Theater

Circus girl living her ‘dreams’

By Shawn Ryan
Star Features Editor
01-19-2006

Jennifer Fuentes, who appeared on American Idol the same time as Ruben Studdard, is now “Songstress of the Circus” for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.

When Jennifer Fuentes arrives in Birmingham, she hopes to meet up with American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.
Well, sure. Don’t a lot of people?
True, but Fuentes — who’s coming to town as part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus — has a history with Studdard. In 2002, she was one of the Top 30 finalists on American Idol, the edition that Studdard won. She says she’s kept in touch with him ever since.
“When I reach him at home, he always tells me, ‘Baby, I’m just relaxin’ at home. Really home,’ ” Fuentes says. “I hope he’ll be home when I’m there so he can come. I think he’d be proud of me.”
Why shouldn’t he be? After all, as “Songstress of the Circus” and narrator of the current, totally revamped version of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Fuentes has probably performed in front of about as many folks as any of the American Idol winners. The circus usually does a week or so of shows in each city, sometimes as many as three a day, inside the nation’s largest arenas. On any given day, Fuentes may sing in front of as many as 30,000 people.
“I’m no longer singing on a stage,” she says from a circus stop in Jacksonville, Fla. “I’m performing in front of thousands and thousands of people, and there are people in the very far seats and I have to reach out to them to make this show believable.
“There’s a lot of gesturing and selling your emotions and your performance. It’s a step up from just getting up there and performing. I wasn’t trained for this, but I’m learning.”
Fuentes, a native of the Miami area and all of 21, started with the circus last year, dropped into the production when it was about halfway through its annual tour. The learning curve was steep, she says.

A hat-juggling routine is part of this year’s Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

“They just crossed their fingers and threw me in the show,” she says. “I had very, very few rehearsals. It was nerve-wracking and I was very nervous. I’d never performed for that many people in my life.”
The circus, then in its 134th edition, soon started going through its own growing pains. Instead of sticking with its familiar three-ring format, it has changed things up — circus officials call it “re-imagining” — developing a storyline that runs throughout the production. Fuentes role is to be the voice of the circus. She is the one who pulls a family out audience — different one every show — bringing them into the spotlight to live out their “circus” dreams.
Fuentes says she had to learn not only her lines and the five songs she performs during the show, she also had to understand what exactly her role in the show was.
“During the time we were rehearsing, I was asking myself, ‘What is Jennifer Fuentes’ role in the show?’ I felt that way, like I needed to understand that so I would own my role, know exactly what I was doing.
“Ultimately, as the story grew, it became even more believable to me. Now I have to carry that role strongly; I have to be very commanding, a strong presence. … I’ve grown into a very wise woman of the circus.”
What happens when her time with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey ends is much more up in the air, she says. Before the circus, she had hoped to record her own record, maybe do her own TV talk show. But now, all those plans are percolating within
“These two years, even just the last year, has helped me develop an amazing ability to perform,” she says. “My voice growing; I’m going to be so much more wise about my voice and what I’m capable of doing.
“This is opening up so many doors for me … now I don’t know where it’s going to go,” she says. “My dreams came true, but I feel like there’s an extra step and I don’t know where it’s going to go.”