One of my off-season jobs was stage-managing the New Year's Day Parade in London for several years (don't all write and complain to me about the traffic congestion thus caused...) ... on one awful year, the Parade was led by Annie The Elephant, kindly loaned by Chipperfield's Circus... except that Annie had a bit of an upset tummy that day... The various clowns, costume characters, and worst of all the poor "inflatable"-wranglers got dragged through it all, bodily. A charming light rain throughout the day diluted it to an evil yellow film that covered the road-surface along the entire route. All most unpleasant. "Garfield" - an out-of-work baritone from the Glyndebourne chorus, who'd only ever agreed to do it for a laugh and a few pints, was seen at the dispersal enclosure covered in elephant ordure from head to toe, having slipped over in it several times, and was heard muttering "this is the last bloody gig I ever do with you, Reiner Torheit, I'm covered in bloody elephant shit, and you are standing there laughing and taking photographs?". Trying to explain to Sketchley's about the "special cleaning job" we had for them was slightly surreal too...
I'm pleased to report that the poodle I gave to Madame Silberklang in DER SCHAUSPIELDIREKTOR was a model of good behaviour by comparison - neither widdling unwantedly, nor joining in with that very long and complicated trio either
BTW the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall here was originally built as a Circus in the C19th, and so no-one worried about the noise of the Moscow Metro being a problem as they cheerfully tunnelled Mayakovskaya Station directly underneath the auditorium. Despite extensive work to lessen the rumble with baffling, trains can be distantly heard every 2 minutes in quieter moments....
