss doesn't mean Q thing exceptr that 1t saves some of the weaf.. and tear on the nerves of -on~ls lockers. ". The Ringing show has gone in for sex-appeal this year on q. scale appropriate to a Folliea~ chorus. From the time of the. 4 grand entry, with three ladT- drum majors leading the bandy
 the circus is predominantly' Mss l girl slow. There are ringmis-A dresses, women animal NJ trainerAa. and more women than ever ihs l the tumbling, riding and areials, acts. Clowning Is the only jobi ,. that's still exclusively masclieN Lime. Somebody 0ughk ta pagN.