I saw the last show for the "red team" in Providence, Rhode Island. While I have seen a number of Cirque du Soleil (CdS) shows over the last 10 years, I haven't

I saw the last show for the "red team" in Providence, Rhode Island. While I have seen a number of Cirque du Soleil (CdS) shows over the last 10 years, I haven't seen Ringling Bros. (RB) in about 20 years. The difference I immediately noticed was the ticket price. A CdS show ranges anywhere from $40 to $120. My seat at RB, on the sixth row, cost $55. I understand the desire to keep the show accessible to all families, but the price disparity between the two companies was huge. The production quality was good, but not as high as that of CdS. That said, I enjoyed the show and the fact that it is accessible to people at most income levels. Audience members were permitted to go on the performance floor 30 minutes before the show. We could interact with the performers, who were doing a few mini-shows, and get a much closer look. That sort of access costs over $100 at Cirque du Soleil. Besides ticket price and production quality, another factor working against Ringling Bros. is the fact that everyone lives on the train. Entire families travel to every city. They have a school on the train. When everyone came out at the end of the show, there were at least 200 people of varying ages—babies to adults. That can't be cheap. I'm not sure if Cirque du Soleil does the same for their performers.