Paul Binder

Paul Binder is the founder of the Big Apple Circus. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he graduated from Dartmouth College and earned an M.B.A. at Columbia University. Binder worked at WGBH-TV in Boston (stage-managing for Julia Child’s The French Chef) and as a talent coordinator for Merv Griffin, before heading West and learning juggling with the San Francisco Mime Troupe—where Binder met Michael Christensen. Together, Binder and Christensen traveled through Europe and earned their living by juggling on street corners. Their act landed them on the legendary stage of the Casino de Paris, on French television and, eventually, in the ring of Annie Fratellini’s Nouveau Cirque de Paris. Binder returned to New York with a dream—to create an American circus with the same dedication to theatrical excellence and artistic intimacy that he and Christensen had experienced in Europe. He found the people who would share his dream and implement his vision and, in 1977, the Big Apple Circus was born. Founder, Founding Artistic Director of the Big Apple Circus, and a gifted performer, Paul Binder was recently honored by ABC-TV World News with Charles Gibson as "Person of the Week". In July of 2009 Mr. Binder "stepped out of the ring" but continues to work with the Big Apple Circus as a senior advisor. He is currently in demand as a guest speaker, having spoken and led seminars at Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Virginia and Barnard College. Paul has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees in Fine Arts from his alma mater, Dartmouth, Pratt Institute, and Rhode Island College, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Long Island University. In 2001 he was given the honor of "NYC Living Landmark," by the New York Landmarks Conservancy. He is the proud father of Katherine, Max, Adam and Anais.

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Africa Trip #7: Cape Town

Sep 122014

Over the past few weeks I’ve enjoyed blogging stories and photographs from my trip with Shelley to Africa, but, believe it or not, I’m running out of photographs to share with you, so, this will likely be the last installment of “Paul Binder’s African Adventure.”

First, the animals. I thought I was finished with pictures of animals—I had quite a few posts about our safari in Zambia. But then I remembered that we also encountered some interesting critters in Cape Town too. In fact, the first animal that we saw in Africa was this big guy here:

This enormous tortoise roamed the grounds around the Vineyard Hotel, where we stayed in Cape Town. Tortoises are remarkable creatures right out of prehistoric times, and it was surprising to watch this one move at full speed. Sure, he’s not as fast as a hare, but believe me, he’s surprisingly agile.

South Africa is relatively close to the south pole, but I was still surprised to see entire groups of penguins nesting on the beach in Simon’s Town. This one below walked away from the other penguins in order to preen himself for the photos being taken by the tourists, including myself.

He was definitely posing. “All right, Mr. Paul, I’m ready for my close-up.”

And then we saw some birds of a different color.

I think you can tell from the photograph that this particular ostrich got to be a bit of a handful. But in no time at all, I had him eating out of the palm of my hand.

We also saw dozens of sea lions, and I even got a picture of a lone springbok.

As I mentioned in my last post, Cape Town is a beautiful city with lots of things to do. Perhaps the best known tourist destination in the area is the Cape of Good Hope, the most south-western point of the African continent. I know that because the sign said so …

You can get a sense of the dangerous winds and tides by looking at our hair.

And man oh man is the Cape of Good Hope a long distance from home—according to this sign post, over 12,000 kilometers.

Even though Shelley and I had a fantastic time in Cape Town, the city is not just a hot spot for tourists. The city still reflects the past century of South African political history, and the remnants of apartheid are very apparent.

We took a day trip to Robben Island, which is off the northwest coast of Cape Town. While on the island, we took a tour of the island’s infamous prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years before the fall of apartheid.

Here is a picture of the cell in which Mandela was kept:

It was a very powerful location to visit, loaded with cultural and historic significance. It was a humbling experience, as was our visit to one of the many townships on the outskirts of Cape Town.

The quality of life in the township was sobering. Even though it’s been two decades since South Africa’s government switched over to majority rule, millions still live in these townships—nearly half the population of the entire country. It’s important to note that townships do have some middle class housing. Some residents who grew up in the townships decide to stay in the community and build nicer homes. However, most of the dwellings are makeshift.

Yet despite the apparent poverty of the area, I was overjoyed to see children at play.

