Well, it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
The Broadway national tour<\/a>, now playing the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale through Nov. 23, somehow manages to smile brightly and crack acerbic jokes, all the while enveloping its sorrow in a close hug.<\/p>\n Based on a 2006 book by Sara Gruen that became a 2011 movie (starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz and Hal Holbrook), the show bowed on the Great White Way last year and was nominated for seven Tony Awards.<\/p>\n Set in the Depression era, the story is told in flashback. Jacob Jankowski (played by Zachary Keller as a young man and Robert Tully as the elder version) is running away from the grief of losing his parents in a car accident. Penniless and without hope of finishing his veterinarian studies, he hops on a train only to find out it is carrying a down-on-its-luck traveling circus.<\/p>\n That is where \u201cWater for Elephants\u201d sticks its landing.<\/p>\n Matt Murphy for MurphyMade<\/p>\n Zachary Keller and the cast of “Water for Elephants.” (Matt Murphy for MurphyMade\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n The production is visually triumphant, choreography brightened by airborne acrobatics, balancing acts and terpsichorean tricks. The score, though admittedly not particularly memorable, does have a some toe-tappers, with music flowing something akin to a concept album. Imagine Cirque du Soleil \u2026 set to folk music.<\/p>\n And the transitions are filmic, seamless, keeping the show moving for two hours plus a 20-minute intermission.<\/p>\n That is needed as the narrative follows Jankowski\u2019s run-ins with the volatile circus owner\/ringmaster August (Connor Sullivan) and \u2014 giving the story another layer of impending \u201cohhh-nooooo\u201d \u2014 his blossoming romance with August\u2019s wife and circus star performer, Marlena (Helen Krushinski).<\/p>\n So where does that title come from? Yes, there is an elephant, beautifully and ingeniously realized through puppetry and \u2026 um \u2026 muppetry, as is the case with all the circus animals. Being able to carry enough water for an elephant to drink is a hopeless task, a metaphor for the overwhelming pressures that all the characters face during the height of the Depression Era, an inescapably defeatist time.<\/p>\n Matt Murphy for MurphyMade<\/p>\n Zachary Keller, Connor Sullivan, Helen Krushinski and the national tour cast of the Broadway musical “Water for Elephants” at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale. (Matt Murphy for MurphyMade\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n Again, sounds like a major downer, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n This cast (non-Equity<\/a> though you\u2019d never ever know it) walks that tightrope, performing with bravura, singing with crystalline precision and thunderous boom \u2014 somehow making it all less overwhelmingly sad through their collective charisma, the desperation and cruelty dialed down just enough to keep the edge, the cut.<\/p>\n What\u2019s left is a powerful musical that touches your heart, tickles your ribs, caresses your face, dazzles your eyes and then \u2026 ever so gently and gracefully \u2026 sets you back down into your world.<\/p>\n IF YOU GO<\/p>\n WHAT: \u201cWater for Elephants\u201d<\/p>\n WHEN: Through Sunday, Nov. 23<\/p>\n WHERE: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale<\/a><\/p>\n COST: $48.68-$172.58<\/p>\n![\"Zachary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TFL-L-Water-for-Elephants-ZacharyKeller-and-National-Tour-Cast-snipped-01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Zachary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TFL-L-Water-for-Elephants-ZacharyKeller-ConnorSullivan-HelenKrushinski-and-National-Tour-Cast-Photo-.jpeg\")
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![\"Connor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TFL-L-Water-for-Elephants-ConnorSullivan-HelenKrushinski-ZacharyKeller-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy-for-Murp.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Helen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TFL-L-Water-for-Elephants-HelenKrushinski-and-ZacharyKeller-Photo-by-Matt-Murphy-for-MurphyMade-01.j.jpeg\")
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