Fun photo of the week

We love this shot of aerialist Beatrice Martins just having fun before performing live on WTTG-TV, the FOX affiliate in Washington, DC. Bea (as we call her) and her partner Ebon Greyman were featured during the morning tv segment earlier this week with Zeke and animal trainer Andre McClain. Bea and Ebon are very serious during their act but they both are a lot of fun.

If you are in the DC area you can catch their act today through Sunday or in Baltimore starting Tuesday, June 3 at 7:30pm.

Happy Birthday Tony Tone

Yesterday was our Ringmaster Tony Tone's birthday and the cast and crew of the UniverSoul Circus surprised him with a cake at the end of the show.

The cake was in the shape of the Dallas Cowboys logo since Tony Tone is a major fan of the team. Unfortunately the Redskin fans in the house weren't too happy when Tone asked if there were any "Cowboy fans in the house." You can tell by Zeke's reaction below that all they could do was laugh when the majority of the house let out a collective boo, but Tony says a few Cowboy fans made their presence known.




We hope you had a great day Tony Tone! If you have any other birthday wishes feel free to post them below.

Meet the NG Mimes

Have you seen the NG Gospel Mimes at the show?

You have instant access to them once you enter the tent and you probably didn't realize it did you? The NG Gospel Mimes, Lewyn Brown and Summer Golden, are right in front of you prior to their performance. Let us know if you noticed them. The photo below is a hint. By the way, the "NG" stands for "Naturally Gifted" and they are originally from Detroit, MI.

Last night was a trip...were you there?

DC, Zeke and I had a great time with you all last night at the evening performance. If you were there we really want to hear from you. Tell us your favorite part. Here are some of our highlights:


During our friends and family shout-outs we met up with this little girl who said she lived on "Alabama Avenue" when we asked her where she was from. A few minutes later a little boy told us he was from "the United States of America."



"Platinum Lovers" was incredible too. First of all we had a good time with this man who was representing the "old school." He said his name was "Truck." Truck didn't know any of the words and all I could do was channel Fred Sanford and get on him for not knowing a classic "big dummy." LOL


These two who represented the "new school" in Platinum Lovers didn't even know each other but they put it down and had fun. Who knows??? A love connection maybe?


The best part of the night was meeting everyone who stayed for our autograph session at the end of the show. Make sure you bring your program books and let us know who you are the next time you are at the show and feel free to post a comment about your experience below.


We have one more week in DC (we leave June 1) so we hope you come back and see us again or tell your friends and family.

-Tony Tone

Lucky twice in one night

I was surprised to hear that one of the girls in our Kids Big Top Dance Contest tonight was named Lucky. I know some people might have misinterpreted my reaction but we also have a Lucky in the UniverSoul Circus family and it is a name you don't hear too much wouldn't you agree? Our Lucky is one of the "Mysterious Brothers" as well as one of our show deejays.

Below is a photo of me and Zeke with Lucky the dance contest contestant.



Here is a shot of trapeze artist and deejay Lucky



-Tony Tone

UniverSoul Circus' "Favorite Things"

Oprah may have her "Favorite Things" but we have our own favorite things too! Check out this adorable stuffed Zebra available in the concessions area. We give kudos to USC Executive Cynthia Walker who runs all of the concessions and selected this cute and soft stuffed Zebra. The real Zebras are in our all new act "Noah's Ark" featuring Andre McClain.

Did you even know Zebras could be trained? Let alone camels and llamas! Below is a shot of the real Zebras from the show just yesterday. Did you see the act? What did you think?

Zeke calls this the "circus meltdown"

Today in the "Big Top Kids Dance Contest" I think little Sherry realized that hundreds of people were staring at her and she had a little meltdown. Poor thing didn't even start dancing. I tried to comfort her but she was ready to go! Did you see her?

After she left the ring I saw that our Audio Engineer Pete gave her one of his personal stuffed elephants that they sell in the concessions stand. We hope that helped Sherry!




-Zeke

Message from Tony Tone...keep sending your comments

What's up everybody. This is Tony Tone. We all thank you for sending in your comments to the blog. We wanted you to know that we do read the blog regularly and appreciate your comments and concerns. Please tell your friends and families in other cities to check out the show and tell us about their experiences as well because the funny things you see in the show we also see and want to talk about them with you. These shots were taken backstage just after the show so you can see I really do read the blog!

Right now we are in DC and the audiences have been great. Have you been to a show recently? Does anyone know why one guy just walked out of the Soul Train Line right before he was supposed to dance? What about the kid who was Krumping in the kids dance contest? We thought he was putting it down don't you?! Please keep those comments coming. Talk to you soon.

Russ Parr got ya'll good

Nationally syndicated radio show personality Russ Parr played an incredible joke at the opening in DC last night. He said his crew placed a bunch of free gas cards under one of the seats!

The ENTIRE packed house practically had their heads under their chairs when Russ says, "Oh wait, that's tomorrow night." Everyone then let out a big groan! Were you there? Did you fall for it?

He had the entire UniverSoul Circus staff, Tony Tone and Zeke fooled!! You might see the prank on his show on TV One.

Washington, what did you think of Ebon?

Were you in the audience for our opening in DC last night? If so, we wanted to know what you thought about the solo performance by our aerialist Ebon Greyman. His partner for his regular act fell ill so he performed solo.

One lucky lady got to hold his vest when he handed it to her after entering the ring. If you are that lady please send us a note!

UniverSoul Circus in DC!

Hello DC!

UniverSoul Circus is back for our 15th exciting year! We will be at Capital Plaza Mall until June 1st. The show opens tonight, Wednesday, May 14th. Bring your family and friends to the one and only UniverSoul Circus. We want to know what you think about the show! Stop back here after you see the show to let us hear from you. See you under the Big Top!

Happy Mother's Day!

The UniverSoul Circus would like to say Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and mother figures around the world. If you came to the show this year with your mother, grandmother, aunt or anyone who is like a mother to you please post a comment below because we would love to hear from you!

In the meantime we would like to recognize some of the incredible UniverSoul Circus "mommies" who mean the world to us. We love you all!


USC Executive Cynthia Walker


Talent & Production Director Deneise Howard (with her son Jeffrey who works on the lighting crew)



Rough Rider Ameera Diamond

Another interesting circus job...Talent Manager

You met our House Manager Lilliana Rodriguez (left) in an earlier blog but we wanted everyone to meet our Talent Manager Hermione (pronounced Her-me-on) White also known as Ms. White.

Hermione's job is incredibly busy but her first duty is to make sure that the performers are at the show on time! You also might see her with our Guest Ringmasters during the show because she lets them know when they are going to enter the ring. Prior to the show she is backstage each night keeping Tony Tone and Zeke informed about the guest or any special events for the night.

Hermione also alerts the talent of any special promotions including radio broadcasts, press interviews and community appearances. So much more involved so if you see her around the tent feel free to ask her about her interesting job.

Newark gives a warm welcome to UniverSoul and their Mayor Corey Booker

Our opening in Newark, NJ last night was spectacular. The Newark crowd packed the tent and showed their love to Tony Tone, Zeke and all the cast. We were also thrilled to have Newark Mayor Corey Booker in the house who came into the ring, greeted the crowd and graciously accepted a plaque presented by our local promoter Jeneene Butler for his support of multi-cultural events like ours. But what touched us about the Mayor was the time he took to greet members of the hometown crowd during intermission. Check out the video footage.



If you are close to Newark come check us out. Our last day in the tri-state area is this Sunday, May 11 and then we are off to Washington, DC for a three week run starting May 14.