Feld Entertainment

Last updated

Feld Entertainment Inc.
Company type Private
Industry Entertainment
Predecessor Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows Inc.
Founders
HeadquartersFeld Entertainment Studio, ,
United States
Number of locations
4 [1] [2]
Area served
International [1]
Key people
ProductsLive shows
Production output
Live arena shows [4]
Owners
  • Kenneth Feld (majority)
  • Alana Feld
  • Juliette Feld
  • Nicole Feld
[5]
Number of employees
3,000 [5]
Divisions Feld Consumer Products [6]
live productions [7]
Subsidiaries
Website feldentertainment.com

Feld Entertainment Inc. is an American live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows. The company began with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus then expanded into additional live events, including Disney on Ice (under license from The Walt Disney Company), Monster Jam, Monster Energy AMA Supercross, and Sesame Street Live (under license from Sesame Workshop). The company is family owned.

Contents

History

In 1967, promoters Irvin Feld and Israel Feld, as well as former Houston, Texas mayor Roy M. Hofheinz made an offer to purchase the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from John Ringling North and other minority shareholders associated with the family. Broadway producers Cy Feuer and Ernest H. Martin sued in December 1967 to stop the sale. [9] Nevertheless, the purchase of the combined circuses from the Ringling and North families to the Feld group took place for $8 million. The company was taken public in 1969. [8] Kenneth Feld joined the business in 1970 after finishing college. [5]

In 1971 the Mattel toy manufacturer purchased the company's outstanding shares in 1971 for $50 million in stock, and Irvin Feld continued in his role as manager and producer of the circus. [8] After Walt Disney World opened near Orlando, Florida, in 1971, Mattel attempted to cash in on the tourism surge by opening Circus World in nearby Haines City. [10] Irvin & Kenneth Feld Productions in 1979 purchased from Chicago-based Bill Wirtz the Holiday on Ice and Ice Follies for $12 million. The company soon approached Disney about doing a Disney show on ice. [11] By 1980, the company produced 10 circus and ice show TV specials. An investment was also made in Barnum , the Broadway musical. [10] In 1981, Ken Feld started the Beyond Belief show at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. [4] [12]

The Felds bought the company back in 1982 for $22.8 million. By then, the business included Holiday on Ice, Ice Follies, Walt Disney's World on Ice, and Beyond Belief starring Las Vegas magicians Siegfried and Roy. [8] Circus World was sold to Arizona developer James Monaghan in 1984. [13] Ringlings' third touring company, Gold Unit, premiered on July 1, 1988, in Japan, and the smaller production, which later toured on trucks, was eventually routed into towns that were too small for the larger circus units. In late 1988, Beyond Belief began an international tour which included New York's Radio City Music Hall and venues in Japan. [4]

Feld Entertainment

In October 1996, Irvin & Kenneth Feld Productions, Inc. changed its name to Feld Entertainment, Inc. [14] In 2001, Ken Feld began gifting shares of Feld Entertainment to his three daughters Nicole, Alana and Juliette Feld. [5] Nicole was hired into the family business in 2001 and became the first female producer of the Ringling Bros. Circus in 2004. Alana also signed on in 2003. [7]

Due to an accident in October 2003, the Siegfried & Roy show was closed at the Mirage Hotel. [12] The following June, Feld Entertainment began producing Disney Live! with Winnie the Pooh in the United Kingdom. [15] Alana produced the first Doodlebops Live! in 2006. [7] In 2006, Nicole was a vice president in charge of the circus. [5] The company sold its Vienna, Virginia headquarters in May 2006 to America's Capital Partners then leased it back until 2018. [2] In 2007, Nicole and Alana were elevated to executive vice president of the company. [7]

The company signed a 10-year agreement with Disney Live Family Entertainment for Disney on Ice, Disney Live and other Disney productions in August 2008. [12] In September, Feld also acquired the motorsports division of Live Nation, including the properties of Monster Jam (and several associated monster trucks), Supercross, Arenacross, and the IHRA. The motor sport division was renamed Feld Entertainment Motor Sports. [1] Feld Motor Sports launched its first new arena-based freestyle motocross touring production, Nuclear Cowboyz, in 2010. [16] Feld Motor Sports sold the IHRA to IRG Sports + Entertainment in 2012. [17]

