 Previews were to start February 26, 1999; shows in Sarasota were cancelled and the visit to Austin as a warm-up was postponed when rehearsals took longer than expected and tornado warnings further disrupted the schedule.A Feld Entertainment press release noted the New York performances marked the first time in its 130-year history that a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus tent was raised in Manhattan.The New York run also had some controversy in what "The New York Times" dubbed a holiday war between it and the Big Apple Circus.