Water for Elephants: An Awesome Spectacle on Broadway

This circus show comes with no disclaimer. No animals were hurt in Water for Elephants, opening this week at the Imperial Theater. Some human characters, yes! But if you know the story from the movie and the book on which it’s based, you know that certain bad leaders get their just desserts. The animals, so appealing in their puppet form, make for the heart and soul of this beautiful theater piece.

When Marlena, a gorgeous aerialist (Isabelle McCalla), married to the ringmaster (Paul Alexander Nolan), must put down her prized, overworked show horse, he ascends to the heavens in a white sash, carried aloft in the acrobatics of Antoine Boissereau, an elegant performer from France in his Broadway debut. Here is a riveting moment, the essence of this production: the audience must suspend disbelief; awed, you see the divine in the art.

Now, of course, Marlena must find another act, and soon an elephant with long curled eyelashes wraps her in its trunk. The elephant act works well to rescue the Depression era failing Benzini Brothers Circus. Along with a talented troupe of acrobats and one funny clown (Joe de Paul—the Playbill says he really did run away with the circus), the circus thrives. The day is saved! Until . . .

All action unfolds in a memory piece. An older veterinarian, Dr. Jake Jankowski (Gregg Edelman) recounts his youth (Grant Gustin), how he joined a circus train and met the proverbial love of his life. True, many Broadway plays utilize this looking back device. Can we say, that is because the conceit succeeds. Rick Elice’s book puts the past in a magic bubble. This Pigpen production under Jessica Stone’s expert direction is bigger than any elephant in the room.