Review - WATER FOR ELEPHANTS - National Tour/ASU Gammage

Zachary Keller and Helen Krushinski 
Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

With its combination of romance, drama, and high-flying acrobatics, the musical Water for Elephants delivers a bright theatrical experience that brings the colorful yet often harsh world of a Depression-era traveling circus to life on stage. Based on Sara Gruen's bestselling novel of the same name, the national tour production features an appealing cast, imaginative staging, and impressive physical performances. While the storytelling and score do not always reach the same heights as the production's visual and athletic artistry, the end result is still engaging and filled with theatrical magic.

The story follows Jacob Jankowski, a veterinary student whose life is upended by the sudden deaths of his parents during the Great Depression. With his future suddenly uncertain, Jacob abandons his studies and jumps aboard a passing train, discovering that it belongs to the Benzini Brothers traveling circus. He finds work caring for the animals and becomes increasingly drawn to Marlena, the circus's beautiful equestrian performer, who is married to August, the charismatic but jealous and abusive ringmaster. When the circus acquires Rosie, an elephant whose care becomes Jacob's responsibility, he discovers a special connection with the animal that also brings him and Marlena closer together. However, their relationship threatens to ignite August's jealousy and puts all three, and the entire circus, in danger.

The book by Rick Elice and score from PigPen Theatre Co. give a good feeling for the sense of family that belonging to a traveling circus provides, although some changes have been made from Sara Gruen's novel. While the stage adaptation retains the central love story, the Depression-era circus setting, and the complicated relationship between Jacob, Marlena, and August, it necessarily streamlines some of the book's introspective narrative along with several supporting characters and subplots while also toning down some of the novel's harsher moments. The book's framing device, which shifts between Jacob's experiences as a young man and his reflections as an elderly resident of a nursing home, adds poignancy to the novel's exploration of memory, aging, and the desire to reclaim one's past. The musical preserves that reflective look back, but its emphasis on spectacle and romance sometimes leaves less room for the novel's deeper examination of the pain that delving into one's past can bring, along with the harsher realities of circus life and even slighlty shortchanges the connection Jacob and Marlena have. This is most noticeable in the first act where very little conflict happens.

The folk-influenced score by PigPen Theatre Co. complements the period setting with a combination of its rootsy, Americana sound with more standard musical theatre ballads, using songs to convey longing, resilience, and the search for connection. Although the score may not yield many instantly memorable melodies, it helps establish the atmosphere, the sense of belonging that being a member of a circus family presents, along with fleshing out the character's emotions.

As Jacob, Zachary Keller delivers a bright performance of this appealing protagonist whose intelligence, compassion, and determination help him find a sense of belonging amongst the traveling circus after the tragedy of losing his parents. While Jacob's growing affection for Marlena provides the romantic heart of the musical, Helen Krushinski's portrayal allows us to see that Marlena's strength and vulnerability make her more than simply a woman caught between two men. August is a particularly effective antagonist, and Connor Sullivan's depiction combines charm and authority with a volatile cruelty that keeps the tension in the plot simmering while making the character fairly nuanced. The musical also has the actors who play Marlena and August portray two characters in the modern-day scenes which offers a nice counterbalance to their depression era characters.

As the older Jacob, Robert Tully presents a realistically, melancholy view of a man looking back at his past and not always happy at what he sees. As the main circus characters that Jacob befriends, Javier Garcia is an absolute sweetheart as the fractured Camel; Ruby Gibbs is compassionate as the caring Barbara; and Tyle West is hilarious as the circus' clown, Walter. As Wade, the man August forces to do his dirty work, Grant Huneycutt is great at creating this rough man that you, appropriately, immediately hate, but he also shows remorse for his actions. As the wide range of circus performers, the rest of the cast add personality and camaraderie, creating a believable community of outsiders whose lives depend on one another and whose athletic and acrobatic skills are superb.

