Press Picks

wednesday
october 12
Circus Flora When you're a Wallenda, you know from circus. Tino Wallenda, grandson of Karl Wallenda, carries on the glorious tradition of the circus -- the kind of circus Toby Tyler and bearded-lady lesbian performance artists would run away to. Circus Flora is a one-ring, old-fashioned circus begun in the disco '80s to celebrate the soul of circus arts.

Flora is the circus' namesake. She's a 13-year-old African elephant who is, in a small way, responsible for the whole show. The circus' cofounder, Ivor David Balding, came home one day and announced, "I've bought a baby elephant! Now we can start a circus." Balding had some background in circusing and producing. (One of his Broadway shows was a Tony nominee.) Now Flora is a performer and the circus includes great Wallendas (working without a net), bareback riders, jugglers and clowns.

No member of the audience is more than 40 feet from the ring and sawdust gets up your nose. Through Oct. 16. Wednesday-Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday 7 p.m.; Sunday 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. General admission $15, group rates available, children under two free. The Children's Museum, 1500 Binz, 227-