There's nothing 'normal' about being in a circus.
A clown from the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey circus.Last update Sep 22, 2011
Johnathan Lee Iverson lives on a train. His neighbors run the gamut from trapeze artists to elephant trainers.
Iverson is the ringmaster for Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus, which makes a stop in Peoria Sept. 23-25.
When the circus rolls into town, it will be by train — all 300 employees, many of the animals and equipment.
"It's a huge carpool," said Iverson, who shares an apartment with his wife, Priscilla, and their two boys, ages 6 and 2. Priscilla is a dancer and a line captain who works alongside the production manager in overseeing the show. They have a kitchen and a living room area, two bedrooms and a bathroom. There is a school and a nursery on the train.
"It's a lot of fun during the train runs, when we're going from city to city. We watch movies, play boardgames, my son will do some work. We sometimes go out to the vestibule and watch the country go by."
How do they bring normalcy to their lives in this environment? They don't.
"There is no normal, and I like it that way," he said. "I don't know where we get the stuff about normal from. I love the unpredictability of our life, because it's actually life."
This has been Iverson's life since 1998, when, at age 22, he became the youngest Ringling Bros. ringmaster, and the first African-American one. He was trying out for a dinner theater after graduating from the Hartt School, the University of Hartford's performing arts conservatory when the director of the theater (who was also directing the circus) liked his work.READ MORE:http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/x66189840/Theres-nothing-normal-about-being-in-a-circus
Iverson is the ringmaster for Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus, which makes a stop in Peoria Sept. 23-25.
When the circus rolls into town, it will be by train — all 300 employees, many of the animals and equipment.
"It's a huge carpool," said Iverson, who shares an apartment with his wife, Priscilla, and their two boys, ages 6 and 2. Priscilla is a dancer and a line captain who works alongside the production manager in overseeing the show. They have a kitchen and a living room area, two bedrooms and a bathroom. There is a school and a nursery on the train.
"It's a lot of fun during the train runs, when we're going from city to city. We watch movies, play boardgames, my son will do some work. We sometimes go out to the vestibule and watch the country go by."
How do they bring normalcy to their lives in this environment? They don't.
"There is no normal, and I like it that way," he said. "I don't know where we get the stuff about normal from. I love the unpredictability of our life, because it's actually life."
This has been Iverson's life since 1998, when, at age 22, he became the youngest Ringling Bros. ringmaster, and the first African-American one. He was trying out for a dinner theater after graduating from the Hartt School, the University of Hartford's performing arts conservatory when the director of the theater (who was also directing the circus) liked his work.READ MORE:http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/x66189840/Theres-nothing-normal-about-being-in-a-circus
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