For one Alabama native, the circus is all about logistics
David Bailey, assistant general manager of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, poses with zebras at the BJCC arena on Tuesday morning. Bailey, a Decatur native, is in charge of logistics for the circus, and one part of the job is making sure zebras and tigers are taken care of while traveling from show to show.(The Birmingham News / Michelle Campbell)Wednesday, January 26, 2011
David Bailey is in charge of moving what he calls a "traveling city" from town to town. The Decatur native became chief of logistics for "The Greatest Show on Earth" in October 2010, when he took a job as assistant general manager for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
"I'm actually the one who travels over the land," he said. "I travel from city to city and am normally the first one to leave on Sunday night. I pull into the new arena and actually travel with the zebras and the tigers. So when we get to the arena, basically I'm doing the setup."
On a dreary Tuesday morning, Bailey, 30, led a line of elephants into the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center, where the circus will perform through Saturday.
The elephants came marching one by one, trunk-in-tail, in a fashion similar to schoolchildren walking hand-in-hand so they don't stray on the way to lunch.
But those elephants provided only a glimpse of the intricate network of animals and acrobats that Bailey helps organize as head of logistics for the show.
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