The road from a shelter kennel to a vaudeville matinee on the Las Vegas Strip.
Every cat in our cast carries two stories. The first one began somewhere difficult — a shelter kennel, an uncertain past, too many strangers walking by. The second one began the day somebody stopped, crouched down and simply waited. This article follows the road between those two stories: from a shelter to the warm light of a classic vaudeville matinee in Las Vegas.
Every Performer Comes From a Shelter
All of the more than 25 cast members — cats, dogs, geese, parrots, the mini horse Diamond and the mini pig Lucy — were taken from animal shelters. None of them was bought, and none of them came from a breeder.
Gregory Popovich trains every animal performer himself. He is a fourth-generation circus performer who grew up backstage while his parents performed in the Moscow Circus, and over those years he developed a deep understanding of animals.
From the book
The Courteous Cat
A guide for cat owners: considerate behavior, health and fitness, playful tricks.
$15.00
How the Cast Lives at the Ranch
Between matinees, the cast lives at the ranch, in spacious enclosures built for animals who spend most of the day simply being animals. Daily veterinary care is part of the ordinary routine rather than a response to trouble, and the facility passes continuous USDA inspections.
A 70-minute matinee is a short window in a day otherwise filled with sunshine, naps and company. If you would like to see it for yourself, our Behind the Scenes page shows the enclosures, the standards of care and the rescue stories behind every performer.
Snowbird, a Living Example
Snowbird was taken from a shelter, like every member of the cast, and today she is a full cast member of a timeless vaudeville matinee — living proof that a difficult first chapter says nothing about how a story ends.
We keep the details of her past deliberately general: shelter histories are often thin. Families watch her on stage and ask the same question on the way out — could our cat at home learn too? The honest answer sits on the cover of the book below: yes, your cat can.
From the book
The Courteous Cat
A guide for cat owners: considerate behavior, health and fitness, playful tricks.
$15.00
About the author
Gregory Popovich — Vaudeville Performer & Humane Animal Training Expert
Gregory Popovich is a fourth-generation circus performer who grew up backstage while his parents performed in the Moscow Circus, and developed a deep understanding of animals. He trains every animal performer himself. His cast of more than 25 animals, all taken from shelters, performs with him in Las Vegas.