Feld Entertainment and Zignia Live, management company of Arena Ciudad de Mexico and Arena Monterrey, signed a promotion agreement in April 2011 which brought various Feld productions to Zingia's managed arenas for a total of 18 weeks. Among the shows that toured Mexico was Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey which returned in May 2012 after an absence of ten years. [18]

In January 2012, the company purchased Palmetto Corporate Center, a former Siemens Corp. complex in Ellenton, Florida, and over a five year period moved most of its operations and world headquarters, as well as its production center, to the complex. [2] Feld Entertainment also occupies a 241,457-square-foot warehouse in the Baltimore-Washington Industrial Park, Jessup, Maryland where it stores and distributes merchandise and souvenirs for its various productions. [19] In 2015, Feld Motor Sports HQ moved from Illinois to Ellenton. [20]

In March 2013, Feld agreed with Marvel Entertainment, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2009, to produce Marvel Universe Live! , a Marvel character-based live arena show. [21] Marketing campaign company Cimarron Group was hired in 2013 by Feld Entertainment for all media campaign for Marvel Live and other Feld shows. [22] The Cimarron Group however shut down August 2013. [23]

Juliette Feld was promoted to chief operating officer of the family-owned business in February 2016. [3] In November 2016, Feld Entertainment and Sesame Workshop announced an agreement for a new Sesame Street Live show to debut in October 2017 to replace one by VStar Entertainment Group ending in July 2017. [24] [25]

Citing low attendance rates, Feld Entertainment announced the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus would close after their final performance on May 21, 2017. The retirement of the elephants was a factor in the decreased attendance, but the company would continue operating its Center for Elephant Conservation. [26] The newly "reimagined" circus opened in Bossier City, Louisiana on September 29, 2023, but without any animal acts="nytimes">Nir, Sadrah Maslin. "Ringling Circus Is Returning. Lions, Tigers and Dumbo Are Not". The New York Times . The New York Times. Retrieved July 28, 2022.</ref>

In 2018 Feld Entertainment and Universal Brand Development agreed to develop multiple properties into mobile pop-up attractions. The first was

Units

Feld Entertainment owns:

Live show productions

Disney Live!

Others

Pop-up attractions

Theatrical

(most on Broadway):

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus</span> Group of entertainers performing circus skills

A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term circus also describes the field of performance, training and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus</span> Traveling circus company

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling, is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Earth. It and its predecessor have run shows from 1871, with a hiatus from 2017 to 2023. They operate as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. The circus started in 1919 when the Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth, a circus created by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey, was merged with the Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows. The Ringling brothers purchased Barnum & Bailey Ltd. in 1907 following Bailey's death in 1906, but ran the circuses separately until they were merged in 1919.

VStar Entertainment Group is a family entertainment production company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It produced Sesame Street Live, a live touring stage show based on the television series. It has also produced stage shows based on Dragon Tales, The Muppets and Muppet Babies, Bear in the Big Blue House, Curious George, Barney & Friends and PAW Patrol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringling Brothers Circus</span> Traveling circus company (1884–1919)

Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows is a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a German immigrant, August Frederick Rüngeling, who changed his name to Ringling once he settled in America. Four brothers were born in McGregor, Iowa: Alf T., Charles, John and Henry. The Ringling family lived in McGregor, Iowa, for twelve years, from 1860 until 1872. The family then lived in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1875. In 1907 Ringling Bros. acquired the Barnum & Bailey Circus, merging them in 1919 to become Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, promoted as The Greatest Show on Earth. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey closed on May 21, 2017, following weakening attendance and high operating costs.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College was an American circus school which trained around 1,400 clowns in the "Ringling style" from its founding in 1968 until its closure in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney on Ice</span> Disney ice rink show

Disney on Ice, originally Walt Disney's World on Ice, is a series of touring ice shows produced by Feld Entertainment's Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc. under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows feature figure skaters portraying the roles of Disney characters in performances derived from various Disney films. Feld Entertainment licensed the rights to Disney material for ice shows and includes shared merchandising revenue between Disney and Ice Follies.

Kenneth Jeffrey Feld is the CEO of Feld Entertainment, which operates the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice, Doodlebops Live, Disney Live, Monster Jam, International Hot Rod Association, and AMA Supercross Championship. He is also the producer of several Broadway plays. The business was started by his father Irvin Feld who also promoted Beatles concerts. Ken became CEO of the company upon his father's death in 1984.

