Johnathan Lee Iverson (born January 30, 1976) is an American ringmaster best known for his association with the

Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...

, where he was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

ringmaster of a major U.S.

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

Biography

Johnathan Lee Iverson began his career with the

Boys Choir of Harlem The Boys Choir of Harlem (also known as the Harlem Boys Choir) was a choir located in Harlem, New York City, United States. Its final performance was in 2007 and the group folded shortly thereafter due to several controversies, including a ...

. As a performing member of the group, Iverson circled the globe and crisscrossed the United States. In addition to performing before world leaders and dignitaries, including United States Presidents, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, Iverson has shared the stage with such artist as Lou Rawls, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Betty Buckley, Roberta Flack, Perry Cuomo, Geoffrey Holder, Kathleen Battle, Shirley Verett, Tony Bennett, and Lena Horne, all before the age of eighteen. As a graduate of

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia, is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Ce ...

of Music and Art & Performing Arts and The Hartt School of the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

, Iverson took his first steps into the pages of history at only 22 years old, when he became the youngest, the first New Yorker, and the first African American Ringmaster in the nearly 140 year history of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. Iverson’s presence at The Greatest Show On Earth set box office records for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey throughout the United States. Audiences and critics alike were immediately smitten by the native New Yorker. ''Ebony'' magazine said of him: "The instant he appears out of the darkness and into the spotlight…the audience is rapt." The ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

'' stated: "Now imagine mesmerizing the crowd with a powerful voice and the bearing of a superstar." The ''

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

'' wrote: "Tall and self assured…he works a crowd like a three ring evangelist." And syndicated columnist Liz Smith gushed: "I…liked six foot iveyoungest ringmaster ever, Johnathan Lee Iverson, who is commanding enough to be noticed in the melee, and he can sing." Among the myriad of accolades and praise received by Iverson, was being recognized as one of ''Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People of 1999''. Iverson’s historical tenure with The Greatest Show On Earth is featured in numerous publications, including, ''Black First: 4, 000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events'' by Jessie Carney Smith, ''African-American First'' by Joan Potter, ''Live Life! Be Young, Black, and Successful'' by Quincy Benton, and ''Beat of a Different Drum: The Untold Stories of African-Americans Forging Their Own Paths in Work and Life'' by Dax-Devlon Ross.Iverson joined the 129th Edition of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents The Living Carousel in 1998 and performed until Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey closed in 2017, making him The Last Ringmaster. At present, he is Ringmaster and the Chairman of the Board for Omnium: A Bold New Circus, as well as, a founding member of the American Circus Alliance.

References

External links

bigtopvoice.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iverson, Johnathan Lee African-American people Entertainers from New York City Ringmasters 1976 births Living people University of Hartford Hartt School alumni