CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Mar 25, 1990
Center ring About 80 of your neighbors and friends are tightening the tightropes and focusing the spotlights in preparation for their version of the greatest show on earth.
Center ring About 80 of your neighbors and friends are tightening the tightropes and focusing the spotlights in preparation for their version of the greatest show on earth.
It`s the Triton Troupers` circus, an annual one-ring affair that unites people from all walks of life and gives them a chance to be a clown, a juggler, an acrobat or a high-wire artist for one weekend each year.
”We`ve got police officers, a district attorney, retirees and students,” said Mary Wright, a founding member of the circus and wife of the show`s director, Rick Wright, of Clarendon Hills.
The show grew out of Triton College`s circus arts courses, offered through the continuing education program. The classes begin in January and are taught by Rick Wright, who in real life is a metals engineer.
The final exam is the circus, scheduled this year for April 5 and 6 at Triton`s Robert Collins Center. You`ll laugh at the Dimwits, a comedic acrobatic group. You`ll thrill to trapeze artists who just might be your neighbors from down the street. In fact, you`ll probably see everything you`d see from Ringling Bros.-except animal acts.
”It`s really very popular,” said Mary Wright, who added that more than 1,000 people attend the performances.
The circus has been a hit in other ways: 17 couples, including the Wrights, met while working on the circus and later got married. But that`s another story.
Admission is $2. For more information, call 1-708-986-5638.