Water for Elephants: a Musical or a Circus Drama?

Everyone knows that musical is a synthetic genre in which a story is being told by means of acting, singing, and dancing. One of the main specifics in training for a musical theatre performer is learning to “sing with the body.”

In the musical Water for Elephants, the book by Rick Elice, music & lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co., which is currently running on Broadway, most of the cast members are professional circus performers. The body language of acrobats, equilibrists, and gymnasts is different than that of the actors in a musical. Therefore, the impression of watching the Water for Elephants musical on stage of the Imperial Theatre isn’t the same as the one the viewer expects to get when going to see a Broadway musical.

The book of the musical is based on the bestseller of the same name by Sara Gruen, published in 2006. Five years later the film Water for Elephants, directed by Francis Lawrence, was shot with an all-star cast (Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Yal Holbrook). Now, through the efforts of numerous producers and thanks to an impressive budget, Water for Elephants has turned into a Broadway show. The plot tells a story of the traveling American circus in the 30s. The main character, Jacob Jankowski (Grant Gustin), joins the circus as a veterinarian, recalling this episode from his life as Mr. Jankowski (Gregg Edelman), while in a retirement home. The lyrical storyline – the relationship between young Jacob and the wife of the ringmaster August (Paul Alexander Nolan), Marlena (Isabelle McCalla) – is full of drama. As a result, all obstacles that stand in the way of their union get eliminated, and they live happily ever after together. After Marlena’s death, Jacob, who dreams of returning to the circus, runs away from the retirement home and “finds his true home once again.” This happens against the background of his memories of the lives of traveling circus performers, who are essentially slaves of their masters, as well as of the cruel treatment of animals for profit.

For a story about a circus, it is tempting to include a set of divertissement numbers that would be performed by professional circus actors to the delight of the public. As it was, for example, in the musical The Circus Princess set to the music of Imre Kálmán, directed by Sebastian Soldevilla (2016) from the Canadian circus collective The 7 Fingers. The complex circus tricks provided by the plot for the performers of the main roles were performed mainly by stand-in circus artists. This allowed the main character Mr. X to perfectly perform his famous aria But Who Cares? while remaining static.

The practice of implanting circus acts into the body of a musical to provide a spectacular component also received positive assessments from experts. For example, in the Broadway revival of the musical Peter Pan (2015), the artists of the same circus collective The 7 Fingers looked quite harmoniously in those numbers that implied “flights” and other amusements of “eternal” boys and other characters. Representatives of this Canadian circus collective also participated in the revival of the Broadway musical Pippin (2013) by Stephen Schwartz, where circus choreography and acrobatic numbers staged by Chet Walker and Gypsy Snider looked like a part of the performance, contributing to the dynamics of its development. Such a synthesis of the musical and circus, justified by the task, certainly adds to the showmanship of the production.

The directors of the musical Water for Elephants and their Canadian colleagues – representatives of the company The 7 Fingers – chose another approach in their work on the Broadway production: into the ensemble of circus performers, they included several musical theatre artists who did not feel very confident climbing ladders, swinging on a crossbar, hanging upside down, jumping or running on the spot. Not to mention the detrimental effect of active movement on their vocals, which more than once made the audience feel sorry for the performer of the main role (Grant Gustin), especially in the final song I Choose the Ride (Reprise), in which he had to perform a fairly fast “run in place- ”  in pursuit of the departing train. Since it is impossible to retrain a musical theatre performer into a circus artist in a short production and rehearsal period within the framework of one group of circus artists, and the physical capabilities of the characters cannot seem to differ very much, the choreography was simplified to the maximum for circus artists. In contrast, for musical theatre performers, even the most uncomplicated tricks were difficult. The result was a show that could be called a circus drama rather than a musical. Moreover, the PigPen Theatre Co. group, responsible for the musical score, failed to create any memorable or even catchy melodies. The lyrics are much inferior to the best Broadway and European samples. Unfortunately, the songs also do not serve the task of moving the plot forward, which causes the pace of the narrative to “slip” at some points, and the viewer begins to get bored. But then another circus ensemble number happens, capable of entertaining the audience.

The dances choreographed by Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll deserve high praise in themselves. However, they seem to be like the work of choreographers for circus performances. The main characters – musical theatre performers – are often included in these numbers, but their flexibility is different, and it is often difficult for them to keep a set fast pace, familiar to those performing in the circus arena. Dances and songs often do not serve their primary purpose in a musical – to be the “locomotive” of action. At that, the actors strive to perform their songs while keeping their breath. So, it appears that the main lyrical plotline failed, the main characters turned out to be “raw” and undisclosed, and the expressive means of a musical – acting, singing, and dance – gave way to circus training and the need to match the performers from the ensemble.

At the same time, it is impossible not to mention the work of the director – Jessica Stone. Firstly, she beautifully managed to solve the most difficult task – to almost completely preserve the drama of the novel and stage the book of the musical. Secondly, the director’s intention is clearly read: together with Shana Carroll – one of the founders of the circus collective The 7 Fingers and the director and choreographer – to tell a story about the circus using expressive means of this genre: acrobats, equilibrists, jugglers, gymnasts, and a clown on stage. There are also some very beautiful scenes with animal puppets. Puppet design (Ray Wetmore and others) is one of the few components of the show that leaves us speechless in the best possible way and requires no comments: a white horse, an elephant, an orangutan, and other animals evoke the feelings of sympathy and pity when they suffer and die.

There is a key phrase in the play, which is uttered by the main character – Jacob Jankowski (Grant Gustin), explaining the difficulties with training Rosie the elephant: “She does not understand commands in a language other than Polish!” (Her former master was Polish). In the same way, the introduction of the circus language into this musical is perceived as a “different language.” We must state the fact that in this project the synthesis of circus and musical did not benefit the latter.

The show was nominated for 7 Tony Awards and advertised as “one of the more remarkable ensembles ever seen on Broadway” (according to the New York Daily News). On June 16th, the theatre world watched the 77th Tony Awards ceremony, and we all witnessed how the expectations of the creators and producers of this particular musical were not met: none of the nominations won in competition with other Broadway musicals. And that, in my opinion, is fair. So, if you want to know the story of Rosie the elephant and other adventures of the traveling circus artists during the Great Depression, then it’s better to read the book or watch the movie. The lyrical storyline prevails in it. If your soul is asking for circus entertainment, breathtaking flights, gymnastic exercises, clown reprises, and the animal tamers extravaganza, then treat yourself and your children to a trip to the professional circus.