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    The Review is In

    Traveling circus offers guilt-free thrills with elephant puppets, razor-sharp ringmaster

    Lindsey Wilson
    Jun 8, 2017 | 10:45 am

    The recent demise of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus freed its animals (hooray!) but also put hundreds of uniquely skilled performers out of work (boo!). Specialized art forms that have been passed down through generations — think trapeze, high-wire, clowning, balancing acts, aerial work — suddenly seem in danger of dying out, unless folks who have dedicated lifetimes to these classic skills suddenly go modern with Cirque du Soleil or its many imitators.

    Enter Circus 1903, a two-hour extravaganza that imbues traditional circus acts with old-timey nostalgia and acknowledges the elephant in the room through life-size puppets. And you know what? It works.

    It's straightforward without seeming cheap, flashy without appearing overdone, wholesome without feeling corny (though you should watch out for popcorn projectiles). It nods at historically exotic mainstays such as the sideshow — here it's the lovely and astoundingly elastic Senayet Assefa Amara — but doesn't linger long enough to get trapped by the exhibit's tawdry underbelly.

    Perhaps most importantly, though, it's emceed by a ringmaster (Willy Whipsnade, or David Williamson as he's known outside the big top) who is effortlessly charming but still razor-sharp with his audience improv.

    The show's subtitle is "The Golden Age of the Circus," and it has, indeed, landed in the sweet spot of entertainment. There's nothing inappropriate or salacious, making it safe for young viewers. But just as kids will be mesmerized by the sparkly costumes (courtesy of designer Angela Aaron) and epic music (composed by Evan Jolly), adults might bite off a fingernail or two once all the soaring, leaping, and spinning is through. These performers do fly through the air with the greatest of ease, but while they do you might forget to stop breathing.

    Each act is showcased impeccably, from the light-speed juggling of Francois Borie (known as the Great Gaston) to a "bicycle ballet" from the Cycling Cyclone, Florian Blummel. Aerialist Lucky Moon (Elena Gatilova) receives a particularly beautiful presentation thanks to Paul Smith, whose lighting is some of the best in recent memory, circus or not.

    And those elephants? They're simply stunning. Manipulating puppets designed by Mervyn Millar and Tracy Waller for Significant Object, six puppeteers bring a majestic mother and her scampering calf to life (look closely and you'll see some handlers propped up on stilts). It's the inventive and humane debut that elephants always deserved.

    ---

    Society for the Performing Arts presentation of Circus 1903 plays at Jones Hall June 9 - 11.

    The Sensational Sozonov: Mikhail Sozonov.

    Circus 1903
      
    Photo by Mark Turner Images
    The Sensational Sozonov: Mikhail Sozonov.
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    A Roman Holiday (Season)

    All roads lead to Houston museum's blockbuster exhibit of Imperial Rome

    Tarra Gaines
    Jun 11, 2025 | 3:15 pm
    ​The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times"
    Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
    The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times" ("Statue of Trajan" Minturno, Italy, 2nd century, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

    Houston's holiday season will have a distinctly Roman feeling this year, as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is bringing the glory of the Gladiator era to Texas. On November 2, 2025 through January 25, 2026 the MFAH presents the monumental new exhibition “Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times.”

    Featuring 160 objects of antiquity, including marble sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, delicate glass vessels, and exquisite bronze artifacts, the exhibition will transport visitors back in time to the Roman Empire during a flowering of art and architecture. The MFAH partnered with the Saint Louis Art Museum to organize the exhibition, which will showcase many pieces that have never been on view in the U.S.

    While Emperor Trajan might not be the most famous — or in some cases, most infamous — of the Roman emperors, he ruled between 98 and 117 C.E. during the empire’s height and was the second of the so-called “Five Good Emperors” of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty. He was also the first emperor born outside of present-day Italy, in what is now Andalusia, Spain. During his reign, he granted citizenship and rights to some peoples from conquered lands. The exhibition will explore how this time period expanded what it meant to be a Roman and how art reflected Rome’s power and promoted the empire’s values and ideals.

    \u200bThe Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times"
      

    Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

    The Museum of Fine Arts Houston presents "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times" ("Statue of Trajan" Minturno, Italy, 2nd century, marble, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

    From statues of prominent men and women of the era, including Trajan, to vivid frescoes and furnishing from the villas of Pompeii, the objects in the exhibition will tell fascinating cultural and political stories of life in imperial Rome. To add context to the artworks and objects of antiquity, the MFAH will recreate a section of Trajan’s Column, which was a towering pillar with a spiraling narrative frieze, one of the few monumental sculptures to have survived the fall of Rome.

    “Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times” brings such a wealth of objects to Houston thanks to unprecedented loans from the renowned antiquities collections of Italian museums including Museo Nazionale Romano, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, the Parco Archeologico di Ostia, and the Musei Vaticani. It would would likely take months of travel across Italy to see this much art.

    “This is truly a rare opportunity for U.S. audiences to experience spectacular objects from this glorious era of the Roman Empire,” said Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH, in a statement. “We are enormously grateful to our colleagues in Rome, Naples, and Vatican City for lending these treasures to us and broadening the appreciation of Italy’s cultural heritage.”

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