Daily News from New York, New York • 139

By STEWART AIN i IT 4 '( I mc i i vjx -At i If i I i x.t-fz' i wh I- I i littrti i'lltm If 1 mxSL -jk. Barbara Bronzino was caught clowning around yesterday and in front of 5,000 But it was all in fun as for 20 minutes the East Meadow housewife and mother of three was a clown in the Ringling Bros, and Barnum Bailey Circus in Uniondale. And for her it was a lifelong dream come true. "I've wanted to be a clown for as long as I can remember," Bronzino said as professional clown Skeeter Reece, 30, of the Bronx, put on her face for her. Bronzino was invited to be a clown for a day after the Daily News learned of her dream last week and informed the circus people.

Bronzino was a little wary at first as Reece began applying a white base around her mouth and then put red makeup on her cheeks and nose. "I performed as a clown last Thursday at the Franklin Ave. school in Hempstead for pre-kinder-garten and kindergarten classes and afterwards I couldn't get the red lipstick off my nose," she explained. "I had to take one of my children to the doctor at 3 o'clock and I couldn't get it off. It was so embarrassing!" "YOU SHOULD HAVE USED baby oil," Reece advised her as he powdered Bronzino's face "so that the makeup won't smear." "I never did that when I got made up," Bronzino said.

"That's one of our secrets," Reece chuckled. After he applied a black lighter above her eyes to "highlight the different colors," Bronzino was ready: for her costume. First on was a half -shirt, then a pair of sneakers, size 16, and finally big baggy pants. "You've put the pants on backwards," said her husband, Nick, who was taking pictures of her transformation. -You ought to get dressed In center stage you'd get more laughs." After donning a wig that Reece described as the "color of cotton candy" and a floppy brown fedora with the top ripped open, Bronzino was ready to' knock 'em dead.

Chuck Sidlow, boss clown of the circus, told her that she would work with Reece to try selling rubber chickens and hot water bottles to the crowd. And he said that she would appear with clown Sean Emery in; a routine involving balloons. MOOHtV OAILY Ntwa Barbara Bronzino laughs with boss clown Chuck Sidlow before the show, then poses with her husband 1 after performance. Moments later, Sidlow yelled, "All right, let's go," and Bronzino strutted into the ring in step to the music along with the rest of the clowns. "Just look up at the people," Emery whispered to her.

"Don't look at us, look at them." 1 I A THE ROUTINES WENT OFF LIKE clockwork and, as Bronzino had earlier remarked, "No one in-the crowd except my family is going to know it's only me." After the routines were finished, Bronzino got a big kiss on the cheek from 3-year-old Brian Gregory of Wantagh for giving him a balloon she had used in the act. Bronzino then began working the crowd, 'walking through the aisles and shaking hands with youngsters and parents alike. She even had her picture taken by fathers with their children! In the stands she bumped into her own children, Karen, 15, Lynn, 14, and Tommy, 11. "It was so great," Bronzino glowed after she lefti the ring, I'm only sorry that it had to end." art it 1 X--- --v'' 1 si- I i lili o. z1 if Barbara Bronzino runs out to perform with Skeeter Reece (r.) during the circus (-) then uses cream to take the grease paint off when her dream stint ends..