{"id":222937,"date":"2025-09-13T07:02:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T07:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/222937\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T07:02:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T07:02:42","slug":"flotsam-river-circuss-free-show-floats-into-new-york-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/222937\/","title":{"rendered":"Flotsam River Circus\u2019s free show floats into New York City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Performers routinely hit the road to perform in New York City, but the Flotsam River Circus hit the river instead with its waterfront spectacle part Cirque de Soleil, part Ringling Brothers and part Huckleberry Finn.<\/p>\n

This one-of-a-kind circus, a kind of Huckleberry on the Hudson for a few days, assembles a collection of experienced circus performers from around the world on a ragtag raft converted into a stage on the river.<\/p>\n

These nomads, who didn\u2019t run away with but launched a waterfront circus, opened in New York City with a show at Barretto Point Park in the Bronx a few days ago.<\/p>\n

There is another free show tonight, September 12, 6-7:30 at Pebble Beach in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Two more New York City shows follow, Saturday, Sept. 13 and 14, 6-7:30 p.m. on southwestern Randall\u2019s Island, near the Ward\u2019s Island pedestrian bridge.<\/p>\n

Performances are free, but audiences are asked to contribute to help keep this traveling circus afloat. More information about Flotsam River Circus and its New York shows is available at rivercircus.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stage is the boat. The audience gathers on the shore,\u201d Jason Webley, a musician, creator and \u201ccaptain\u201d of this ragtag river show, said. \u201cWe set up the boat tethered to the shore. The waves knock us around. Sometimes, that\u2019s a bit crazy. There\u2019s live music throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Flotsam<\/a>Flotsam River Circus kicked off in the Bronx this week.Photo by David Schulder<\/p>\n

Since 2019, they have performed in front of tens of thousands across 13 states and travelled over 2,000 river miles, plus thousands on the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crowds gathered on land to watch their waterfront shows from the Willamette River in Oregon to the Mississippi. The troupe in 2024 completed their biggest tour, traveling the length of the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Paducah.<\/p>\n

These wandering waterfront performers are helping celebrate the Erie Canal Bicentennial by traveling from Wilkeson Pointe Beach in Buffalo to New York City, and hope someday to bring their floating circus to rivers and canals in Europe, and eventually the globe.<\/p>\n

Webley, who organizes and plays accordion, put together a talented troupe from Washington state, North Carolina, New Orleans, Taiwan, Brazil and elsewhere. Performers have worked for the Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Brothers, as well as creating their own smaller circus shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want the show to be a sequence of circus acts. These are characters on a boat in this post-apocalyptic future. It\u2019s silly and hopefully very fun,\u201d Webley said of the show with a story involving an apocalypse and a lot of antics. \u201cThe premise is the world has bene taken over by mutant fish and we\u2019re watching some of the last humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The troupe includes Kalan Sherrard, a puppet maker, puppeteer and Jim Henson Foundation grantee who has toured more than 60 nations.\u00a0
\n\"Flotsam<\/a>Flotsam River Circus kicked off in the Bronx this week.Photo by David Schulder\n<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Justin Therrien, a juggler, sword swallower and comedian, who performs, along with partner (in life and business) and Shoestring Circus co-founder Nicole Laumb, who specializes in character acting, Spanish web, and sideshow stunts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Circus veteran Danila Bim, a dancer from Brazil who does aerial hoop work, worked for Cirque du Soleil and Ringling Bros. Ambalancer, a choreographer, gymnast and balance artist, hails from Taiwan. Sari Breznau is the music director and multi-instrumentalist for this global group that includes other performers with various talents and skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a very good, short answer,\u201d Webley said of the genesis of the \u201cFlotsam\u201d name. \u201cIt\u2019s the culmination of all the threads of my life. I used to be a touring musician. I loved the idea of having a show on the road. I grew up under the spell of Huck Finn and all of that. I\u2019ve been inspired by boating art projects my friends were involved with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webley and friends built the boat, designed it to hit the road (in pieces aboard another vehicle) and river and transform into a floating stage.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past 25-plus years, I lived on a houseboat on the Snoqualmie River outside Seattle,\u201d Webley said. \u201cThe boat is designed to come apart, be driven to new places and be reassembled.\u201d<\/p>\n

After touring the Mississippi, Ohio and other rivers, they have played to concert-size crowds of hundreds at many locations along their New York route, where they ask audience to bring blankets or lawn chairs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Flotsam River Circus kicked off in the Bronx this week.Photo by David Schulder<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has an outboard we use to propel it underneath a pontoon boat,\u201d Webley said of this seaborne stage. \u201cIt\u2019s meant to inspire your imagination and look like a ramshackle raft made of garbage and driftwood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simply scheduling and getting necessary approvals to perform at this unusual list of locations takes time.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI spend the whole year scouting locations and wrestling with municipalities,\u201d Webley said, noting the Erie anniversary helped secure New York locations. \u201cThe New York State Canal System was supportive, but it was a lengthy process figuring out the permits.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that there are \u201cfamously 500 miles of shoreline here,\u201d but they were looking for land to serve as a sloped amphitheater, since the boat sits low on the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had rain in Poughkeepsie and Medina. If it\u2019s dumping, we\u2019d have to cancel,\u201d Webley said. \u201cThis year we haven\u2019t had to cancel anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some performers sleep on the boat, while others sleep on the bus. \u201cDuring the tour, the bus is our land vehicle, our kitchen, and has bunks,\u201d Webley said. \u201cAt the end of the tour, we break down the boat. Most smaller pieces get loaded on the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Flotsam<\/a>Flotsam River Circus kicked off in the Bronx this week.Photo by David Schulder<\/p>\n

Taking a circus show on the road, and the river, without many grants in a Netflix world isn\u2019t easy, especially without a ticket price. They rely on goodwill, good audiences, good shows, and (to an extent) fairly good weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pass the hat and hope that the audience is generous. I don\u2019t pay myself. I work on it all year. It\u2019s a labor of love,\u201d Webley said. \u201cThe project for the last couple of years has broken even. We try to pay everybody a living wage. The shows are free, but we take donations. And audiences have been generous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webley said his interest in riverboating was partly nourished by Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn\u2019s voyage. He doesn\u2019t see himself as a modern Huck Finn, but there is something eminently American and entrepreneurial about turning rivers into a stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was an influence on me when I was a little boy. It hasn\u2019t been an active part of my imagination,\u201d Webley added of Huck Finn. \u201cBut I think it sowed a seed. Eight-year-old me would be excited to see what 50-year-old me is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Info. and to donate www.rivercircus.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To volunteer and help info@rivercircus.com<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Sept 12, 6 p.m. Brooklyn Bridge Park
<\/a>Sept 13 6 p.m. Randalls Island<\/a>\u00a0
Sept 14 6 p.m. Randalls Island<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Performers routinely hit the road to perform in New York City, but the Flotsam River Circus hit the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":222938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,31955,8471,1121,78563,171,120949,120950,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,1072,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-222937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-amny-weekender","10":"tag-bronx","11":"tag-brooklyn","12":"tag-circus","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-floating-circus","15":"tag-flotsam-river-circus","16":"tag-new-york","17":"tag-new-york-city","18":"tag-newyork","19":"tag-newyorkcity","20":"tag-ny","21":"tag-nyc","22":"tag-things-to-do","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115195710381922895","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}