Jessica Stone's original direction, and the tour direction from Ryan Emmons, do a wonderful job in creating realistic characters, whisking the plot fluidly along between the circus' public spectacle and the private struggles unfolding behind the big top tent, and fully integrating the circus arts into the storytelling to truly give you the sense of watching the backstage and onstage activities of a traveling circus on stage. Acrobatics, aerial work, and expressive choreography make the circus sequences genuinely thrilling under the circus choreography from Shana Carroll and Carroll and Jesse Robb's choreography.

Takeshi Kata's set design uses several large set elements and drops that, with Bradley King's impressive lighting, immerse us in the world of the Benzini Brothers circus; seeing the big top created and the circus come to life is a moving and rich theatrical experience. The colorful and vibrant costumes from David I. Reynoso are period and character appropriate. Camille Labarre's inventive puppetry design and the puppetry direction from Joshua Holden gives the animals in the show distinct personalities and emotional presence. Rosie is especially memorable, demonstrating how theatrical imagination can create a convincing animal character relying on refined puppetry skills and the audience's imagination; David Bengali's projections of shadows of moving animals also adds to the sense of wonder and awe in making us believe there are multiple animals on stage just behind the curtain. Sarah Pool's music direction delivers warm vocals from the entire cast although Walter Trarbach's sound design, while providing clear lyrics and dialogue, was also overly loud and booming at times the night I attended.

Water for Elephants is an imaginative and visually captivating production that celebrates the search for belonging, the possibility of starting over, and the thrill of running away with the circus and discovering a family where you belong. Even when its musical elements are less memorable than its stagecraft, and while I wish there were a few more emotional beats in the show, the combination of heartfelt performances and circus spectacle makes this a quite rewarding theatrical experience.

Water for Elephants runs through November 1, 2026 at ASU Gammage, 1200 S. Forest Avenue, Tempe, AZ. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.asugammage.com/orby calling 480 965-3434. Additional tour dates can be found at https://waterforelephantsthemusical.com

Book: Rick Elice
Music & Lyrics: PigPen Theatre Co.
Original Novel: Sara Gruen
Original Director: Jessica Stone
Tour Director: Ryan Emmons
Co-Choreographer & Circus Designer: Shana Carroll
Co-Choreographer: Jesse Robb
Scenic Designer: Takeshi Kata
Costume Designer: David I. Reynoso
Lighting Designer: Bradley King
Sound Designer: Walter Trarbach
Projection Designer: David Bengali
Hair & Makeup Designer: Luc Verschueren for Campbell Young Associates
Props & Puppetry Designer: Ray Wetmore & JR Goodman
Puppetry Designer: Camille Labarre
Puppet Director: Joshua Holden
Co-Arranger: Mary-Mitchell Campbell
Co-Music Supervisor, Co-Arranger & Co-Orchestrator: Benedict Braxton-Smith
Co-Orchestrator: Daryl Waters
Co-Orchestrator: August Eriksmoen
Music Director: Sarah Pool
Music Coordinator: John Mezzio
Fight Director: Cha Ramos
Associate Choreographer: Paige Parkhill
Associate Circus Designer: Antoine Boissereau
Casting: The TRC Company, Claire Burke, CSA, Frankie Ramirez, CSA
Production Stage Manager: Riley Gibson
Assistant Stage Manager: Élianne Desilets-Dub
é Circus Assistant Stage Manager: Stan Barile
Company Manager: Greg Bawdon
Assistant Company Manager: Jose Amengual
Tour Booking, Marketing & Publicity: BOND Theatrical
Executive Producer: Trinity Wheeler
General Management: Gentry & Associates
Producer: NETworks Presentations

Cast:
Jacob Jankowski: Zachary Keller
Marlena: Helen Krushinski
August: Connor Sullivan
Mr. Jankowski: Robert Tully
Camel: Javier Garcia
Barbara: Ruby Gibbs
Wade: Grant Huneycutt
Walter: Tyler West
Kinkers & Rousts: Yves Artieres, Kinker & Roust: Gabriella Diaz, Adam Fullick, Ella Huestis, ZaKeyia Lacey, Jose Martinez, Andrew Meier, John Neurohr, Carl Robinett, Serafina Walker, Yemie Woo, Kayden Woodridge
Swings: Chris Carsten, Glenn Doyle, Marina Mendoza, Summer Severin