By Dr. Steve Ward
Signor Antonio Vivalla is known for introducing plate spinning to America. He became famous as the man who was allegedly discovered and promoted by P. T. Barnum during the 1830s. That Vivalla was performing between 1835 and 1837 is well recorded in the American press [1] and in a poster held by the New York Digital Collections.[2] However, what I find interesting is that in none of the contemporary writing does the name of Barnum appear. In his autobiography, Barnum makes much of a contest that he had engineered between Vivalla and another juggler, R. J. Roberts, at the Franklin Theatre. This contest did happen, and was reported in the New York Herald on 18 February 1836, and in the April 1836 poster it is also mentioned. But, again, the name Barnum is not mentioned in either of these.
Poster for Signor Vivalla at Mr Hinman’s Hotel, Bridgeport circa 1836
It is only in Barnum’s autobiography that we find reference to the two other significant moments in Vivalla’s life. The first was the practical joke played upon him, involving a member of their party of travellers disguised as a fierce-looking Native American tribesman, who leapt out and frightened the already timid Vivalla. The second was the coincidental meeting between Barnum and Vivalla in Havana in 1850, when Barnum was with the Swedish singer Jenny Lind. According to Barnum, Vivalla was ill and unable to perform and requested financial aid. Jenny Lind, well known for her philanthropy, gave Vivalla some money. However, there is no independent corroborating evidence for either of these incidents. None of the fellow travellers refer to the practical joke, and Jenny Lind makes no reference to the incident in any of her writings. It is only after Barnum published the first version of his autobiography in 1855 that these stories emerge and are reported upon.
We are told that Vivalla was performing under the name of Signor Antonio when Barnum first came across him. He was Italian by birth and had been performing in England prior to being in America. If Barnum is to be believed, it was he that changed Antonio’s name to Vivalla to make him sound more ‘exotic’. As David Cain wrote in his excellent 2021 article[3] ‘Little is known about Vivalla’s background, although we do know that he was from Italy’. Reading the press reports for 1836 – 1837 and the poster information, it is clear that Vivalla was already an accomplished performer. So, where to begin?
There was a Signor Antonio performing in England between 1816 and 1833. The first mention of his name appears in the Morning Chronicle of 11 April 1816. He is referred to as ‘Il Diavolo Antonio’ and is appearing at the prestigious Astley’s Amphitheatre in London;
The Gymnastic Exercises, so peculiar in this Theatre, will be strengthened by the first appearance in this country of a Venetian (whom is engaged for 24 nights only, at a very great expense), being one of the most surprising and extraordinary Voltigeurs ever seen, and who by his uncommon and really almost incredible Tourbillons &c. in the air, has been denominated on the Continent, ‘Il Diavolo Antonio’.
The Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin also holds a poster for 2 May 1816 that shows ‘Il Diavolo Antonio’ performing at Astley’s.[4]
1816 poster for Signor Antonio Il Diavolo at Astley’s Amphitheatre (Circus World Museum, Baraboo, Wisconsin)
Using the British Newspaper Archive[5] it is possible to trace the performing career of Antonio, or as he is often referred to as ‘Il Diavolo Antonio’.
The celebrated and inimitable Signor Antonio will repeat his wonderful evolutions on the Corde Volante, or the Flying Rope, by any performer for grace, ease, or elegance, in any of the Gymnastic Exercises, in the cause of which he will exhibit his new and surprising feat of passing repeatedly through his arms as he is suspended from the rope, with rapidity equal to the motion of a windmill; from which he will transform himself to the attitude of Fame blowing a Trumpet while the rope is in full swing, concluding his diversified performances with his really incredible Tourbillions &c. in the air, surrounded by Fireworks … in addition to which, Signor Antonio will leap through a BALLOON 30 feet from the ground and 30 feet from the rope, blowing a trumpet at the same instant while the rope is in full swing, and the balloon in a perfect blaze of fire; which almost incredible feat of strength, courage and agility, first gained him upon the Continent the Cognome of IL DIAVOLO ANTONIO (Bristol Mercury 19 July 1824)
For all that we can discover much about his performances as an equilibrist, gymnast, posturer, and on the corde volante, we can find little about the man himself. We do know that he was married because in the Bristol Mirror of 19 June 1819 there is a report on how he was shot at while ‘walking in Queen’s Square accompanied by his wife’. He was wounded in the head, the ball entering at the outer angle of the right eye and lodging in the back part of his head. The ball was extracted, and he did make a recovery, although there was a two-year gap in his career. The assailant was unknown, but he did have a previous altercation with an actor named Junius Booth, who left England for America shortly after the assault. Coincidentally, Booth was the father of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.
1822 poster for Signor Antonio (Il Diavolo Antonio) in Leamington, England (private collection)
Antonio recovered and continued to perform throughout England and Ireland. In 1824, he embarked upon circus management and had his own small troupe of equestrian and gymnastic performers.[6] He appeared on the corde volante and also gave instruction in riding. While performing in Dublin, Ireland he became a Freemason of Lodge 100 (Dublin) on 27 May 1827[7]. For a season between December 1828 and June 1829, he performed at the Cirque Olympique in Paris[8] before returning to England. Not until 1833 do we get more information about the man himself. In January 1833, he was at the Surrey Theatre in London with his two sons. Infuriatingly, they are not named! However, in October 183,3 he was with Ryan’s Circus in Bristol with the two boys – this time named Antonio (9 years old) and Lorenzo (7 years old).[9]
This was the breakthrough needed. If Signor Antonio had two sons of that age they must have been born in England as he had been in the country since 1816. Using the genealogy site www.ancestry.co.uk, I was able to find an Antonio and Lorenzo with a father Antonio – and the surname Migasi! From this it was relatively simple to discover that Antonio Migasi had married Christiana Martha Cooper Crockford in Clerkenwell 19 February 1818. They went on to have five children; Margareta (1818, coincidentally born at Westminster Bridge Road, London – the site of Astley’s Amphitheatre), Antonio Guilielmo (1820), Lorenzo (1823), Philip Augustus (1825), and Alphonso (1830). The fact that they had four sons is significant, as we shall see later.
