“Water for Elephants” review: Dazzling circus performers steal Grant Gustin's spotlight in his Broadway debut
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Step right up to experience the razzle-dazzle of a circus, live on Broadway.
“You wanna feel something?” Water for Elephants opens with that simple but weighty question, an unspoken promise to the audience that something grand lies just around the corner. There are heartstrings to be pulled, tears to elicit, astonishment to inspire, and this is the musical to do it…. Or is it?
Based on the bestselling Sara Gruen novel of the same name — which inspired the 2011 Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon film — the musical follows retiree Jacob Jankowski (seasoned Broadway vet Gregg Edelman), who recently escaped the confines of a nursing home where he dreads the simplicity of life and the horrors of runny rice pudding. When he flees, it’s to enjoy the wonders of a traveling circus that instantly triggers his past — and just like that, we’re thrust fifty years back, watching the story of a young Jacob, whose world explodes when he unknowingly jumps a circus train.
This is where The Flash alum Grant Gustin comes in — perfectly charming as our lead, and an ideal audience conduit as he finds his footing with the rag-tag circus crew.
Matthew Murphy
Grant Gustin and Isabelle McCalla in 'Water For Elephants'Gustin's Jacob butts heads with the company muscle, Wade (a scene-stealing Wade McCollum) and forges a sweet friendship with the wisened Camel (Stan Brown making a confident Broadway debut at 61). A veterinarian-in-training, Jacob even strikes up friendships with the circus' animal acts. But the relationship that wholly engulfs him and — for better or worse — the entire story, is the tense love triangle he wanders into with gutsy star attraction Marlena (Isabelle McCalla) and her volatile ringmaster husband, August (Paul Alexander Nolan, radiating conman confidence).
Not unlike his performance as Barry Allen, Gustin plays Jacob with ease, offering an inviting air despite the turmoil obviously brewing beneath his surface. The latest Glee alum to take Broadway certainly succeeds as a grounding presence for the story: he’s plausible, but not invigorating. So it's no surprise that he spends a sizable chunk of the musical stepping aside to let the true stars take centerstage.
The circus performers, or kinkers as they so frequently remind him, bring Water For Elephants to life.
Matthew Murphy
The cast of 'Water for Elephants'The Jessica Stone-directed musical is never more compelling than when the stage is theirs for the taking. This is where the promise is fulfilled: You wanna feel something? The magic of the Benzini Brothers’ Circus will make it happen. The performers ooze charisma, spreading infectious excitement even when they aren’t showing off their death defying feats. And when they are, it’s an undeniably thrilling affair.
The confines of the Imperial Theatre stage may limit the pure potential of circus spectacle, but the musical makes that reality easy so forget. The purpose of their dazzling acts vary: sometimes immersing us in Jacob’s circus experience, and other times blending into dream sequences that abandon the literal to focus entirely on emotion. A particularly mesmerizing sequence interprets the death of an animal as an aerial dancer on silks. Antoine Boissereau is evocative with his body alone, packing the number with pathos that makes a perfect match for the eerie tune sung by McCalla’s Marlena.
Unfortunately, the songs— with music and lyrics by Pig Pen Theatre Co. — fail to inspire the same sense of awe. There are a few exceptions: “I Choose The Ride” steps up as the emotional heartbeat of the musical, and “The Grand Spec,” as promised by the name, is a particular highlight that fully unleashes the circus acts. Musically, the highest highs come when the company steps in alongside the leads, voices lifting to an emotional peak. But overall, the songs emulate the effect of a traveling circus in a rather unfortunate way: there one moment, and gone the next. The melodies don’t linger and the lyrics leave much to be desired.
Matthew Murphy
The cast of 'Water for Elephants'The choreography at least is something to behold, particularly when the entire company takes the stage, mixing dance with elaborate stunt work. It’s here that Gustin as Jacob finds his way in. During the ensemble numbers, he melts into the new family, slowly picking up their routines, catching onto their moves and adopting them as his own. Circus designer Shana Carroll, who also serves as choreographer with Jesse Robb, does impressive work: movement guides the production even when the music doesn’t quite rise to the occasion.
As he did with Hadestown, lighting designer Bradley King transports us seamlessly between Takeshi Kata’s sets. Production is almost sparse at times, giving us just the touchstones we need to envision the circus in its entirety. That's all it needs anyway; the company fills the stage.
As can be expected when turning a novel into a child-friendly musical experience, the edges of the story are noticeably sanded down. The adaptation doesn't always know how to handle the violence of its text, whether it be people harming one another or lashing out at the animals. It happens, it's brushed past, the story moves forth.
Outside of the ensemble’s dedicated circus performers, nothing else quite lives up to the grandeur: even the romance between Marlena and Jacob has a certain smallness. But the show’s sentimentality holds. It’s endearing, much like Gustin's performance, so easy to be charmed and easier still to forgive when the company returns in their rhinestones and bedazzled leotards to whirl above us or leap across stage.
If nothing else, we never wonder how Jacob is swept away by the circus. The romance may fall short, and the songs lack a certain luster, but the magic of the circus is winning. Grade: B–
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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
