Show Business: Large Delights Under a Little Top

The Big Apple Circus does it all in a single, 42-ft. ring

Most circuses brag that they are the biggest shows on earth and try to prove it with three rings, regiments of acrobats, aerialists and clowns and a whole zoo full of pacing lions, dancing dogs, prancing horses and playful elephants.

The Big Apple Circus is different: it has only one ring, two clowns, 14 acrobats and aerialists, one horse, one pony, one elephant — and no dogs or lions at all. What it does have is enthusiasm, charm and the friendliness of the small scale. "This is the maximum size I...