Traveling with the Show

The 1942 circus season was extremely busy. I was doing six new numbers and Betty Jean was doing eight numbers -two shows per day. The most frantic were the one-day stands. We would wake up on the circus train, ask where we were, then we would get dressed, have coffee that was made by the car porter, catch the show bus from the train to the circus lot and have breakfast in the cook-tent. The cook-tent had been unloaded from the circus train and erected sometime during the dark hours of the morning. It had a complete kitchen and dining area, and was ready to serve a healthy breakfast by sun-up or shortly thereafter. The next thing was to find where the dressing tent was located. By this time, you expected to find your trunk placed where your assigned area was located in the dressing tent, and hoped that your allotted two buckets of fresh, clean water had been placed in front of your trunk. Each performer was given two buckets of clean water each show. Four buckets a day. If you required more water, that could be arranged by tipping the bucket boys. On cold mornings, ice would form on the top of the water in the bucket. Loud shrieks could be heard on these mornings as each performer rinsed off the soap suds with the icy water. The dressing tent was a very large tent divided into three areas and separated by canvas walls. The men's dressing area was on one side and the women's on the other. Between the dressing rooms was the wardrobe department, where the many costumes were kept and maintained by the wardrobe people. All costumes were kept in large circus wagons. As the show was going on and your numbers were coming up, you went to the wardrobe area to remove the costume of the number you had just completed and then to be fitted into the costume for your next number. As can be imagined, the dressing tent was a madhouse while the shows were going on. About 150 people changing costumes from two to eight times in a 2 1/2 hour period. Fortunately, the wardrobe people had a sense of humor and kept things moving.

Because the dressing tent was divided by canvas walls, everything and anything could be heard by everyone. Whatever happened on one side could be heard by all. There were no secrets between the men's and women's side. Once when several of the girls had been missing money and jewelry over a period of several weeks, they got together and set a trap for the thief. The trap was successful and they caught her. Two of the girls stripped her naked and threw her out of the dressing tent with no clothes or money. She was never heard from again. The girls had cures for many things. If one of the girls was becoming a bore with self-importance, the cure was to place a very large elephant turd on top of her trunk. In removing and disposing of it, she would be brought back to reality.

Every so often the dressing tent on one side or the other would become silent. You could not hear a sound, then all of a sudden loud laughter and applause would break out. Quite often a performer, deep in thought, would walk into the wrong dressing room. If it was a guy, the girls would be silent until he was well into the dressing room, then scream and holler to see the startled look on the poor guys face when he became aware of where he was. Sometimes the girls would be standing naked and make a big show of getting the guy out. Getting the dressing rooms correct was a problem. The dressing tent was erected by the tent crew and they couldn't care less which side was which. Fortunately, circus performers are well-built and don't mind showing off their bodies on occasion.

The hardships and unforeseen events that befall circus people tend to bond them together. The result is a sort of protective web to guard against outside influences. For example, on one occasion when Betty Jean was performing in Washington, D C, she was dressed in her costume for the "Shangri-La" number and was waiting at the Big Top entrance for the number to begin. She would be sitting on a throne, fastened to a litter that would be lifted onto the shoulders of four black litter-bearers for the trip around the hippodrome track. While waiting, a local black man appeared and confronted Betty Jean, making indecent offers and remarks to her. Betty said nothing, but was crying when the four black litter-bearers came to pick her up on their shoulders. They asked her what was wrong and she told them what the local man had said to her. Later that day, there were police and an ambulance gathered at the river on the far end of the circus lot in the tall grass. It seems someone had found the local black man beaten up, with his stomach cut from top to bottom. Nothing was said, but the next show Betty was told by her litter-bearers that if she had any more trouble, she should let them know. Betty never complained of anything to anyone after that incident.

While playing Madison Square Garden in New York and living in hotels around the Garden, there was a new happening every day and night. The first show started at 2:00 PM and was over by 4:30 P M; the second show started at 8:00 PM and was over at 10:30 PM. That gave us 3 1/2 hours between the first and second shows, then 5 to 6 hours after the second show until we had to be in bed. This lasted for six weeks. Don't think we didn't miss a thing that was happening in New York City during that six weeks. Some of the more popular spots were: Jack Dempsey's, the Diamond Horseshoe, Belvedere Hotel bar, the Capitol Hotel, the Hoffbrau House and restaurants of all kinds.

The Italian restaurants had the best spaghetti, the most delicious we had ever eaten. There should be a New York Delicatessen in every city. The variety of roasts, cold-cuts, breads, salads and baked goods can only be found in a New York deli. Romero's was at Times Square and was open 24 hours a day. It was one of the favorite spots for the circus performers to gather for food and drinks after the night shows.

