The Adventure May Be In The Detour | Johnathan Lee Iverson | Talks at Harvard College

#TheLastRingmaster is a proud native of New York City, NY, who began his career with The Boys Choir Of Harlem crisscrossing the globe and sharing the stage with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti, Roberta Flack, Tony Bennett, Betty Buckley, and Kathleen Battle, among others, as well as, performing for four American Presidents and Nobel Peace Prize recipient and South African President, Nelson Mandela. His historic and near two-decade tenure with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was met with record-breaking box offices as Iverson took his first steps into the pages of history at only 22 years old, becoming the youngest, the first New Yorker, and the first African American Ringmaster in the near 150 years of the circus’ history.
Ebony magazine said of him: "The instant he appears out of the darkness and into the spotlight…the audience is rapt." The San Francisco Examiner stated: "Now imagine mesmerizing the crowd with a powerful voice and the bearing of a superstar." The Times-Picayune wrote: "Tall and self assured…he works a crowd like a three ring evangelist." And syndicated columnist Liz Smith gushed: "I…liked six foot [five] youngest ringmaster ever, Johnathan Lee Iverson, who is commanding enough to be noticed in the melee, and he can sing."
Iverson’s historical tenure with The Greatest Show On Earth is documented in numerous publications, including, Black First: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events by Jessie Carney Smith, African-American First by Joan Potter, Live Life! Be Young, Black, and Successful by Quincy Benton, Beat of a Different Drum: The Untold Stories of African-Americans Forging Their Own Paths in Work and Life by Dax-Devlon Ross, and Beyond the Statistics by Zane Massey. Among the many accolades and praise received by Iverson, was being named one of Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People.

He has since made a much celebrated return to theatrical and operatic stage, where he was praised for his work in The Garden Theatre’s “A Tennessee Walk” and Opera Orlando Presents “The Companion” and “Safe Word” at the Orlando Fringe. He still dust off the top hat and tails from time to time as he did for the Lone Star Circus and The Flying Carrs Circus. He’s also a contributor to Circustalk.com, Boxing.com, and the Huffington Post.

For more information visit bigtopvoice.com.