Reviews: What Do Critics Think of Broadway's Water for Elephants? | Playbill

Playbill Universe Reviews: What Do Critics Think of Broadway's Water for Elephants?

The musical adaptation officially opened March 21 at the Imperial Theatre.

The cast of Water for Elephants Matthew Murphy

Broadway's Water for Elephants officially opened March 21 at the Imperial Theatre, and the reviews are rolling in. The high-flying musical adaptation began previews February 24. 

Based on Sara Gruen's acclaimed novel, Water for Elephants features a book by Rick Elice (Peter and the Starcatcher) and music and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co. (The Tale of Despereaux). Tony nominee Jessica Stone (Kimberly Akimbo) directs.

The cast features Grant Gustin (The Flash, Glee) in his Broadway debut as Jacob Jankowski, alongside Isabelle McCalla (Shucked) as Marlena. Joining them are Gregg Edelman (City of Angels) as Mr. Jankowski, Paul Alexander Nolan (Parade) as August, Stan Brown (Homicide: Life in the Streets) as Camel, Joe De Paul (Cirque du Soleil's Dralion) as Walter, Sara Gettelfinger (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) as Barbara, and Wade McCollum (Wicked) as Wade.

Read the reviews here. 

Chicago Tribune (Chris Jones)*

CitiTour NYC (Brian Scott Lipton)

Deadline (Greg Evans)

Digital Journal (Markos Papadatos)

Entertainment Weekly (Shania Russell)

The Mary Sue (Rachel Leishman)

New York Magazine/Vulture (Sara Holdren)*

New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski) 

New York Stage Review (Sandy MacDonald, Frank Scheck)

New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)

New York Theatre Guide (Joe Dziemianowicz)

The New York Times (Jesse Green)*

The Observer (Rex Reed)

TheaterMania (Zachary Stewart)

Theatrely (Juan A. Ramirez) 

TimeOut NY (Adam Feldman)

USA Today (Patrick Ryan)

The Wall Street Journal (Charles Isherwood)*

The Washington Post (Elisabeth Vincentelli)*

The Wrap (Robert Hofler)

*This review may require creating a free account or a paid subscription.

Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.

Water for Elephants made its world premiere at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in summer 2023. The work tells the story of a man who runs away from his life, only to find himself caught up in a traveling circus. This stage musical follows a 2011 film adaptation of the novel starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz. Read reviews for the world premiere here. The Broadway production also announced plans to release a cast recording later this season. 

Video: The Composers of Water for Elephants, PigPen Theatre Co., Perform 'The Road Don't Make You Young'

The company is completed by Brandon Block, Antoine Boissereau, Rachael Boyd, Paul Castree, Ken Wulf Clark, Taylor Colleton, Gabriel Olivera de Paula Costa, Isabella Luisa Diaz, Samantha Gershman, Keaton Hentoff-Killian, Nicolas Jelmoni, Caroline Kane, Harley Ross Beckwith McLeish, Michael Mendez, Samuel Renaud, Marissa Rosen, Alexandra Gaelle Royer, Asa Somers, Charles South, Sean Stack, Matthew Varvar, and Michelle West.

The production includes circus design by Shana Carroll, who's also co-choreographing with Jesse Robb. Also on the creative team are scenic designer Takeshi Kata, costume designer David Israel Reynoso, lighting designer Bradley King, sound designer Walter Trarbach, projection designer David Bengali, hair and makeup designer Campbell Young Associates, music supervisor and arranger Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Benedict Braxton-Smith, and orchestrator Daryl Waters. Puppetry design is by Ray Wetmore (Spamalot) and JR Goodman (Gutenberg!) alongside Camille Labarre (Into the Woods). Elizabeth Doran is music director, and Cha Ramos will provide fight direction. Timothy R. Semon will be production stage manager. All but Trarbach and Doran are continuing with the production after working on the Atlanta world premiere.

Peter Schneider, Jennifer Costello, Grove Entertainment, Frank Marshall, Isaac Robert Hurwitz, and Seth A. Goldstein are producing the Broadway debut.

Visit WaterForElephantsTheMusical.com.

Photos: New Water for Elephants Broadway Production Photos

 
Today’s Most Popular News:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!