Windy City Circus cancels Chicago debut engagement

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David Maas and his wife Dania Kaseeva Maas (both at far left) announced today that their Windy City Circus has cancelled its debut engagement at Navy Pier's Festival Hall.

Updated: March 16, 2012 8:10AM

Windy City Circus announced today that its debut engagement, Feb. 17-26 at Navy Pier, has been canceled. The circus, founded by the famous “Quick Change” husband -and-wife team of Dania and David Maas, was set to officially kick off the city’s 175th birthday celebration festivities. In addition to a variety of circus acts, scheduled entertainment also included strolling performers portraying historic Chicago figures.

The circus had also hoped to donate 80 percent of its net ticket sales to the Special Olympics and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana.

“We are incredibly saddened to report that in this economy as a new non-profit organization, we have fallen short of our projected sponsorship and funding goals,” said David Maas, in a written statement. “We want to ensure that Chicago receives a high-quality production that befits our incredible hometown and will be a successful fundraiser for our charitable partners. We are looking forward to mounting Windy City Circus at a future date, and will continue to strive toward that goal.”

All tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase. Refunds for tickets purchased at windycitycircus.org will be automatically refunded prior to date of performance purchased.

—Miriam Di Nunzio