Gregg Edelman, my former (long-ago) student at Northwestern University, was absolutely charming and quite quite wonderful in a role which leans toward caricature. Somehow he managed to make the role during the arc of the show, quite gentle and real. The “old guy”(Mr. Jankowski) remembers the events as our entire evening evolves. Greg has a great voice, and real charm both of which he absolutely knows how to use. He has nicely honed comic skills, and a decently touching ability to be genuine in a crowd. i.e. He’s been at this acting game for a while now. Truth to be told, I felt a secret pride in a student who has had the drive to become a Broadway star the old fashioned way, working his way up from the chorus and has doing so with polish and grace. (Irony piled upon irony the old guy watches one of his “kids” play the old guy.)

In this play about a circus the time trodden adage applies. If you can balance a stick on your chin, go ahead balance a knife or maybe a sledge hammer there. The circus aspect of this show seemed to envelop the entire evening, actors and audience alike. This old circus dictum also applies to splendid American musical comedy on Broadway.

In fact, the last song of the evening that I seem to remember says “what a ride!” I think this word, ride, speaks of the trick horseman (in this case a woman), the trick acrobat who works in silk suspended from the rigging, who becomes a horse, and of course the entire circus moving from town to town on a train of railroad cars. Our central view of the play is the large oversized wagons that are used either singly or in repetition. Sometimes they are lined end to end, in a trio of wagons, filling the stage with the whole cast spread across them in various postures and on various seats levels or boxes. The wagons move soundlessly, but they show how the whole goes from town to town. When they “arrive” they set up the big-top by repeatedly driving a single spike into the stage with multiple steel hammers. They allow for the illusion of being driven into the earth, and though I’m not sure how it is rigged, tossing large steel hammers from roust-about to roust-about makes for a blingingly, rousingly powerful song. Faster than a work or sea chanty, but punctuated with beautiful rhythmic pounding of tossed steel hammers striking a spike.

The musical story is told by characters ranging from the ringmaster and his wife, to the clown and various animal handlers. The high energy of setting up, rigging up the tent, and then bringing it back down to move on to the next town via train cars, is told in a high energy way. It draws the audience into it’s midst as if we can go back in time to watch such a spectacle go from town to town.

Coordination of scenery, acrobats, dancers, orchestra, and singing characters is achieved through everyone having to participate in bit of everyone else’s expertise.
The singers or characters become puppeteers, and the puppeteer become part of the chorus of song and dance. If there was a weak spot in the whole it was in the over-miking of some of the singers. It was as if someone didn’t have the courage to dial some songs down. This didn’t happen all evening, and perhaps my ears adjusted, but in some instances I thought less volume would be better. A hard choice in what really demands to be punched in such a high energy evening. After all a “ride” is almost like a carnival ride, it has to be done with speed and power. If you choose the ride, life can begin again at any age. And Jacob, the narrator of this story chooses to ride the circus all the way to inclusion of a prized elephant at the mid point of the first act. This play does what Broadway (and the circus) both can do. Fill the world with magical spectacle. You want us to sing, wow can we. You want acrobats, balancing acts, animals, all in a big top. Here it is! My eyes and spirit were filled by the sights, sounds, and feelings of joy. The audience really believes there are elephants, lions, and oranguatans, here in the theatre: we create them together, and so there are! Joseph, the narrator tells us his story, of finding love, gentle love, and we in the audience are carried along sharing the wonder of his ride. This what musicals at their best can do.

To “choose the ride” is the all encompassing language and serves as a visual and verbal link for the entire show:
https://www.broadway.com/photos/gallery/1143/show-photos-water-for-elephants/

Oh, and I have always been a sucker for a star curtain! We of course get that too in WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.

additional video can be found at: https://www.playbill.com/article/video-watch-highlights-from-best-musical-tony-nominee-water-for-elephants
set designer: https://takeshi-kata.squarespace.com/