While the circus was in Madison Square Garden, the ocean liner "Normandie" burned and sank at her berth in the harbor, which we could see from the stage door of the Garden. Just for fun, we told the Bulgarian bar acrobats that the police were looking for them for burning and sinking the Normandie. I wish we had not done that now, it scared the poor fellows half to death. They were upset for a week and would not even leave their hotel at night.

One night, during a performance, several police cars pulled up to the stage door. Eight or ten police officers chased one of the elephant hands back stage. He ran to where the elephants were housed. He appeared to be hurt, and a little blood was showing. He was breathing hard and was scared. He ran to "his" elephant , and she took him in and would not let anyone near him. This included the police. The elephant stood over and guarded him for several hours while he slept and recovered. When he awoke, and was settled down, he satisfied the elephant that he was OK. She then stepped back and let him take charge. The police did not press charges. The fellow had a few too many beers and was talking when he should have been listening. Besides, they did not want to upset the elephant again.

Once when I was going out the stage door after a night show, I noticed a very large black limousine with a uniformed chauffeur standing beside it , with an arm full of long -stemmed roses. My first thought was that one of the girls had hit a gold mine. All the girls and guys were a few steps behind me, so I slowed down to see which gal would get the roses. As I came alongside the limousine, the chauffeur stepped over and asked if I was Bobby Martin? As I said "yes" he handed me the roses and said Billy Rose was in the limousine and would like me to have dinner with him. So, there I stood holding the damn roses, and the chauffeur holding the door of the limo open, waiting for me to get in with Billy Rose. All the gals and guys were standing there, watching us with grins on their faces. My wish was that the sidewalk would open up and swallow me. I was so embarrassed and frustrated that I could hardly talk. I handed the roses back to the chauffeur and told Billy Rose I was sorry but I didn't play those kinds of games and my girlfriend was waiting for me. I turned and left. The guys and girls never did let me forget meeting Billy Rose. Long-stemmed roses still embarrass me.

Betty Jean was asked to audition for a Broadway show that was in rehearsal at one of the theaters. She went down to auditon for the musical, "Early to Bed", produced by Robert Altman. During the audition, she met the people producing and directing the show, along with the backers and performers. After the audition, I asked her how things had gone with the audition. She said, "Fine." They had offered her the part, but after meeting, talking, and mingling with the group, she turned it down. Her reason was she was happy with the circus, where almost all the boys were boys and girls were girls, and those that were not, told you so. Such as "Barbette," the ballet and dance director, who Betty still claims tried to fix things so that she would be knocked off her web. Betty felt that Barbette had a "thing" for me, but we got all the rigging corrected prior to show time, and nothing was hurt but pride.

I will have to confess that I did tease Barbette and enjoyed his/her friendship knowing that she felt I could become an excellent performer. Barbette had performed the world over as a female performer on the single trapeze and was highly regarded in Europe. Then came the fateful day when she fell, breaking both arms and hands to the extent that she could never perform again.
Until that day, he had masqueraded as a woman. It was a shock to the world to discover that Barbette was a man. After the fall, Barbette became a dance director on Broadway, and was one of the best. In the circus, he could walk into the girls dressing room and no attempt would be made by the girls to cover up. Barbette would also help each of them with the proper make-up, speech, dressing and walking, along with dance and performing. They all loved to hear his/her stories. Barbette took a special liking to Betty and me. He would take us to dinner whenever he wanted to show off his "circus friends" to other show business people.

While directing the rehearsals for George Ballanchine, Barbette, along with John Murray Anderson, would have the showgirls performing all kids of ballet positions on a vertical rope hanging from approximately 40 feet in the air for the web numbers. Some of the girls were not in the physical condition necessary to do that type of rope climbing. They were just learning the music and routines for the numbers. More than once, the poor girl on the rope would be put through routines that were painful and take all her strength, working to the point of tears. Barbette said this was "OK, because the more she cried the less she peed."

While working in Madison Square Garden, a labor problem came to a climax one afternoon. Since arriving in New York, there had been trouble slowly brewing between the southern blacks that came with show from Sarasota and the workers hired in New York. We never knew what happened to set off the fight that broke out that day. There were close to 100 workers fighting in all three rings, and every one of them was out for blood. Art Concello had a few of us at a meeting in the back of the Garden when the fight broke out. We all ran to where the fight was going on. Art said for us to stay back, away from the fighting. Art ran into the middle of this bloody mess, jumped up on a shute gate section and hollered for the fighting to stop. He called those men everything could think of, in no uncertain terms. To our surprise, the fighting stopped and the men listened to what Art Concello had to say. They all put their heads down and walked away, ashamed. I don't think Billy Graham could have done as well. That incident confirmed for me that I was working for a truly strong and intelligent man who had the courage to fight for what he felt was right.

After six weeks in New York, we moved to Boston, Mass and set up in Boston Garden. We played Boston for two weeks, then moved on to Philadelphia, where our first show of the season would be under canvas.

to be continued..... Traveling under the Big Top.