![\"\"](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Zachary-Keller-and-Helen-Krushinski-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-for-MurphyMade-scaled-e1794607608133.jpg\")
<\/a>Zachary Keller and Helen Krushinski. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade, as is the one above.<\/p><\/div>\n
I<\/em> loved Water For Elephants<\/em>, as well. And not just because I was in a circus myself. It\u2019s because everything is good about it. And, actually, most of the show is superior. I kept choking up. (I\u2019m so glad I had the foresight to wear waterproof mascara!)<\/p>\n We loved it so much that I\u2019m actually having a bit of a hard time writing this review! I don\u2019t want to leave any little detail out!<\/p>\n So let me say up front that I can tell you from my time in a traveling three-ring Big Top back in the day, even sharing my Side Show performance tent with the elephants, that this script is pretty authentic. If you don\u2019t know anything about the story, but think the title Water For Elephants<\/em> sounds familiar, it was first a novel in 2006. And then a film, starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, in 2011. (I can hear many of you saying, \u201cThat\u2019s it!\u201d) But I didn\u2019t read\/see those, so this musical was all new for me.<\/p>\n Zachary Keller, Connor Sullivan, and Helen Krushinski. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.<\/p><\/div>\n And I loved everything about it\u2014the talent, the music, the puppetry of the circus animals, the colors, how everything moves in harmony! I especially admired that, in many of the scenes, all the talents are combined\u2014dancers, singers, and acrobats. And actors, of course. And it all blends so beautifully. You really can’t look away for one second because so much is happening at all times.<\/p>\n Water For Elephants<\/em> is one of the most physical shows I’ve ever seen! It actually reminded me a bit of how Cirque du Soleil\u2019s one Broadway endeavor, *Paramour<\/em>, was done. That one was basically acrobatic acts with a story, while Water For Elephants<\/em> is a story with acrobatic acts. And they\u2019re both brilliant! Because of that extreme physicality, though, I doubt that this show will be produced often after this National Tour\u2014I think it would be too difficult and costly. So don\u2019t miss this<\/em> chance to see it! *[Note: Paramour<\/em> is now a long-running show in Germany<\/em>. Of course.]<\/p>\n Helen Krushinski, Robert Tully, Zachary Keller, and Yves Artieres. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.<\/p><\/div>\n I cried early on when the ringmaster first appeared. And then I kept getting choked-up the whole time. I would have lost it when a beautiful aerialist left the \u201cbody\u201d of a sick horse to soar through the air as the animal\u2019s spirit, if my mouth hadn\u2019t been opened wide with wonder.<\/p>\n Before I share Laura\u2019s very many glowing thoughts on Water For Elephants<\/em>, let me tell you a bit of the scenario. It\u2019s the tale of a young veterinary student joining a traveling circus after his parents got killed in an accident during the Great Depression of 1931, juxtaposed with him as an old man visiting another circus and thus remembering his youth. And it\u2019s actually all riveting.<\/p>\n Before I move on, in case you\u2019re curious about what I, a twenty-year-old sheltered Jewish college student from Brooklyn, was doing in a circus, here\u2019s the very quick version: I was Little Mina from Copenhagen, the star of the Side Show. (Too long a story of how I got that gig, so I\u2019ll save it for my book.) I was billed as a \u201cWorld Famous Contortionist,\u201d and got cut into a dozen pieces in a box. And, just as the characters in this tale did, I experienced jealousy, danger, and violence. But it was also a wonderful adventure that no one else who grew up as I did will ever know. (And yes<\/em>, my mother\u2019s hair did<\/em> turn white from it.)<\/p>\n Now here are some of the plethora of Laura\u2019s accolades for Water For Elephants<\/em>. She made me laugh when in the middle of sharing them, she declared, \u201cI have no words.\u201d (Perhaps she meant to add, \u201c\u2026left\u201d at the end of that sentence because she sure had an abundance of them all the hour-long way home!) She was heaping sooooo much praise on this show, in fact, that she could write her own lengthy review! But here are her highlights:<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s incredible. I’m blown away.”<\/p>\n \u201cIt has everything<\/em>! A love story, the controversy of the circus and how the animals were *treated back in the day, great special effects, and the choreography just worked so well. Even all the transitions<\/em> are so well done! And they really know how to capture the emotion of each moment.\u201d *[Note: Thankfully, most animal acts, specifically the elephants, were discontinued from circuses about a decade ago.]<\/p>\n She also explained that she adored \u201chow they present the \u201canimals,\u201d like how they show the elephant\u2019s feet one at a time.\u201d She is correct\u2014that bit of puppetry is very powerful.<\/p>\n Zachary Keller and Robert Tully in the center, surrounded by the amazing puppeteers and acrobats. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.<\/p><\/div>\n Laura also appreciated that \u201ceverything about the action is very clear.\u201d She stressed that she \u201cwas never confused about what was happening, or which version of the main character\u2019s life I was seeing at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n She also pointed something out that I\u2019m sure few of us would notice. She said, \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a show where they use the curtain<\/em> so creatively!\u201d You just have to see the show for yourselves to understand what she means by that.<\/p>\n I wish that I had come up with all of those points myself!<\/p>\n As far as the non-circus-performer talent goes, of the lead, Zachary Keller, Laura gushed, \u201cHis voice is incredible!\u201d And I add that Helen Krushinski, the lead girl, (in both this show and the fictional circus,) just could be the new young Sutton Foster, which is the biggest compliment I can give any newcomer to the stage!<\/p>\n I could literally see Water For Elephants<\/em> every night! I’m really not kidding. (And Laura said the same thing, but I<\/em> said it first this time!)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>