The preview reviews for new musical “Water for Elephants,” based on the 2006 historical romance novel of the same name by Sara Gruen, began on Feb. 24 at the Imperial Theater on Broadway. This up-and-coming musical set in the 1930s tells the story of a former Cornell University veterinary student, Jacob Jankowski and his sudden adventure aboard a train headed for a life of performances and freak shows. A film adaption of Gruen’s novel directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon was released in 2011. The movie received mixed reviews and brought in a total of $117 million worldwide at the box office. “Water for Elephants” on Broadway is set to officially open on March 21.
The story is told through the memories of an older Jacob Jankowski (Gregg Edelman) who reminisces on his younger self (Grant Gustin). To cope with the grief of his parents dying in a car crash and the stress of losing both his house and his father’s veterinarian practice, Jacob leaves Cornell without graduating and boards a random train headed out of town. The train is owned by the Benzini Brothers’ Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a famous circus constantly on the go. Originally intending just to hitch a ride that night, Jacob finds himself in the razzle and dazzle of the circus and performing life. The ringmaster, August Rosenbluth (Paul Alexander Nolan), is aware of Jacob’s veterinary background and is quick to hire him to care for the animals used for performances.
Despite his initial hesitation, Jacob takes the job. He soon encounters August’s wife, Marlena (Isabelle McCalla), a famous performer at the circus who left her comfortable life to marry August. She primarily works with horses, her favorite of which—and the show star—has laminitis from being put to work so much. Upon analyzing the horse and its condition, Jacob suggests that the only humane way to take care of the horse at this point is to euthanize it. August interjects at first, but upon learning that the horse could get aggressive towards Marlena due to its condition, he backs off and lets Jacob take care of it.
Soon after, August buys an elephant named Rosie from someone who thinks she is lazy and wants to get rid of her. August directs Marlena and Jacob to train her quickly so that she can be added to the show. As time goes on and their training sessions with Rosie become more frequent, Jacob and Marlena find themselves growing closer. They soon discover that it may not be as easy as they think to keep their feelings away from others.
There are, of course, things that films and novels can do that musicals cannot, but theater has a way of finding creative solutions for problems like these. Puppetry is involved to compensate for the lack of real-life animals. The way the puppeteers manipulate their puppets brilliantly emulates how these animals behave in the real world. The show also features changing backgrounds and aerial silk performers, complimenting the period in which the show is set.
It is important to note that previews occur before the official opening night and are simply for the cast and crew to work out a few last-minute kinks before the show officially premieres. With that said, the musical’s pace was relatively slow, totaling almost three hours of pure performance. However, some of the shows will be cut down before opening night to benefit both the viewers’ attention span and the performers’ energy levels.
Despite these qualms, it was a very entertaining musical with an exciting storyline and a talented cast. Once polished up a bit, “Water for Elephants” will be a phenomenal Broadway adaptation of the book it is based on.
