Big Top Rises In Cunningham Park

After its 35-person crew labored for as long as eight hours, the Big Top, home of the Big Apple Circus, was ready for rehearsals to start. Performances begin May 12.

The Big Apple Circus, New York's hometown circus, and America's finest traditional one-ring circus, returned to Cunningham Park with the raising of the Big Top on Tuesday, May 8, starting at 10 a.m.

The beautiful, gleaming white tent with glowing yellow stars spiraling over the roof and sides can accommodate more than 1,700 people. Each individually molded plastic seat is 18 inches wide and ringside and box seats are comfortably cushioned. Made by Italian designers Carlo Anceschi & Sons, the seating system presents the culmination of a half-century of innovation and development in touring circus seating, specially designed for quick assembly and disassembly. With seats no further than 50 feet from ringside, all audience members have an intimate view of the magic and artistry of the Big Apple Circus, a not-for-profit company offering the world's finest circus entertainment.

The Big Top is 63 feet high at its peak, with a circumference of 440 feet. Made by Canobbio S.p.a. in Castelnuovo Scrivia, Italy of multi-layered PVC, the tent is totally opaque. It is supported by four masts 50 feet tall, from which is suspended a dodecagonal cupola frame with a diameter of 50 feet. It is 140 feet in diameter and is 46 feet high on the inside (to the cupola) and 63 feet high (to the top of the tent).

The Big Top is made of four sections laced together and connected to the nearly round cupola frame, plus one cupola cover. An innovative "hat" on the cupola can be raised to allow heated air to escape on warm days. The sidewall is made of 12 sections, totaling 440 feet in circumference and measuring 16 feet high. Four masts that are raised with electric motors support the tent. Depending on the number of motors per mast (masts can have one or two), a mast can weigh between 2,300 and 2,600 pounds. Masts are 50 feet long. Masts and tent are tied to a total of 194 stakes. Ninety-eight side poles measuring 16 feet high support the periphery of the tent. The dodecagonal cupola frame, 50 feet across, folds for transportation in a unique way invented by Anceschi & Sons. It hangs from the masts, and weighs approximately two to three tons. Masts and cupola were manufactured in Rio Saliceto, Italy. The tent is air-conditioned for all-season comfort.

The 35-person tent crew takes up to eight hours to raise the Big Top before setting the ring, and installing the seating, lighting and sound systems. The crew takes three hours to strike the tent (take it down.

Big Apple Circus shows begin Saturday, May 12 and run for 28 performances through Monday, May 28 (Memorial Day) under the Big Top at Cunningham Park (Francis Lewis Boulevard and Union Turnpike). Tickets are available through Ticketmaster at (212) 307-4100, ticketmaster. com and at all Ticketmaster outlets or in person at the Cunningham Tennis Center (196-00 Union Tpke.), open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, $1 per ticket service charge. Until May 12, tickets may also be purchased at the Queens Theatre in the Park in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, open noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday though Saturday ($1.50 per ticket service charge). The Circus Box Office, located in front of the Big Top at Cunningham Park, will open on May 11. Hours of operation will be Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For groups of 15 people or more, for wheelchair accessible seating and for additional information, call the Ticket Info Line at 800-922-3772.