Welcome to Walden, New York, where the 150 performers and crew members of the legendary Big Apple Circus gather from around the world to put together the new show for their annual 350-performance tour. As sets are built, costumes designed and fitted, acts rehearsed and refined, meet the members of the Big Apple family: the veteran clown who plays the circus' most enduring and beloved character, and the slightly neurotic novice whose clowning covers a painful past; the newly assembled trapeze troupe that can't seem to catch a trick; the zany, tightly wound guest director who lives for the circus; and the kids of the rough-and-tumble ring crew, all of whom seem to be looking for a fresh start. But as a bomb threat proves, running away to the circus doesn't always guarantee your troubles won't find you.
Feel the tension mount as rivalries and romances blossom and the circus' first dress rehearsal approaches. The show is nowhere near ready. Despite constant rehearsals, the Flying Neves trapeze members can't pull themselves together, and there's talk in the office about cutting the act. Meanwhile, Glen, the newbie clown, is having a hard time taking direction and he's petrified he'll soon be fired. The fate of the show -- and of more than a few performers -- hangs in the balance.
Traveling by trailer caravan, the circus arrives in Virginia and pitches the tent for its first tour stop. On the eve of the first performance, a pivotal act is cut and there's a mad scramble to rework the show. Making matters worse, a seasoned company regular is diagnosed with cancer and must relinquish his act. Lackluster ticket sales only ratchet up the pressure.
Squeeze into a tiny lot at New York's Lincoln Center with the entire Big Apple Circus -- tent, trailers, performers, crew and animals. It's the holiday season and shows are packed, but snow and ice are collecting on the big top and the hoses that run water to the trailers are frozen solid. A beloved miniature pony dies suddenly from colic. Cast and crew are sick and exhausted, but the show goes on. Some members of the Big Apple family -- a crewman, a trapeze artist, even the artistic director -- contemplate leaving the circus world behind.
Big Apple's founder and its newly installed artistic director embark on their annual trip to the renowned Monte Carlo circus festival -- a kind of international circus family reunion -- to scout fresh talent. Back in the U.S., the performers and the crew put on two shows a day and travel from Georgia to New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York. The Anastasinis, a seventh-generation circus family, wonder if their young sons will be content to carry on the family legacy.
Emotions run high as the circus season winds down. Many members of the cast and crew won't be going back to Big Apple next season -- some are heading to Europe; others are still trying to figure out what's next. Some of the younger performers who have grown up in the circus consider leaving circus life. The night before the final shows, the crew puts on a traditional spoof called "Midnight Clowns" for the performers. The laughter is infectious and the partings bittersweet. As the trailers pull out of the lot and the tent comes down for the last time, we join in the time-honored circus farewell: not "goodbye," but "see you down the road."
See how performers live their lives outside of the big top and how they get ready for their performances, see the making of a hand-crafted dancing partner, learn what it means to be a member of a legacy trapeze family and more.