Water for Elephants Will Take the Circus on the Road in 2025

The traveling-circus musical Water for Elephants, currently playing at Broadway's Imperial Theatre, will launch its national tour in Baltimore in the fall of 2025. The full tour route is yet to be announced.

On Broadway, the cast features Grant Gustin, Isabelle McCalla, Gregg Edelman, Paul Alexander Nolan, Stan Brown, Joe De Paul, Sara Gettelfinger and Wade McCollum. Gustin will play his final performance as circus veterinarian Jacob Jankowski on September 1.

Directed by Jessica Stone, Water for Elephants has a book by Rick Elice adapted from Sara Gruen’s novel. The cast album, featuring the score by PigPen Theatre Co., is currently streaming and will be released on CD on August 16. 

The production features circus design by Shana Carroll, scenic design by Takeshi Kata, costume design by David Israel Reynoso, lighting design by Bradley King, sound design by Walter Trarbach, projections by David Bengali, hair and makeup design by Luc Verschuren for Campbell Young Associates, puppetry design by Ray Wetmore, J.R. Goodman and Camille Labarre, music supervision and arrangements by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Benedict Braxton-Smith, orchestrations by Daryl Waters, Benedict Braxton-Smith and August Eriksmoen, music direction by Elizabeth Doran, fight direction by Cha Ramos, production stage management by Timothy R. Semon and casting by Tara Rubin Casting.

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.

The show won Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical, Outstanding Fight Choreography and Outstanding Puppetry as well as the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical.

Water for Elephants had its world premiere in Atlanta on the Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre in 2023.