October 2018

The Historic Asolo Theater
A photo inside the circus museum that shows a collection of the colorful
circus wagons.
wheels and axles on the wagon train. A kitchen was needed
to feed those 1,300 people on the road. Iconic promotional
posters cover the museum walls.
And, yes, there is Bruno Zacchini’s Super Repeating Cannon
that propelled a daredevil 75 feet through the air into a net to
the pleasure of wide-eyed children.
But this is not yet the time for the Zacchini family to reveal
how the propulsion mechanism worked. The mechanism
has been removed from the cannon and remains a closely
guarded family secret.
The theater has a fascinating history. Long ago, the parts
of a theater in Italy were dismantled, acquired by a German
antiquarian who stored them in Venice throughout World
War II. In 1949, 13 years after Ringling’s death, a Ringling
theater director bought the dismantled theater to comply
with Ringling’s love of baroque design and architecture.
The decorative elements of the ancient Italian theater are
the foundation for the present theater that required some
modernization. The theater is now home to a professional
theater group and a partner of the Florida State University
School of Theater Arts and Center for Performing Arts.
The Gardens
Artistically cared for gardens, exotic trees, and impressive
sprawling banyan trees range across the 66 acres, including
shaded areas for sitting, a pond with colorful koi and other
exotic fish, a picnic area, and playground for children. Three
choices of cafes are available for lunch.
A centerpiece of the circus museum is Ringling’s personal
Pullman Railroad Car – 79 feet long and luxurious for the
times.
You can watch a high-quality 30-minute film, narrated by
Hal Holbrook, describing the fascinating life of Ringling, from
humble beginnings to extraordinary riches to poverty.
Missing at the circus museum is the smell of straw, hay,
cotton candy, the smell of animals, and the sounds of the
circus. Personally, I thought the circus lost its magic when it
moved from the outdoor Big Top indoors to huge buildings
like Madison Square Garden or Boston Garden.
Adjacent to the circus museum is another two-story building
containing the world’s largest “model circus,” a miniature
circus made of 44,000 model pieces made to scale. A
man named Howard Tibbals built it more than 50 years
ago. The display depicts the arrival of the circus by train,
setting up the tents, the circus performers, the various
support functions, and loading the railroad cars to leave
town. The second floor features a collection of artifacts and
memorabilia from various circuses and information that tells
the history of circuses from when the first ones were formed
in Europe.
The Ringling Mansion
The Venetian Gothic style mansion is a majestic building
that was completed in the mid-1920s. Its 41 rooms and 15
bathrooms occupy five floors. The mansion is large enough
to warrant two tours, each in a different part of the mansion.
Combined, they take about an hour and a half. We did not
have time to tour the mansion that day, but the oceansidegrounds
and gracious gardens are worth seeing.
A shot inside the museum that shows the cavernous space and one of the
huge master paintings.
The cost
There are separate admission fees for museums and
mansion. The art museum is free on Mondays, as specified
in Ringling’s will. I was told that during the winter months
when “snowbirds” and tourists are plentiful around Sarasota,
“free Monday” is usually very crowded. We paid $25 each for
admission to the circus museums. Because it was Monday,
the art museum was free. The mansion would be a separate
fee. It would be best to check the website for current fees,
which would help prioritize what would most interest you.
In all, we spent six hours at the estate – a bit more than
three hours in the art museum, 45 minutes for lunch, and
about two hours in the circus buildings. We would have
needed another day to see the mansion and spend a little
time in the theater.
The Ringling Museum and Estate are described as “a place
of beauty and wonder.” It is.
For more information, visit www.ringling.org. P
the PARKLANDER 77