We also visited a preschool and kindergarten in the township. Here’s a picture of Shelley with one of the teachers:

These three large posters outlining the vision and mission of the school were hung on the wall. Here was an inspiring sense of hope within the township community, and the schools are a fundamental part of South Africa’s plan for a better future.

The school’s vision and mission were not entirely dissimilar from Zip Zap Circus School’s multicultural central purpose.

Zip Zap creates a platform for students (and partners) with a chance to turn dreams into reality providing an open door to a fun, safe place, with a sense of family and a clear focus to shape their confidence, skills and worth, critical to moving on as a new South Africa.”

Africa Trip #6: Zip Zap Circus and School

Sep 022014

I’ve been so excited to show you photographs from our safaris in Zambia, that I haven’t written much about our days spent prior to that in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is surely one of the most beautiful cities that I’ve ever seen, and it was an extraordinary visit.

When Shelley was invited to teach for three days at the University of Cape Town, I thought I could take advantage of the opportunity and plan my own trip to visit the Zip Zap Circus and School, to which I had been repeatedly invited in years past.

Under Artistic Director Brent Van Rensburg, Zip Zap trains a diverse community of kids in the Circus Arts in order to provide them with future employment opportunities and to help develop the next generation’s confidence and leadership skills. The Circus School has been in operation for over twenty years, co-founded by Brent and Managing Director Laurence Estève “to inspire young people and help build a new culture of peaceful coexistence in South Africa.”

Part of my visit was spent presenting to the students, followed by a very lively and inquisitive question and answer period. It’s always a thrill to speak to the next generation of circus artists, especially when my next encounter with these young performers could be anywhere in the world.

I had a great time at the Circus School, as no doubt you can tell from the photograph below:

For my next and last blog about the Africa trip, I’ll share a brief recap and some photographs from the rest of our time in Cape Town.

Africa Trip #5: Victoria Falls

Aug 292014

You were probably beginning to think that I stayed behind the camera my entire trip. In fact, I did pose for a few pictures, and here is one of my favorites. It’s Shelley and me standing in front of Victoria Falls with a double rainbow in the background.

After our safari in the Luangwa National Park, we flew to Livingstone for our stay at a low-key resort on the Zambezi River called Tongabezi. Livingstone is along the southern border of Zambia. The Victoria Falls Bridge in the background here is an entryway into the neighboring country of Zimbabwe.

At the Falls, Shelley and I made friends with an Italian family who had been on safari the same time as us but had had separate tour guides and trackers.

To get a good view of the Falls, there’s a bridge for people to walk across. There’s so much moisture from the waterfalls that everyone puts on a rain poncho, hoping to stay at least partially dry.

And here’s another shot of Shelley and me with the Falls. You can see our ponchos in hand.

Helicopter tours of Victoria Falls and the surrounding area came highly recommended. And I know exactly why. The view of the Falls from ground level is spectacular, but the view from the air is absolutely breathtaking.

We even got to fly over a native village.

On our second day at Tongabezi, we spent some time around the lodge. Here’s a great shot of a joyous Shelley playing the marimba.

We went back to the Falls again, but this time we had a different view, from Livingstone Island.

I agreed to do something adrenaline junkies would have loved. After walking along the edge of the Falls, I climbed into a small pool of water in the river and was able to look out over the edge of the cliff. The guide reminded me to hold onto the nylon rope.

Let me tell you, the view from the top of the Falls was a gasp.

Africa Trip #4: Lions

Aug 262014

So, we were still at the bush camp, but we hadn’t seen any lions yet. Our guide, Kanga, was scheduled to drive us to the next camp the following morning. He suggested that we wake up very early (a suggestion that was never my favorite) and, instead of driving directly to camp, we would see if we could track some lions.

Now, get the picture: there are four of us in the Range Rover—Kanga (our guide), Stuart (our tracker), Shelley, and me. We would drive a bit, then stop and look around. Every twenty minutes or so Stuart would say about four syllables in his tribal tongue. Kanga would translate, “Stuart says to look out there, he sees an encouraging sign.”

He gestured toward some circling vultures. We drove in that direction and they looked around (as always for footprints and droppings) and Stuart got excited when he thought there might be lions nearby. Again, the pukus sounded the alarm (Stuart, with ears that could hear the sound of a gnat’s wings at 50 yards) told us that we were close, and sure enough, after crossing a water-filled ravine, he spotted a lioness on the shady side of a bush.

