 |
| Image of Marquee |
Book by Rick Elice, Music and Lyrics by Pigpen Theatre Co.
Review by Ernest Edwards
The National Tour of the newer musical Water for Elephants is in town until Sunday March 8, 2026 at Hennepin Arts Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. I was able to see the National Tour during the Saturday matinee performance. I did have the pleasure of seeing the original Broadway cast/production at the Imperial Theatre in New York City June of 2024. At that time I had neither read the book, nor seen the movie. Now almost two years later, I still have not read the book, nor seen the movie. That is okay. The musical is wonderful on it is own, with not knowing the source material.
When you first enter the theatre, you can’t hope but notice the circus theme along the edges of the
proscenium arch. The story of the musical is a 90 year old Jacob Jankowski is visiting a traveling circus and remembering his days with a traveling circus when he was 23 years old. It was 1931, both of his parents died and the bank foreclosed on the family home. Jacob had no prospects and decided to start over somewhere else. He hopped on a rail car, not realizing it was a circus traveling by rail. He starts out with grunt work, cleaning out the animal stalls, helping to raise the big top, etc. Then August the circus owner finds out he’s a vet, and hires Jacob to be the vet for the circus for $3 a week. After the prize horse is put down, the circus needs a new attraction that comes in Rosey the elephant.
 |
| The stage, before the musical begins |
proscenium arch. The story of the musical is a 90 year old Jacob Jankowski is visiting a traveling circus and remembering his days with a traveling circus when he was 23 years old. It was 1931, both of his parents died and the bank foreclosed on the family home. Jacob had no prospects and decided to start over somewhere else. He hopped on a rail car, not realizing it was a circus traveling by rail. He starts out with grunt work, cleaning out the animal stalls, helping to raise the big top, etc. Then August the circus owner finds out he’s a vet, and hires Jacob to be the vet for the circus for $3 a week. After the prize horse is put down, the circus needs a new attraction that comes in Rosey the elephant.
Jacob and Marlena, Augusut’s wife, begin training with Rosey. Time is not on their side. They have three weeks until their dates in Chicago. It takes them that long to realize Rosey doesn’t understand English, she was a Polish elephant. Jacob then has teach the Marlena the commands in Polish. Training with Marlena draws Jacob closer to her. Not only does August notice, the rest of the circus does too and tries to warn Jacob about his connection to Marlena.
After a tragic accident at the circus. All of the animals were let loose during a performace. In the chaos Rosey killed August. August was not kind to Rosey. In the aftermath of the circus ending Jacob and Marlena married. They were together for 50 years before she passed.
 |
| The program cover |
Water for Elephants is a romantic story. The songs were great! What I really liked was the circus acrobatics and circus themed choreography by Jesse Robb & Shana Carroll. Speaking of the circus, cast member Sam Keller-Long is a Twin Cities native. There’s a nice two page interview with him the program/playbill about his time with St. Paul’s Circus Juventas.
The story moves a good pace. Hard to believe it was about a two hours and 40 minutes with the intermission. One minute the show started, and then all of the sudden it was over. What a performance!
The cast was great! So talented. Older Jacob Jankowski (Mr. Jankowski in the program) is played by Robert Tully, Jacob Jankowski is played by Zachary Keller, Marlena is played by Helen Krushinski, Connor Sullivan is August, Javier Garcia is August, Tyler West is Walter, Ruby Gibb is Barbara, an Grant Honeycutt is Wade.
With it being a period piece taking place mostly in 1931, want to mention the costumes by David I. Reynosa, and scenic design by Takeshi Kata. The puppetry for Rosey, the elephant, was great!
It’s that time of year, 2026/2027 seasons are being announced. Check out www.hennepinarts.org for the rest of their 2025/2026 season. Up next for Hennepin Arts Broadway on Hennepin season is the musical Suffs playing April 7 - April 12, followed by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child playing April 25 - May 17, The Great Gatsby playing June 2 - June 7, and Wicked rounds out the 2025/2026 season for the dates of July 8 - August 9.
