Tag: Great Depression

Circus skills on full display in touring musical

Jacob (Zachery Keller, right) meets with the circus’s owner, August (Connor Sullivan), and star performer, Marlena (Helen Krushinski), in the touring production of Water for Elephants. (Photo by Matt Murphy for MurphyMade)

By Richard Ades

Running away to join the circus generally isn’t the best way to deal with your problems. But sometimes it’s the only way available to you.

That’s the situation faced by Jacob Jankowski in Water for Elephants, a touring musical now playing at Columbus’s Ohio Theatre.

We first meet Jankowski as an old man (Robert Tully) reminiscing about his past, but the show then thrusts us into that past, when a young Jacob (Zachery Keller) hitches a ride on a circus train and is offered work after he reveals he was trained as a veterinarian.

Because the Great Depression is in full force, and because Jacob has no other prospects, he reluctantly accepts the job. He then tries to make the best of what turns out to be a bad situation, complicated by a dictatorial and sadistic boss, August (Connor Sullivan). The job’s only perk is that Jacob gets to meet the show’s beautiful star performer, Marlena (Helen Krushinski), who, unfortunately, turns out to be August’s wife.

In an odd way, one gets the feeling that the show’s cast and crew are in much the same boat as their protagonist: They’re in the difficult situation of putting on a flawed piece of work, but they’re trying to make the best of it.

Namely, they’re amping things up with Lion King-worthy puppetry, gorgeous scenery and lighting (designed by Takeshi Kata and Bradley King, respectively), and especially with gasp-inspiring acrobatics and other injury-defying acts that would be at home under any big top.

With a book by Rick Elice and music and lyrics by the Pigpen Theatre Co., Water for Elephants opened on Broadway in March 2024 under the direction of Jessica Stone. It garnered eight Tony nominations, winning none, and closed that December.

The current touring production, directed by Ryan Emmons, was launched last fall and is scheduled to close in August. It has a lot going for it, including two wonderful lead performances.

As Jacob, Keller reveals the best male voice I’ve heard in a long time, pulling a surprising amount of beauty and emotion out of his solos. As Marlena, Krushinski also sings beautifully, and at one point she even performs one of the acrobatic feats that play such a big part in the production.

When Jacob and Marlena’s budding romance begins to blossom (I’m not giving anything away here—it’s pictured right on the program cover!), Keller and Krushinski do what they can to sell it. But the script just doesn’t give them much to work with.

Perhaps the show’s most affecting moment involves Marlena’s ailing horse, Silver Star, imaginatively represented by a puppet head and a lithe man hanging from a sash. But other moments that should be moving or shocking or otherwise noteworthy seldom reach their full potential.

As for the music, it offers pleasant, Americana-flavored accompaniment to the dancers and acrobats’ leaping, swinging and twirling, and talented singers like Keller occasionally make it soar. But none of it is really memorable.

So don’t go to Water for Elephants expecting to have a sublime theatrical experience. Instead, go expecting to see hard-working performers doing their best to recreate the thrills of a circus, with a little drama and romance thrown in for good measure.

Head to the theater in that frame of mind, and you won’t be disappointed.

Water for Elephants runs through June 14 at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St., Columbus. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. through Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (including intermission). For ticket information, visit columbus.broadway.com. For information on future tour stops, visit waterforelephantsmusical.com.

Depression-era musical is far from depressing

Emma Stratton (center, lower deck) shows off her dance moves with other members of the company of Anything Goes (photo by Jeremy Daniel)
Emma Stratton (center, lower deck) shows off her dance moves with other members of the company of Anything Goes (photo by Jeremy Daniel)

By Richard Ades

Watching Anything Goes is like taking a trans-Atlantic voyage while simultaneously time-traveling back to the 1930s.

The seagoing musical has been tweaked since it opened on Broadway in 1934, but the basic show remains intact. As a result, you feel like you’re enjoying the same kind of entertainment that helped to take our ancestors’ minds off the Great Depression.

What does the show tell us about our forebears? That they laughed at silly and sometimes naughty humor. And, mostly, that they had great taste in music.

The musical’s main claim to immortality is its collection of classic Cole Porter tunes such as You’re the Top and the title song, among many others. In the current touring show, all are wonderfully delivered by the cast and a brassy, jazz-savvy band conducted by Robbie Cowan.

Complementing the songs are some truly awesome dance numbers choreographed by director Kathleen Marshall. For tap-dancing fans, the highlight is the Act 1 capper set to the title tune. For those with a taste for something a little more provocative, Act 2’s Blow, Gabriel, Blow is equally fun.

The story centers on a young stockbroker named Billy Crocker (Brian Krinsky) and his attempt to woo engaged-to-be-married heiress Hope Harcourt (Rachelle Rose Clark). However, the show’s real star is neither Krinsky nor Clark.

Instead, it’s Emma Stratton, who plays nightclub performer Reno Sweeney. In the first scene, Reno declares her affection for Billy (I Get a Kick Out of You), only to learn that he’s fallen for Hope. A trooper if there ever was one, Reno then joins Billy’s campaign to win Hope away from her stuffy British fiancé, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Richard Lindenfelzer).

Reno is such an engaging character that you may root for Billy to choose her over the mousey Hope, even though you realize it’s a long shot. Meanwhile, you get to enjoy Stratton showing off her pipes and her equally impressive dance prowess in a bevy of tunes and production numbers.

Several other notable characters also figure in the plot. They include Billy’s alcoholic boss, Elisha Whitney (Michael R. Douglass); small-time gangster Moonface Martin (Dennis Setteducati); and Moonface’s free-loving girlfriend, Erma (Mychal Phillips). All have tuneful and reasonably funny moments.

Strangely, though, the funniest moment of all comes from an unlikely source. Lindenfelzer’s Lord Evelyn spends much of his time trying to master American slang, which produces chuckles at best, but the real comic gem is his attempt to locate The Gypsy in Me in an Act 2 dance duet with Reno.

The set, originally designed by Derek McLane and coordinated by James Kronzer, is clever depiction of ocean-liner interiors and exteriors.

Anything Goes is best known for its amazing collection of Porter tunes. Besides those already mentioned, the familiar solos and duets include Easy to Love (Billy), It’s De-Lovely (Billy and Hope) and Friendship (Moonface and Reno).

But thanks to the efforts of director/choreographer Marshall and her talented cast, crew and band, the show is much more than a few excerpts from the American Songbook. It’s a silly, sexy and footloose return trip to 1930s Broadway.

Broadway in Columbus and CAPA will present Anything Goes through Sunday (Feb. 8) at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St. Show times are 7:30 p.m. through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (including intermission). Tickets are $28-$98. 614-469-0939, 1-800-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.