For more than 30 years, Circus Flora, a one-ring circus that makes St. Louis its home, has offered a circus show that’s best described as live theater. It’s an intimate setting that is in stark contrast to the images some people might conjure of the large Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus which performed for the last time 10 months ago.
With each Circus Flora season comes a new theatrical storyline and brand-new performances. This year the show is called The Case of the Missing Bellhop and it features a high-flying trapeze artist, daredevil stunt performers and the St. Louis Arches — a troupe of child acrobats. There will also be mini horses doing tricks, superstar basset hounds and trained pigs performing under this diverse big top.
The Big Top will stay up for six months instead of the usual shorter run of the show. New, closer offices will ease behind-the-scenes work.
In just over three weeks, Circus Flora unveils its brand-new show under the Big Top in Grand Center. Audiences will be immersed in The Case of the Missing Bellhop, an intriguing whodunit with a cast of characters ranging from a determined detective to a troupe of trained pigs.
It’s Circus Flora time earlier than usual. After more than 30 years of kicking off summer for St. Louis, the area's very own circus is moving its season from the heat of June to spring. Circus Flora artistic director Jack Marsh says "The Case of the Missing Bellhop" opens April 19th.