Mental Health Circus
Wild winds then wild show and back again
NEW YORK CITYVOICES: October-December 2003
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By Daniel Frey
It is on one of the windiest nights of the year, November 13th, where winds are approaching 50 miles per hour, making walking against them very difficult since they are fiercely pushing back. I am thrown back to the sidewalk from the street where I am trying my best to remain. I give way to a force much greater than myself (a mantra from double trouble in recovery), and am whisked off in someone else's direction. It is cold too, autumn saying, "I can't hang on any longer, father winter is coming, and he's going to teach us a lesson." It is on this day that the Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies ran an event at the Big Apple Circus.
Walking past the City's center for the cultured and for those who pretend to be, Lincoln Center, toward the back where its famous park is located. There, blazing tents and all, is the circus.
I meet longtime mental health advocate, super-consumer Marvin Spieler and we enter. Inside the main tent, a Vaudeville band is playing, not Klezmer, but a funky, New Orleans jazz. It's crowding up. Many different groups are here: families, developmentally disabled and physically disabled Americans, mental health consumer groups, lots of children, Mental Hygiene Commissioner Lloyd Sederer, Jewish, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, men and women of all shapes and sizes. This gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to think this much diversity represents the Coalition.
All the usual circus death food is available: popcorn, hot dogs, funnel cakes with powdered sugar, ice cream and sodas. Marvin opts for an old fashioned frankfurter, but the $3 price tag deters him. I splurge on a $15 t-shirt after the show, but do not tell him for fear he would freak. Many of us know to penny pinch when on Supplemental Security Income, a fate I hope we can all overcome.
The event here is actually a fundraiser. The Coalition bought every seat in the house, at least a thousand seats, and sold most of them for higher prices, thereby making a profit. It's a slight gamble trying to make a profit this way, since enough seats have to be sold to do more than break even. Well, the Coalition has been doing this circus for years, so it must be working.
The show is starting. All goes dark and the one large arena, a ring in the center, lights up. I recognize the circus ringmaster from my childhood when I had first scene the Big Apple Circus at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, where I grew up. He hasn't aged a bit, except for a few more frown lines, but the same commanding presence. He introduces Phil Saperia, The Coalition's Executive Director, and Dr. Thelma Dye, Vice President of The Coalition. It is Phil Saperia who invited me to this event. I must say, he is the same regal man I had first met in City Hall some years ago, wearing a non-standard tuxedo. I think it has a patterned grey tie. With a brief welcome, Phil bids us all enjoy the show.
The last circus I saw was Russian, which was enjoyable, but this Big Apple Circus has much more pageantry, better costumes, a live band, higher risk stunts, and more attractive performers wearing skintight fabrics. It is a joy to watch energy explode from supple, muscular bodies through the air, rolling on the ground, jumping, balancing, and flipping. The star clown is clearly a man dressed as his grandmother with exaggerated makeup. It's amazing what granny can do: she dances, she climbs, she plays drums, and she conducts an orchestra, not to mention slapstick antics remarkable at any age. I wish my elderly clients to whom I provide peer advocacy services could do half of what this circus granny can do. It seems to me that circus granny is more than she pretends to be.
There should be more safety in case of a fall. The man on the high wire jumps rope at a frenzied pace, easily 50 feet above ground. He has a "close call." He is announced as the only man in the world capable of doing a backward summersault on the high, thin wire. And he does it! The audience gasps.
During the second half of the show, they bring the camels out. It's really an international show with acts from all over the world. Diversity is reflected from circus to audience and back. The camels come as part of the Mid-Eastern salute. There are other animal performances, but the camels stand out, especially since Phil whispers that this is the first Coalition circus with camels. I whisper back, "I smoke camels."
I have a great time and look forward to next year's.
Editor's Note: Phil Saperia, Executive Director, the Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies, was not expecting press coverage from New York City Voices. In fact, Daniel Frey was invited by chance the day before the event when Mr. Frey unexpectedly called Mr. Saperia for advertising.
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