The circus has come to town, and they’ve set up their big tent at the Civic Theatre. Well, there’s not exactly a big tent, but it’s pretty darn close.
Water for Elephants, the Broadway musical based on the novel by Sara Gruen, is pretty much everything you want a musical to be. It’s got a handful of great songs courtesy of PigPen Theatre Co., a terrific cast and lighting design by Bradley King that is virtually perfect. And the icing on the cake is the incredible puppetry by Ray Wetmore and JR Goodman.
Directed by Jessica Stone, the show takes place in 1931, where Jacob Jankowski (Zachary Keller) has just lost both of his parents in a tragic accident. With his life suddenly upended, he leaves everything behind and hops aboard a passing train, which just happens to belong to the Benzini Brothers traveling circus.
Jacob quickly finds himself surrounded by a colorful group of performers and roustabouts, including Camel (Javier Garcia) and Walter (Tyler West). He also meets Marlena (Helen Krushinski), one of the circus’ star performers, and her husband August (John Neurohr in the performance I saw), the volatile man who runs the show.
It turns out Jacob was only one final exam away from becoming a veterinarian, and when August discovers that, he immediately puts him to work taking care of the circus animals. That job becomes even more important when August buys Rosie, a 53-year-old elephant he hopes will become the circus’ newest attraction.
Jacob and Marlena are tasked with getting Rosie ready for the ring and incorporating her into Marlena’s act. As the three spend more time together, Jacob discovers that Rosie is far smarter than anyone gives her credit for. And while he and Marlena work to figure out the best way to communicate with her, the two also begin getting closer to each other.
Obviously, August isn’t too thrilled about that.
His jealousy and temper begin to show more and more, and unfortunately he takes much of that anger out on the animals, particularly Rosie. His treatment of her gets so bad that whenever he comes near, she immediately becomes nervous and aggressive.
There’s some nice foreshadowing early in the show thanks to Jacob’s older self (Robert Tully), who looks back on his days with the circus and lets us know fairly quickly that something terrible eventually happened there. I won’t give away exactly what it is, but let’s just say that beating a 6,000-pound elephant probably isn’t the smartest thing to do.
I can’t say enough good things about Keller. He was wonderful, and his voice is damn near perfect. He brings an easy likability to Jacob that makes you immediately want to root for him, whether he’s trying to find his place in the circus or falling for Marlena. If you want to see someone who feels like a future Broadway star, check him out before the show ends its run here on Sunday.
Krushinski easily matches him. She’s smart, strong, funny and daring, and you can immediately understand why Jacob falls for her.
The ensemble is just as important to making the whole thing work. Between the performers, acrobats and circus workers constantly moving around the stage, the show really does make you feel like you’ve been transported back to a traveling circus in 1931.
And then there’s the puppetry. Rosie is so beautifully designed and operated that after a while you almost forget you’re looking at a puppet. The movements, the little reactions and even the way she interacts with the actors make her feel like another member of the cast. Who knows, maybe they actually snuck an elephant into the Civic. That’s how convincing she is.
You also can’t get much better than the lighting in this show. King manages to bring what feels like every color of the spectrum onto the stage, transforming it from a circus lot into something vibrant and magical. It pulls you into the world of the show even more.
My only real criticism is August. For the story to completely work, I think we have to absolutely hate this guy. When the huge incident we’ve been warned about finally happens near the end of the show, the audience shouldn’t feel any remorse for him. Neurohr was totally fine in the role, but I wanted more from the character itself. We certainly see August’s cruelty and temper, but I wanted the show to push him just a little further. I wanted to hate him, but I never quite got there.
That said, it’s a relatively small complaint in a show that gets almost everything right.
Water for Elephants is currently playing at the San Diego Civic Theatre. For more info and tickets: Broadway San Diego