Her muzzle was a little red—the sure sign that there’d been a recent kill. We followed along on the opposite side of the ravine, and suddenly Stuart pointed to a breeding pair, a young male and a seemingly undernourished female.

Kanga explained that when breeding, lions don’t eat, and from the look of her they had several days of hunger pangs.

I hasten to add that she clearly had had enough of his amorous gestures.

We noticed another lioness with a medium-sized cub and watched as she walked around a large bush.

We traveled around the bush in the opposite direction, and what we encountered was a stunning sight: three lionesses with nine suckling cubs of varying sizes.

Kanga told us that any of the cubs could nurse from any of the females. Here’s a photo of the male and female breeding pair arriving and completing the pride.

Kanga guessed that the male was about five years old and mentioned that he had recently seen a second pride led by what he took to be that lion’s brother. We sat in the Range Rover for about 25 minutes awestruck by the sight before we drove on to the next camp.

Africa Trip #3: Leopards

Aug 202014

On the afternoon of our second day at the bush camp, we had our first encounter with a major African predator.

At the bush camp we did a lot of walking and some Range Rover riding. There were always four of us. There was our guide, Kanga, our tracker, Stuart—call him our security officer—and the two of us.

First: some news on how we were briefed when we walked out. We were told to stay in single file. We were told that most of the animals we’d encounter are territorial and we must respect their territory. Soft talking is alright. When in the vehicle, don’t stand up and don’t climb out. Animals see the vehicle as a single unit so people in it are seen as part of that “creature.” Standing up alerts them to possible prey. The animals are used to seeing the Range Rover and don’t see it as a threat.

Trackers, who actually carry a gun in case there’s some danger (so long as we don’t intrude it’s rare, but not impossible), have the uncanny ability to see and hear things that other people can’t.

On our second day out while walking, we came across a family group of Burchell’s zebras. They graze in groups of five or six.

A little later, he heard the first sign of alarm. It was the warning cry of a puku (a big-eared deer/antelope). Thinking that we might have a predator within range, Kanga radioed for a Range Rover and we drove in the direction of the puku sounds.

As we approached the area where the puku had been, we slowed down, and there was a hyena lying, sphinx-like, on the other side of a ravine.

We were informed that that was a good sign. The hyena was nearby because he thought there was a kill coming. Up in a tree, a baboon was making a lot of fuss. Kanga said, “For sure, there’s something out there,” and we drove in the direction the baboon was looking.

When we came up the ravine we saw zebras running in one direction and impalas running in another. It was the same family of zebras we had seen before. We were certainly approaching something. I wish I had a photograph of the zebras and impalas running, but I was breathing a little too heavily at that moment to aim the camera.

As we came around the curve, we had our first leopard sighting.

Right beside us were a male and female leopard, which were described as a “breeding pair.” We stopped and quietly looked at them. And as they continued to move, we followed them. Kanga explained that it was a young male and an older female.

The female leopard jumped up onto a dead tree trunk. The young male jumped up after her and attempted to breed with her … but he didn’t quite get it right.

Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.

Kanga commented, “Well, it looks like he’s an inexperienced young male.” And to say the least, the female leopard was a bit perturbed with him.

But the guy with the camera (me), was very happy.

Africa Trip #2: Animals

Aug 152014

As I said in my last post, on safari I saw elephants, giraffes, zebra, hippos, baboons, and many other animals, several of them up close. As you can see, a couple of them even posed for us. Below are just a few of my favorite animal shots from the trip.

And the animals even had us pondering:

Why did the baboons cross the road?

Up next … the cats: leopards and lions!

Africa Trip #1: A Friendly Visit

Aug 132014

I am happy to report that I made it back from my African safari in one piece. One WHOLE piece. First Shelley and I spent five days in Cape Town where she taught three classes and I paid a visit to the Zip Zap Circus School. Then we left South Africa for Zambia and our 8-day African safari, including two days in a tent at a bush camp. We saw some incredible animals and spectacular sights, and I surprised myself by being able to take some half-way decent photographs. In fact, I got amazing shots of a pair of leopards, a herd of zebra, several giraffes and baboon families, scores of hippos, plenty of impala, and lots of puku, kudu, and doodoo. And I say with pride that I have several shots of a group of lions. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Because there is so much from this trip that I want to share with you, I’ll do it in several posts over the next few weeks.

