Losers pay in Judge Emmet Sullivan’s courtroom, at least when those losers bring a “frivolous, unreasonable and groundless” lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act. This welcome news is contained in a Friday order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Sullivan ruled that animal-rights organizations that sued Feld Entertainment, producer of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, must pay Feld’s attorneys fees. The plaintiffs included the Animal Welfare Institute and the Fund for Animals. Feld says it has spent more than $20 million on a legal circus that began in 2000 with claims that Ringling was abusing its elephants. Feld won the case in 2009 after a six-week trial. On Friday, Judge Sullivan noted that “the plaintiffs were unable to produce any credible evidence that any of them had standing to pursue their claims.” The judge also reminded the litigants that the testimony of the plaintiffs’ star witness had been “wholly incredible, and in certain instances, he testified falsely.” Source: http://online.wsj.com
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Cirque du Soleil doesn’t traditionally use animals in its numerous traveling shows. And it still doesn’t, technically, in its latest offering in New York “Totem.” But writer and director Robert Lepage found a way to portray leaping lizards, monkeys and other-worldly beings by conceiving snake-like acrobatics routines and bird-like high-wire acts. Lepage, who created “KA” for Cirque’s Las Vegas home and staged Wagner’s “Ring” cycle at the Met in New York, caught up with Speakeasy to chat about the show’s fusion of man and animal and the necessary geometry of the circus. The Wall Street Journal: What made you decide to do another Cirque show? Robert Lepage: I’ve always wanted to do a touring show for Cirque. Every time they wanted to hire me it was for shows that didn’t tour. I wanted to do a touring one. They’re smaller — they’re still huge productions — but I really liked the idea of a traveling show. It’s more based on performance than the big spectacular shows in Vegas. It’s more about athletes and gymnasts and people who really perform. You have to wrap your concepts around that. You need to sift a concept out of their physical disciplines. It’s a […]
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