Irvin Feld was a business entrepreneur who built a chain of record stores, promoted rock groups, produced concerts involving some of the biggest names in popular music. Feld was the person responsible for creating the ill-fated 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour throughout the American Midwest that included Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson, aka The Big Bopper. The tour route was poorly planned, zig-zagging across the Midwest in arctic weather in an old school bus that kept breaking down, eventually prompting Buddy Holly to privately hire a small plane to transport him to his next gig. Feld was also the head of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and founder of Feld Entertainment. He was a music promoter who is credited with discovering Paul Anka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus World Museum</span> Museum complex in Baraboo, Wisconsin, US

The Circus World Museum is a museum complex in Baraboo, Wisconsin, devoted to circus-related history. The museum features circus artifacts and exhibits and hosts daily live circus performances throughout the summer. It is owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society and operated by the non-profit Circus World Museum Foundation. The museum was the major participant in the Great Circus Parade held from 1963 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Elephant Conservation</span>

The Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) is a 200-acre (0.81 km2) breeding farm and retirement facility for elephants in Polk City, Florida, opened in 1995. The CEC is solely sponsored by Feld Entertainment, the holding company which operated the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from the 1960s until 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ringling</span> American entrepreneur (1866–1936)

John Nicholas Ringling was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows to create a virtual monopoly of traveling circuses and helped shape the modern circus. In addition to owning and managing many of the largest circuses in the United States, he was also a rancher, a real estate developer and art collector. He was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus World (theme park)</span> Amusement park in Florida, United States

Circus World was a theme park built north of Haines City, Florida in Polk County, on the south-east corner of the Interstate 4-US 27 interchange. It was originally a property of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Combined Shows Inc., and was intended additionally to be the circus's winter headquarters as well as to have the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and its museum located there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyke (elephant)</span> Female African bush circus elephant killed by police firing

Tyke was a female African bush elephant from Mozambique who performed with Circus International of Honolulu, Hawaii. On August 20, 1994, during a performance at the Neal Blaisdell Center, she killed her trainer, Allen Campbell, and seriously injured her groomer, Dallas Beckwith. Tyke then ran from the arena and through the streets of the Kakaʻako central business district for more than thirty minutes. Unable to calm the elephant, local police opened fire on the animal, which collapsed from the wounds and died. While the majority of the attack in the arena was recorded on consumer videotape by several spectators, additional professional video footage captured the attack on local publicist Steve Hirano and the shooting of Tyke herself.

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Johann Ludwig Jacob, professionally known as Lou Jacobs, was a German-born American auguste clown who performed for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for more than 60 years. He was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1989. He is credited with popularizing the clown car, which has been a staple of circus clown acts ever since. He is also often cited as the originator of the red rubber ball nose, which is used by many clowns today. He was the first living person to have his portrait appear on an American postage stamp.

The Ice Follies, formerly known as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies, is a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1936 by Eddie and Roy Shipstad, and Oscar Johnson. In later years, Olympic skaters such as Donald Jackson, Barbara Berezowski, Peggy Fleming, and Janet Lynn were in the cast. Ice Follies also featured novelty acts such as Frick and Frack and Richard Dwyer, who was billed as "Mr. Debonair".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Griebling</span> German-born circus clown

Otto Griebling was a German-born circus clown who performed for many years with the Cole Brothers and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circuses. He was one of four clowns given the title Master Clown by Irvin Feld.

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Timothy J. Holst began his circus career in 1971 graduating from Clown College, touring as a clown in 1972, and then became the singing ringmaster in 1973 with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Barnum's Kaleidoscape was an American circus staged by Feld Entertainment, the owners of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, at a start-up cost of $10 million. It ran for one season, 1999–2000. Inspired by both European traditions and the contemporary circus movement, it was the first Ringling show to be held under a tent since 1956 and also its first one-ring presentation in more than a century. The tent was carpeted with wood flooring and amenities to create an intimate setting with seating for 1,800 on cushioned seats and sofas and no one further than 50 feet from the circus ring. Besides traditional circus fare like popcorn upscale items such as cappuccino and veggie wraps were offered. The show consisted of 62 performers, 54 crew members, 8 horses and 27 geese, with 50 trucks involved in moving it from site to site.

Vincent E. Egan was an executive and entertainment company founder. Egan founded VEE Corporation for the Sesame Street Live touring shows. He was a founder of the Event and Arena Marketing Conference. By 2009, Vincent had been married and divorced twice.

References

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