Ringling ringmaster sings praises of 'greatest show'

"The plan was just to get some money to go to Europe," said Iverson, who at the time was an aspiring opera singer freshly graduated from the University of Hartford Hartt School of Music. "I had found the teacher that I wanted to study with."

Little did he know that the dinner theater director also moonlighted as director of Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey, the legendary circus that bills itself as "the greatest show on earth."

The director was looking for a ringmaster with solid vocal chops to follow in the long tradition of singing ringmasters. He invited Iverson, who was 22 then, to audition along with 30 other hopefuls.

He landed the job. "I guess they loved me," he said during a phone call last week as the circus train made its way to Arizona for this weekend's performances at the Tucson Arena.

"It's a little recognized fact that singing is a big part of Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey," he explained. "You don't notice it in the spectacle, but we have a really great musical tradition. We have a live band. We've had singing ringmasters since the 1950s. Not to toot my own horn, but as of when they hired me it's become far more demanding, mainly because of my skill set."

In the years since he joined the circus, he has done five two-year show tours with the company, married a Brazilian dancer from the show and started a family - the couple have a 7-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter - who live with them aboard the famous circus train.

We chatted with Iverson, 36, about life with the circus and the new show "Dragons," which opens tonight for seven Tucson shows.

What is like raising your family on the circus train?

"Marvelous. It makes this lifestyle I have very feasible."

Is it a thrill for the kids?

"They are a bit jaded by now. It's so funny. I was with one of my kids yesterday and I was negotiating with him ... to see the circus. I'm laughing and I'm telling him 'You know how many kids would kill to trade places with you?'"

Does the circus still attract big audiences?

"Oh yeah, more so. The strange irony of it is, the business has grown, and part of it has to do with, strangely enough, the economy. Part of it has to do with our reputation as the longest running hit show. … We've been around longer than Coca-Cola, baseball and Hollywood. We've been around that long because people keep coming. They are still enamored with the greatest show on earth.

"There's just so much to do and enjoy. … You're coming to see people fly, you're coming to see people do extraordinary things that they have to manufacture in Hollywood. They have to bring in special effects and stunt personnel to do what we do every day."

So what can we expect from "Dragons"?

"The show is really based on the idea of the dragon. It's not conjuring the dragon, but my talented sidekick Apollo - who is every bit the athlete that I'm not - spends his time during the show trying to get me to realize there is a real dragon. My take on it is that I'm presenting all these fabulous acts who are from different tribes and each tribe represents an attribute of the dragon: strength, courage, wisdom and heart.

"We have the American debut of Alexander Lacey and his marvelous cats. We have the Torres Family entering the 16-foot steel sphere racing (motorcycles) within an inch of each other. We have the 30th anniversary of the Flying Caceres trapeze artists. We have real Shaolin Kung Fu artists all the way from China who are superhuman, other-worldly, dynamic.

"There is so much more. It's so dynamic and they all represent different attributes of the dragon. Eventually when we get all the pieces together, we conjure the dragon out."

The Torres Family on motorcycles spinning in that globe, that looks crazy.

"Yeah those people are crazy. And it's funny because they are the calmest people I know."

Have they ever crashed?

"Of course. Not this tour, but it happens. But fortunately the accidents haven't been severe.

If you go

• What: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey: Dragons.

• When: 7 p.m. today and Friday; 11 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday.

• Where: Tucson Arena, 260 S. Church Ave.

• Tickets: $11 to $72 tonight; $20 to $70 Saturday and Sunday, through www.ticketmaster.com Anyone age 2 and older must have a ticket.