For its first season ever without elephants, Circus World will have a human cannonball

For the first time since the Ringling Bros. brought their circus to Baraboo in the late 1800s, elephants won't be returning to the city as Circus World prepares to open their summer performance season.

Circuses have been phasing out elephants for years for a number of reasons, including concerns about the ethics of animal performances and a growing commitment to the conservation of endangered animals.

In a 2023 interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Circus World Executive Director Scott O'Donnell reflected on the elephants' last summer at the museum and performance venue.

“When we consulted with our vet teams and animal care staff five years ago about our elephants, we knew this vista was coming to us, and there’s just not a next generation of circus elephants,” O’Donnell said at the time. “If there was, we would continue to have them here, but as a species, they’re very difficult to breed, there’s not a robust gene pool in North America, and they just need our undying attention and commitment as the critically endangered species they are.”

Although the elephants have retired to the Endangered Ark Foundation in Oklahoma, O'Donnell said they will always have a place at Circus World.

"They're not here physically, but they're definitely here in spirit," O'Donnell said. "We still have our featured exhibit honoring their heritage here and in circuses throughout America. Their jumbo size presence is here spiritually from now until the end of time."

While O'Donnell said nothing can replace the "singular experience" of seeing elephants at the circus, "the great thing about the circus art form is that there are lots of singular experiences."

Here are some of the singular experiences O'Donnell said visitors can expect during Circus World's summer performance season, which starts May 17.

A woman being shot out of a cannon

Each summer's performances are centered around a theme; this year, it's "Blast Off," which means the Big Top performances and other shows around the Circus World grounds will highlight all things space — with nods to "The Jetsons," "Star Trek," "Star Wars" and Buzz Lightyear.

Circus World's biggest homage to the space theme will be a daily human cannonball shot. O'Donnell said Tina Miser is one of only two women in the world who get shot out of a cannon in circuses. The other is her 21-year-old daughter, Skyler, who performs in the Ringley Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Continuing with the family theme, Tina Miser's husband, Brian, is her trigger man. Brian also designed and built the cannon Tina is shot from.

Every day at 1:45 p.m. (weather permitting) this summer, Brian will shoot Tina from the cannon, at which point she will travel a distance of 95 feet before landing "in a great big airbag," according to O'Donnell.

Although Circus World has done human cannonball stunts in the past, they've been one-off performances centered around bigger events, like the annual parade. O'Donnell said this is the first time the stunt has been a daily performance at Circus World.

Upside-down acrobatics, high-flying contortionists and nods to 'Star Wars'

The human cannonball shot is separate from the daily Big Top performances, which also feature human tricks and stunts.

A three-generation Hungarian circus family, the Petrovs, will perform a variety of acts, including upside-down stunts 40 feet in the air, and — considering the family is especially talented at juggling — filling the entire ring with juggling hoops and balls as they juggle together. Also, the youngest member of the family, Sophia Petrov, will be doing aerial acrobatics on a crescent moon, high above the stands.

There also will be a contortionist couple doing an aerial routine, and clown Chase Culp will round out the space theme with his antics as a confused rocket scientist and "Darth Waiter."

No elephants, but plenty of animal acts

This summer's Big Top performance will include a few animal performances, including the Abuhadba Cartoon Poodles. O'Donnell said there are approximately 12 poodles that "do a charming act of learned behaviors and tricks." He said the "doggy cosmonauts" will arrive in the ring in their "moon-mobile" before doing their act.

O'Donnell also noted that the circus began as an equestrian art form. For that reason, there will be performing horses that do things like hind-leg walks and formations in the circus ring. The horses work at liberty, which means they're not attached to each other or to riders or ropes. O'Donnell said "they're free to go wherever they want to go in the circus ring." Other animals working in liberty formation at Circus World will include camels, llamas and ponies.

A new exhibit about the circus and ... religion?

In addition to tents and performance areas, Circus World has several historic buildings on its grounds with artifacts that get used in temporary exhibits.

This summer, for the first time, an exhibit has been created that will tell the story of a little known part of circus life: the circus ministry.

O'Donnell explained that chaplains have traveled with circuses throughout their history, performing baptisms, funerals and non-denominational religious services, as well as providing spiritual guidance and blessing the animals and the big top before each season.

"So many people connect to us through the performance element," O'Donnell said. "But, through our collection of artifacts, we have the ability to tell the 360-degree experience of the circus as well, to pull back the curtain and reveal those family life and cultural elements that are part of being a circus performer."

What to know if you go

Circus World is at 550 Water St., Baraboo.

During the summer performance season — May 17 through Sept. 1 — the grounds are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Each day, there are Big Top performances at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., with a human cannonball blastoff at 1:45 p.m.

Admission costs $23 for teens and adults, $20 for seniors (ages 65 and up) and $15 for children (ages 5-12). Children under 5 years old are free.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Circus World's 65th performance season will include a human cannonball