Review: Broadway in Chicago's "Water for Elephants”

A man and a woman in colorful stage costumes stand onstage beside a large, realistic elephant puppet under dramatic lighting. The woman smiles while the man interacts with the elephant.

Broadway in Chicago’s “Water for Elephants,” with Zachary Keller and Helen Krushinski/Photo: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

RECOMMENDED

If you have ever wanted to run away and join the circus—a common childhood dream of previous eras—“Water for Elephants” is the musical for you.

Yes, it borrows the basic storyline of the 2006 novel by Sara Gruen and the 2011 film but with one magical difference: the narrative unfolds as a circus.

The ensemble are skilled acrobats, aerial artists and other performers who do sing the story quite effectively, but also tell it in terms of aesthetic space with a circus sensibility.

Performers in colorful costumes pose and do acrobatics on a brightly lit circus-themed stage, with aerial artists on ropes, a ringmaster center stage, and vibrant spotlights illuminating the scene.

Broadway in Chicago’s “Water for Elephants”/Photo: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

In a typical Broadway show, performers dance, but that seems a pale word to encompass the spectacle and spectrum of movement used as narrative in this remarkable show.

The train that the lead character jumps onto, for instance, is not a train at all, but a series of balancing poles supported by the cast who create the effective illusion and sensation of a moving train.

The circus animals are gracefully portrayed by performers who convey their animality through movement and characterization, with cleverly placed physical details that really do allow our imaginations to do the rest.

Rosie, the elephant at the center of the story, is brought to life in such a gradual series of illusions that by the time she is fully revealed physically, we have already felt her presence emotionally.

Three actors sit on a suspended bench against a dramatic sunset backdrop on stage, with purples and oranges in the sky, creating a dreamy, theatrical scene.

Broadway in Chicago’s “Water for Elephants,” with Connor Sullivan, Helen Krushinski and Zachary Keller/Photo: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

The marvel of “Water for Elephants” is that while the audience is constantly seeing “tricks,” they are not perceived that way. None are there for their own sake—they are all at the service of the dramaturgy.

No less effective is how we are taken in by the lead character of Jacob Jankowski as both an old man, played by Robert Tully, and a young man, played by Illinois native Zachary Keller.

The songs, credited to the PigPen Theatre Co. that created the show, do a remarkable job of conveying the emotions of the characters as well as driving the action of the story forward.

“Water for Elephants” is on stage through July 5 at Broadway in Chicago’s Nederlander Theatre, 24 West Randolph. Tickets are available at broadwayinchicago.com.