Photo: Matthew Murphy
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS will play its final performance at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre on Sunday, December 8th, 2024. Final 10 weeks to see the critically acclaimed, award-winning, “thrilling, dazzling” (Time Out New York), spectacle-filled new musical with "one of the more remarkable ensembles ever seen on Broadway” (New York Daily News). Hailed as a Critic’s Pick, The New York Times’ Jesse Green calls WATER FOR ELEPHANTS “stunning, emotional and gorgeously imaginative.” At the time of its final performance, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS will have played 301 regular performances and 25 previews.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS won Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Musical (Jessica Stone), Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical (Walter Trarbach), Outstanding Fight Choreography (Cha Ramos) and Outstanding Puppetry (Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman, & Camille Labarre), the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical (Jessica Stone), the Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Favorite Male Breakthrough Performance (Grant Gustin), and Chita Rivera Awards for Outstanding Choreography (Jesse Robb & Shana Carroll) and Outstanding Dancer in a Broadway Show (Antoine Boissereau).
The national tour of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS will launch in Baltimore, MD at the Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center in the Fall of 2025. Additional cities will announce their engagements over the next several months. For more information about the tour, please visit www.WaterForElephants.com.
Broadway Licensing Global has secured worldwide licensing right to the critically acclaimed Broadway musical WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. The flagship musical publisher for the world’s fastest growing theatrical licensing company, Broadway Licensing Global, includes Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts.
GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS released the WATER FOR ELEPHANTS: Original Broadway Cast Recording, which preserves the show’s soaring score by the acclaimed PigPen Theatre Co., which is available on CD and all streaming and digital formats. The CD’s full-color booklet features production photography, complete lyrics, synopsis, and liner notes by book writer Rick Elice. The album is produced by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Ian Kagey.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is directed by two-time Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award winner Jessica Stone, with a book by three-time Tony nominee Rick Elice adapted from Sara Gruen’s novel, with a soaring score by the acclaimed PigPen Theatre Co., and choreography by Tony Award nominees Jesse Robb (Miss Saigon) and Shana Carroll.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS stars Kyle Selig (Mean Girls), Isabelle McCalla (The Prom, Shucked), four-time Tony Award nominee Gregg Edelman (City of Angels), Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Award nominee Paul Alexander Nolan (Slave Play), Philippe Aymard (Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion), Stan Brown (“Homicide: Life in the Streets”), Sara Gettelfinger (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and Wade McCollum (Wicked) and features Brandon Block, Chita Rivera Award winner Antoine Boissereau, Paul Castree, Ken Wulf Clark, Taylor Colleton, Gabriel Olivera de Paula Costa, Samantha Gershman, Nicolas Jelmoni, Caroline Kane, Harley McLeish, Michael Mendez, Marina Mendoza, Meghane Poulet, Samuel Renaud, Marissa Rosen, Alexandra Gaelle Royer, Asa Somers, Charles South, Sean Stack, Matthew Varvar, Michelle West and Conor Wild.
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS features circus design by Tony Award nominee Shana Carroll (The 7 Fingers), scenic design by Drama Desk Award winner Takeshi Kata (Clyde’s), costume design by David Israel Reynoso (Sleep No More), lighting design by two-time Tony Award winner Bradley King (Hadestown), sound design by Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Walter Trarbach (Spongebob Squarepants), projections by David Bengali (The Thanksgiving Play), hair & makeup design by Luc Verschuren for Campbell Young Associates (A Beautiful Noise), puppetry design by Drama Desk Award winners Ray Wetmore (Spamalot) & JR Goodman (Gutenberg!), and Camille Labarre (Into the Woods), music supervision and arrangements by Drama Desk Award winner Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Some Like It Hot) and Benedict Braxton-Smith (Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls), orchestrations by Tony Award winner Daryl Waters (New York, New York), Benedict Braxton-Smith and August Eriksmoen (Come From Away), music direction by Elizabeth Doran, fight direction by Drama Desk Award winner Cha Ramos (Jagged Little Pill), production stage management by Timothy R. Semon (Company), and casting by Tara Rubin Casting.
Tickets for WATER FOR ELEPHANTS start at $59, and are available at the Imperial Theatre box office, and Telecharge.com (212.239.6200). The playing schedule is as follows: Tuesday through Saturday at 7pm, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 1pm and Sunday at 3pm. For groups of 10 or more, visit groups.broadway.com (1-800-BROADWAY).
After losing what matters most, a young man jumps a moving train unsure of where the road will take him and finds a new home with the remarkable crew of a traveling circus, and a life—and love—beyond his wildest dreams. Seen through the eyes of his older self, his adventure becomes a poignant reminder that if you choose the ride, life can begin again at any age. So, step right up to the “spellbinding entertainment” (Variety) at WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, “the best new musical on Broadway” (Theatermania).
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is produced by Peter Schneider, Jennifer Costello, Grove Entertainment, Frank Marshall, Isaac Robert Hurwitz, Seth A. Goldstein, Jane Bergère, Elizabeth Armstrong, Jason M. Brady, Carl & Jennifer Pasbjerg, Erica Rotstein & Crista Marie Jackson, Jana Bezdek & Jen Hoguet, John H. Tyson, Rich Entertainment Group, Jeremiah J. Harris, John Gore Organization, Jeff & Shannon Fallick, Patti & Mike Sullivan, Rodney Rigby, Larry Lelli, Bonnie Feld, Yonge Street Theatricals, Larry J. Kroll, The Shubert Organization, Nederlander Presentations, Nancy Gibbs, Jack Lane, Amy & PJ Lampi, Gwen Arment & Vasi Laurence, Mark Parkman, Fairview Productions, Nothing Ventured Productions, Pam Hurst-Della Pietra & Stephen Della Pietra, Steven Spielberg & Kate Capshaw, Glasshouse USA, Willette & Manny Klausner, John Paterakis, Hope Tschopik Schneider, Patty Baker, The Burcaws & Q’d Up Productions , Crescent Road, Cynthia Stroum , Sally Jacobs & Warren Baker, Tawnia Knox& Stuart Snyder, Madison Wells Live & Takonkiet Viravan, Terry H. Morgenthaler, Pamela Moschetti, Gabrielle Palitz & Fahs Productions, The Roehl Family & Chema Verduzco, Shapiro Jensen Schroeder , Tre Amici Productions, We Eat Dreams Productions , Rachel Weinstein, Margot Astrachan, Maik Klokow, and Mehr-BB Entertainment.