“You wanna really feel one thing?” Water for Elephants opens with that easy however weighty query, an unstated promise to the viewers that one thing grand lies simply across the nook. There are heartstrings to be pulled, tears to elicit, astonishment to encourage, and that is the musical to do it…. Or is it?
Based mostly on the bestselling Sara Gruen novel of the identical title — which impressed the 2011 Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon movie — the musical follows retiree Jacob Jankowski (seasoned Broadway vet Gregg Edelman), who just lately escaped the confines of a nursing residence the place he dreads the simplicity of life and the horrors of runny rice pudding. When he flees, it’s to benefit from the wonders of a touring circus that immediately triggers his previous — and identical to that, we’re thrust fifty years again, watching the story of a younger Jacob, whose world explodes when he unknowingly jumps a circus practice.
That is the place The Flash alum Grant Gustin is available in — completely charming as our lead, and an excellent viewers conduit as he finds his footing with the rag-tag circus crew.
Grant Gustin and Isabelle McCalla in ‘Water For Elephants’.
Matthew Murphy
Gustin’s Jacob butts heads with the corporate muscle, Wade (a scene-stealing Wade McCollum) and forges a candy friendship with the wisened Camel (Stan Brown making a assured Broadway debut at 61). A veterinarian-in-training, Jacob even strikes up friendships with the circus’ animal acts. However the relationship that wholly engulfs him and — for higher or worse — your entire story, is the tense love triangle he wanders into with gutsy star attraction Marlena (Isabelle McCalla) and her risky ringmaster husband, August (Paul Alexander Nolan, radiating conman confidence).
Not in contrast to his efficiency as Barry Allen, Gustin performs Jacob with ease, providing an inviting air regardless of the turmoil clearly brewing beneath his floor. The newest Glee alum to take Broadway actually succeeds as a grounding presence for the story: he’s believable, however not invigorating. So it is no shock that he spends a large chunk of the musical stepping apart to let the true stars take centerstage.
The circus performers, or kinkers as they so ceaselessly remind him, deliver Water For Elephants to life.
The solid of ‘Water for Elephants’.
Matthew Murphy
The Jessica Stone-directed musical isn’t extra compelling than when the stage is theirs for the taking. That is the place the promise is fulfilled: You wanna really feel one thing? The magic of the Benzini Brothers’ Circus will make it occur. The performers ooze charisma, spreading infectious pleasure even after they aren’t displaying off their loss of life defying feats. And when they’re, it’s an undeniably thrilling affair.
The confines of the Imperial Theatre stage could restrict the pure potential of circus spectacle, however the musical makes that actuality straightforward so overlook. The aim of their dazzling acts differ: typically immersing us in Jacob’s circus expertise, and different instances mixing into dream sequences that abandon the literal to focus fully on emotion. A very mesmerizing sequence interprets the loss of life of an animal as an aerial dancer on silks. Antoine Boissereau is evocative along with his physique alone, packing the quantity with pathos that makes an ideal match for the eerie tune sung by McCalla’s Marlena.
Sadly, the songs— with music and lyrics by Pig Pen Theatre Co. — fail to encourage the identical sense of awe. There are a couple of exceptions: “I Select The Experience” steps up because the emotional heartbeat of the musical, and “The Grand Spec,” as promised by the title, is a selected spotlight that totally unleashes the circus acts. Musically, the very best highs come when the corporate steps in alongside the leads, voices lifting to an emotional peak. However general, the songs emulate the impact of a touring circus in a fairly unlucky manner: there one second, and gone the following. The melodies don’t linger and the lyrics go away a lot to be desired.
The solid of ‘Water for Elephants’.
Matthew Murphy
The choreography no less than is one thing to behold, significantly when your entire firm takes the stage, mixing dance with elaborate stunt work. It’s right here that Gustin as Jacob finds his manner in. Through the ensemble numbers, he melts into the brand new household, slowly choosing up their routines, catching onto their strikes and adopting them as his personal. Circus designer Shana Carroll, who additionally serves as choreographer with Jesse Robb, does spectacular work: motion guides the manufacturing even when the music doesn’t fairly rise to the event.
As he did with Hadestown, lighting designer Bradley King transports us seamlessly between Takeshi Kata’s units. Manufacturing is sort of sparse at instances, giving us simply the touchstones we have to envision the circus in its entirety. That is all it wants anyway; the corporate fills the stage.
As will be anticipated when turning a novel right into a child-friendly musical expertise, the sides of the story are noticeably sanded down. The difference does not all the time know learn how to deal with the violence of its textual content, whether or not it’s individuals harming each other or lashing out on the animals. It occurs, it is brushed previous, the story strikes forth.
Exterior of the ensemble’s devoted circus performers, nothing else fairly lives as much as the grandeur: even the romance between Marlena and Jacob has a sure smallness. However the present’s sentimentality holds. It’s endearing, very like Gustin’s efficiency, really easy to be charmed and simpler nonetheless to forgive when the corporate returns of their rhinestones and bedazzled leotards to whirl above us or leap throughout stage.
If nothing else, we by no means surprise how Jacob is swept away by the circus. The romance could fall brief, and the songs lack a sure luster, however the magic of the circus is successful. Grade: B–
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