Interior of Astley’s c 1810. One of a series of colour plates reproduced by the Dutch Dairy Bureau for the album “The colourful world of circus.” From the Author’s Collection
The last mention in the British press of Signor Antonio ‘Il Diavolo’ is his appearance with Ryan’s Circus in Bristol mentioned above. After this, he is notably absent, although a Joel Il Diavolo makes an appearance in 1838/1839 – but this is not the original Signor Antonio. How am I so sure of this? By using the Ancestry genealogy website, I was able to track down the family tree information of the Migasi family. From the information gathered, it seems that Signor Antonio was performing as an acrobat and wire-walker in a theatre in Alexandria, Virginia in 1834. By the close of the year he had been joined by his sons, appearing in Edward Aldred’s American Circus in Baltimore. One can assume that his wife and daughter were also there. Certainly, we know that the two older sons were in America by 1836, as a notice appears in The Federal Union, Milledgeville, GA 19 July 1836 notifying Antonio and Lorenzo Migasi that letters for them would be ‘remaining at the Post Office at Milledgeville GA’. Unfortunately, immigration records for that period are incomplete so one cannot say with absolute certainty exactly when Signor Antonio left Britain, nor whether he went first to Canada or directly to America, but his absence from British records after October 1833 and his appearance in Virginia in 1834 would indicate that he left Britain sometime between the end of 1833 and the beginning of 1834.
Advertising card for Il Diavolo Antonio circa 1840 (From the Ancestry Migasi family collection)
Signor Antonio, performing as Vivalla, appears to have parted company with Barnum at some point in 1837 and the name Vivalla disappears from the records. From this point on it seems that he continued performing with his sons until the early 1850s, when the four sons became the Antonio Brothers Circus. Antonio Snr. may have taken on a managerial role rather than performing. In 1858, the following advertisement appeared for Antonio & Wilder’s Great World Circus in the St Louis Post Dispatch 20 April 1858:
No Great Outside Free Humbug, but a genuine OLD FASHIONED CIRCUS, with all the modern improvements, composed of the most eminent Male and Female Equestrians, Gymnasts, Vaulters, Clowns, Acrobats, Posture masters, Equilibrists, Dancers, Rope performers and Tumblers of the age, consisting of the Antonio Brothers, Giuiliame Antonio, Lorenzo Antonio, Augustus Antonio, Alphonso Antonio … together with the Migasi Ballet Troupe…
By this time the family had taken out American naturalisation. Antonio’s record of 28 March 1855 shows that he was actually born in Sardinia.[10] The Antonio Brothers Circus continued until 1862, after which time the brothers took up more regular employment. By 1860, the US Census shows Antonio Snr., age 65, in St Louis, Missouri. He is listed as a “theatrical actor”, but more significantly as ‘insane’. It is highly possible that he may have had a stroke or was suffering from dementia and may have been incapacitated for some time. Indeed, was this why he had stopped performing in the early 1850s? He died on 7 February 1868 and was buried in the Bellefontaine cemetery in St Louis.
Vivalla gravesite, May 2025. Photo by Thom Wall
This brings us back to the meeting in Havana. Barnum wrote that ‘he was in great distress, having lost the use of his limbs on the left side of his body by paralysis. He was thus unable to earn a livelihood’. This was in 1851 and coincides well with Antonio Snr. ceasing to perform and with the formation of the Antonio Brothers Circus. Paralysis on the left side would certainly indicate a stroke and while it may have stopped him performing, he could certainly have contributed to the management of his sons’ circus.
So, who was the real Vivalla? It is difficult to say with absolute certainty but I consider that, given the weight of evidence, it is highly probable that Vivalla was the Signor Antonio Migasi who first performed at Astley’s Amphitheatre in London in 1816, who came to America in 1834 and, through his four sons, founded the Antonio Brothers Circus.
Notes
All efforts were made to obtain permission to use certain images
1 Library of Congress (Home | Library of Congress)
2 https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/shs/id/113/
3 Cain, D. The Sad Tale of Signor Vivalla; P T Barnum’s Juggler. eJuggle (International Jugglers Association), April 24, 2021
4 CWi 6070 A – Astley’s Circus
5 Home | Search the archive | British Newspaper Archive
6 Norfolk Chronicle 4 December 1824 and Manchester Courier 5 April 1828
7 Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland membership Registers , 1733 – 1923. Ireland, Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Membership Registers, 1733-1923 – Ancestry.co.uk
8 Le Globe 19 December 1828. RetroNews.fr – Le site de presse de la BnF
9 Bristol Mirror 12 October 1833
10 St. Louis Naturalisation Record Indexes. Vol 7. P219. 28 March 1855. St. Louis. Naturalization Record Indexes
Steve Ward has a PhD in Social History specialising in the cultural and social history of the circus. He regularly gives talks and lectures on the subject, both in the UK and overseas, has appeared on television several times as a circus ‘expert’, and has written nine books to date on aspects of circus history. His website is www.steve-ward.weebly.com.
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