China enters the 'big top'

Avante-garde version of 'Romeo and Juliet' hits Beijing

Comedy 'The Seagull' to debut in Beijing on March 14

The theme of this year's show focused on the mythology of the Ringling Bros, which Mullis says is in direct contrast to the more contemporary theme of its last show, Built to Amaze.

"We discovered that Ringling Bros is like its own little coliseum of legends. We found that a lot of our circus memories came with these mythological presentations that Ringling has done in the past, so we really wanted to make the audience believe again," Mullis says.

The show was conceptualized a year ago, with the show directors wanting to juxtapose the idea of dreams and realities, presenting them side-by-side in a two-hour program.

"We wanted to show somebody like the National Acrobatic Troupe at the top of their form and then present that alongside something as magical as a unicorn or a Pegasus," Mullis says.

The National Acrobatic Troupe collaborated frequently with the Ringling Bros creative team during the creation of their acts, something that Mullis says was crucial to the conception of the show itself.

One of the segments, a pole act, featured six members of the troupe spinning and twirling on twin poles, joined mid-way by another circus performer, Paulo dos Santos.

"You have three different cultures come together, because you had me in the creative team who's American, you have (troupe leader) Zhang Chunyu and the troupe who's Chinese, and you have Paulo, who's Brazilian, and we came up with this really fun little act," Mullis says.

Putting the show together and producing all the show elements began early last year and lasted for several months. After that, the performers began a six-week period of intense rehearsals in Florida, where Ringling Bros has rehearsed for more than a century.

"We're all extremely tired and we all worked extremely hard, but it's a lot of fun," Mullis says.

The show will be performed at Barclays Center in March, then will travel to the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island New York, the Prudential Center and Izod Center in New Jersey, and then to other states.

Tickets start from $30 and can be purchased by phone at 800-745-3000 or at ticketmaster.com.