‘Water for Elephants’ Review: Broadway Musical and Circus Merge for Spellbinding Entertainment
variety.comFrank Rizzo Ever feel like running away from home to join a musical? Then “Water for Elephants” would be the show of choice that offers escapism, enchantment and heart — and thrills, too.
Based on Sara Green’s 2006 bestseller, the show premiered last year at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre and elevates the musical to new and literal heights with its seamless integration of theatrical and cirque artistry.
It’s also the second new musical to open on Broadway in a week (following “The Notebook”) told in flashback from the perspective of a nursing home resident reconnecting with his younger self.
But here the tale being told is not wistful but dynamic, its nostalgia sharpened with hard-knock realities, and its sentimentality offset with humor, snap and darkness.
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