This article was on the Review web site a few days ago and then was pulled. It’s live again today…

From the Niagara Falls Review:

For years, you could count on the Shrine Circus coming to the Niagara Falls Memorial Arena every summer.

But with the arena closing this summer, there’s a new circus in town. It doesn’t need bears or elephants to thrill a crowd.

Returning to the Niagara Fallsview Casino for the third straight year, Le Grand Cirque is becoming an annual dose of thrills and chills, minus any animals. Call it the changing of the guard, says creative producer Simon Painter.

“It’s a very slick production, seamless,” he says. “To have animals in shows nowadays, especially exotic animals, is totally incorrect. I think (our show) is the way the industry’s going.”

Instead of lions, you’ll get contortionists. Instead of bears, you’ll get airborne acrobats. And instead of elephants, you’ll get the show’s signature Wheel of Death — a massive contraption that never fails to leave the crowd dazzled and just a bit frazzled.

Composed of 40 performers gathered from Canada, Russia, Brazil, Mongolia, Europe and China, the show aims to fit as much spectacle into the 1,500- seat Avalon Ballroom as possible.