I want to begin with one unforgettable experience.

We landed in a one-strip airport near a village called Mfuwe, then drove about three-quarters of an hour into the Zambian wild along the Luangwa River. We stayed in three different camps as we traveled around seeing the wildlife. We knew that we were on safari to see animals, but what we didn’t expect was that the animals would come to see us.

The first place we stayed was called the Nsefu Camp. Shelley and I had our own rondavel in the camp. From its deck, we had a clear view of the river. Lo and behold, in the afternoon of our first full day in Zambia, we were greeted in our camp by elephants—two females with their calves. I grabbed the camera and got a great shot of Shelley with an elephant in the distance walking towards her.

When else are you going to get to be in a photograph with an elephant in the wild? I was surprised at just how close they came to us. They walked into the camp feasting on the leaves of several trees. At one point one of the calves approached a hut, practically walking up the steps.

And as you can see, one of the mothers was about twenty-five feet away as I took her picture.

I had been reassured by our guide that so long as we remained on the veranda of the rondavel and didn’t move around, elephants would ignore us. They walked behind our rondavel and around to the next. And then just as comfortably as they came, they continued on their way … and we continued on ours.

To be continued …
I’ll post more in the days to come.

4th of July BBQ in a New York City Apartment

Jul 112014

4th of July - cartoon 4

It’s not quite the 4th of July if there isn’t BBQ’d food and something exploding with light in the summer night to the grand strains of John Philip Sousa. But having a BBQ and fireworks in a New York City apartment? That can be a tricky endeavor. Luckily we didn’t have to resort to any illegal grilling out on the fire escape.

I had some loved ones visit me in the last couple weeks, which made the time around the holiday even more special. My son Max came in from the West Coast, and I also got to see my daughter Katherine and her two little ones, my grandchildren Sonya and Leo, who flew north from Florida.

We attempted a preview of some of the 4th of July fare with the grandkids, and Leo impressed us all when he took a bite out of a vegan (unbeknownst to him) hot dog and his face immediately turned to disgust. He explained, “Yecchhh! It tastes like beans.” He got it right. Not only did he know that it didn’t taste like the hot dogs that he was used to, but he also identified the unusual hot dog flavor. That’s quite a pallet for a four year old!

Truth is, I only bought the vegan dogs in case one of our guests was on a health kick — none were. On the actual holiday, we offered up the bean-tasting vegan hot dogs to the local wildlife (don’t ask!) and enjoyed some meat-loaded hamburgers and hotdogs. To cook we used a BBQ grill with which we were very familiar: the good ol’ kitchen range. We served the food on china plates with mountains of cole slaw and potato salad.

Leo and Sonya

It wouldn’t be Independence Day in New York City without the Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular. This was the first time in five years that the Macy’s fireworks show was set off on the East River, which was good news for most New Yorkers who could now see the bright lights from downtown Manhattan and areas of Brooklyn and Queens. This was also the first year that I’ve lived in an apartment with a beautiful view of the Hudson River. The timing just wasn’t meant to be. But hey, maybe next year we’ll travel to Manhattan’s east coast.

I’m delighted that I got to spend some time with family, and I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th of July as well.

Katherine and Max (a few years back)

Shakespeare in the Park

Jun 122014

Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater as Beatrice and Benedick
Photo by Joan Marcus

If you have the opportunity to go see Much Ado About Nothing in Central Park, do it. And if you don’t have the time, consider making some. It’s a wonderful production well worth waiting in line for tickets (… or paying someone to wait in line for you).

I saw Much Ado last night and was a joyous celebration of great theater. The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is a special and wonderful venue, and the free Shakespeare in the Park program has a reputation for putting on great productions. Much Ado is no exception. The direction is creative, the set is incredible, and the actors are all terrific.

If you have some doubts about how amazing the production looks, check out this promotional video put out by the Public Theater.

Brian Stokes Mitchell as Don Pedro with Steel Burkhardt
Photo by Joan Marcus

I was actually in a production of Much Ado just out of college. At Dartmouth in the Summer of 1962 I was in the Hopkins Center Repertory Theater. Of the company, half of us were students and half professional Equity actors. I played Borachio who conspires with the villainous Don John in his plot against Claudio and Don Pedro. Borachio in Italian means “drunkard.” When I was in the play, though, my Italian was … how shall we say … a little rusty, so it never occurred to me to play the character as a drunk. Well, hindsight is 20/20, and I’m happy to say that the Borachio in Shakespeare in the Park’s production is a little better than I was at Italian. Go see him and the rest of the marvelous cast led by Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe.

