Reporter's Notebook: The Big Apple Circus
ABC News' Maggie Burbank files a Reporter's Notebook on the Big Apple Circus.
Nov. 3, 2010 — -- It is hard to put into words how exciting it was. My mom and dad would pile me and my sister in the car, and we would drive through the countryside, winding along those beautiful Massachusetts roads. Each curve meant my sister and I were getting closer and closer to the thrill and wonder for which we had patiently waited a whole year. Once we were parked and the car doors flung open, that's when we could smell the popcorn and cotton candy and the anticipation of seeing Grandma Clown and the high wire acts and horses and live band was almost unbearable.
I found my thirty-year-old self just as giddy while correspondent Jeremy Hubbard and I drove to Manville, New Jersey to spend a day with the Big Apple Circus. It was really a dream come true to be able to meet so many people who brought me such joy as a little girl. The Big Apple Circus invited ABC News Nightline to hang out with them as they geared up for the premiere of "Circus" – a six part documentary premiering November 3rd on PBS. The documentary not only brings the beauty and spectacle of the show under the tent to people's living rooms, it also explores the drama that unfolds outside the tent. The everyday triumphs and conflicts that are bound to come about when you put 150 performers on the road for eight months make for truly riveting television.
After pulling up to that familiar tent pitched in the middle of a usually-deserted lot, the first person we meet is Guillaume Dufresnoy. The Play On! season which is featured in the PBS documentary marks the last year that legendary Big Apple founder and ringmaster Paul Binder served as artistic director. He has since handed over the role to Defresnoy who beams with pride as he gives us a tour of the grounds.
"It surprises me even sometimes but I do get the magic," says Defresnoy who ran away with the circus 30 years ago. "To me the magical feeling is when you catch a grandfather and his grandson walking away from the circus and they ask each other what did you like? What did you like? Moments like that really touch me."
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