The ‘Water For Elephants’ Musical Is Everything I Wanted ‘The Greatest Showman’ to Be and More

Loving the circus and the energy of the performance makes stories about it either brilliant or taxing. What works in Water For Elephants comes from the love that Jacob Jankowski has for it and his time with the circus. The new musical celebrates that allure and magic for it.

Jacob (Grant Gustin) nearly stumbles into a job with the circus when he’s just trying to make his way by asking for food for a day of work. But his love for the animals there and his initial attraction to Marlena (Isabelle McCalla), drives him to stay with the circus. Watching this all come to life reminded me how much I’ve wanted a story like this.

I was so hopeful with movies like The Greatest Showman because the circus is not all glitz and glamour. There is a darkness that comes with being on the road but, instead, that film glorified a man many of us know was not great. Where Water for Elephants shines is through its use of stage magic to bring that allure of the circus to life but still shows the dark side of a traveling circus throughout its two acts.

Gustin’s take on Jacob is both endearing and naive as he navigates through August’s (Paul Alexander Nolan) circus. But it is that balance between the beauty of seeing an elephant come to life on stage or watching an acrobat swing through the air mixed with August threatening his team that shows how dangerous that life truly is. With music and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Company and a book by Rick Elice, there is just a beauty to Water for Elephants that shocked me.

Maybe it came from not knowing the source material (Sara Gruen’s 2006 novel, or the 2011 film adaptation) but there was something about the musical that will stay with you after you leave.

The circus is captivating

I am a person who sees that the circus has come to town and I cannot stop crying for joy. When presenting a circus on stage, it’s easy for things to feel busy but Water for Elephants never makes it feel overwhelming. Instead, you’re drawn into the magic of it and captivated by actual acrobats playing either the animals that Jacob (as a vet) is there to take care of or as actual acrobats.

To see the dark side of the ring highlighted in a musical? It is what I wanted out of a movie like The Greatest Showman but even with that in mind, Water for Elephants can stand on its own and just takes you on the journey with Marlena and Jacob as they try to hide their feelings for each other. Of all the book to movie to musical adaptations currently taking over Broadway, what makes Water for Elephants different is that it embraces the less practical elements from the novel and uses stage magic to make them come to life. It’s all stunning to see.

Water for Elephants is a must-see and shows us how Grant Gustin should have been on Broadway all along.

(featured image: Matthew Murphy)