The show runs Tuesdays through Sundays until July 6, and on July 22 performances of King Lear starring John Lithgow will begin.

Hamish Linklater eavesdropping on John Glover, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Jack Cutmore
Photo by Joan Marcus

Performing Showtunes

Jun 062014

Almost two months ago, I was invited to a “dinner and going away party” for a couple of friends. Bradley Jones coordinated and would host the party in celebration of his colleague Donna, an eminent psychologist. Donna, who was retiring, was headed to California with her husband Don. The gathering was arranged so everyone could send them off with warm wishes. After dinner, there were to be tributes planned for Don and Donna: many shared thanks and reminiscing about old stories and times shared. I … had prepared a surprise.

A couple weeks before the party, Bradley (an eminent psychologist in his own right) sent me an e-mail asking if I thought he should have a pianist at the party. Bradley—in a former life—was in an original production of A Chorus Line on Broadway and he happens to have a baby grand piano in his Greenwich Village apartment, so I’ve come to expect some sort of music when I go to his parties. I told Bradley that of course there should be music, and he teasingly responded, “Fine, but only if you sing.” I jokingly retorted, “I only sing in the shower,” but Bradley cleverly offered, “I’ll supply the shower.” It seemed like I wasn’t going to get out of this one.

Vivian Blaine, the original Miss Adelaide in the Broadway, London, and film productions
Photo from the Suzanne Thierry archives

Bradley and I agreed that we could lead the entire room in a couple choruses of “California Here I Come” as a final send off, but I was going to have to sing something on my own as well. A couple days later I was sitting with the Lotos Club Theatre Round Table discussing what song I could sing. Someone suggested “Adelaide’s Lament” from Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls. I’ve always thought that “Adelaide’s Lament” is one of the cleverest Broadway showtunes ever written. The character of Miss Adelaide is a showgirl. Vivian Blaine originated the role on Broadway in 1950 and was so good she also starred in the 1955 film with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando. Gail VanVoorhis’s voice boomed from across the room, “You absolutely must do that song.” Fellow member Gloria Shafer even agreed to help me practice.

So, the program was set. I would sing “Adelaide’s Lament.” Bradley decided he could perform the song “Very Soft Shoes” from the show Once Upon a Mattress, and together we settled on the duet “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” from Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate. It’s a great song with lots of revery (and more than a couple of hilarious puns).

However, I still wasn’t sure how to introduce “Adelaide’s Lament” as a tribute. Bradley asked, “Do you want to do the number in drag?” “No,” I said, “I’m sure there’s another way to present the song where I can still perform in Adelaide’s voice.” By the way, the room was FULL of psychoanalysts because they were all Donna’s friends and colleagues. When I rehearsed with Bradley’s brilliant accompanist, Dennis Buck, he had a fantastic idea to incorporate the idea of psychology into the performance.

Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra shooting craps in the 1955 film “Guys and Dolls”

In introducing the song, I made up a story about how Donna had told me about a patient–who we would call “Adelaide”—who had turned to psychology for help after her fiancé of fourteen years–who we would call “Nathan”—was an inveterate gambler and refused to set a wedding date. I performed half the song as a psychoanalyst giving Adelaide advice (which I pretended to read from Donna’s own published psychology book), and then I slipped into Adelaide’s voice to respond (having been born and raised in Flatbush, I’m well versed in Brooklyn-tinged patois).

Well … Don and Donna had a terrific time at the party, and “Adelaide’s Lament” was a real crowd pleaser. And for me it was a dream come true. I finally got to sing a Broadway showtune for an appreciative audience!!!

Gloria Shafer has already talked to me about performing for the annual show “Lotos Got Talent.” I’d be excited to work again with the terrific accompanist Dennis, who not only gave me some great musical training but who also beautifully adapted to the surprises of a live performance.

Vivian Blaine from the 1955 film “Guys and Dolls” in her alley cat costume for the number “Pet Me, Poppa”

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