Water for Elephants at the Eccles

Last night I went to the Broadway touring production of Water for Elephants at the Eccles (it was the last show of the 2025-2026 season). I loved the book by Sara Gruen and I liked the movie starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, and Christoph Waltz so I was eager to see where the stage adaptation would land. After losing his parents in a car accident and his childhood home to foreclosure, Jacob Jankowski (Zachary Keller) is forced to drop out of veterinary school and hops a train going anywhere in Depression-era America. It turns out that the train belongs to the Benzini Brothers Circus and he is reluctantly put to work as a laborer. However, his knowledge of animals soon comes in handy and he is asked to care for an ailing horse named Silver Star, who he cannot save, and then a stubborn elephant named Rosie. August Rackinger (Connor Sullivan), the cruel and sadistic ringmaster, wants Rosie to become the new star attraction but Jacob falls in love with his wife Marlena (Helen Krushinski) as they train the elephant together. August eventually abuses both Rosie and Marlena but, before Jacob can intervene to save Marlena, Rosie uses the bullhook that August beat her with to kill him during a stampede (because an elephant never forgets). The narrative is told through flashbacks by an older Jacob (Robert Tully) who escapes from his assisted living home to join the circus again. I have to admit that when I first heard about this adaptation I wondered if the story was strong enough to warrant a musical treatment and, unfortunately, the answer is no in my opinion. The script is definitely the weakest link because the plot of the book (which is mostly internal dialogue) is simplified and Jacob is the only character that has any development or backstory.  There are also several subplots that are introduced and then quickly abandoned. In addition, the songs are not particularly memorable (I struggled to remember any of the titles while writing this). Having said that, everyone in the cast does an incredible job with all of the musical numbers. Keller and Krushinski, especially, have beautiful voices and their renditions of "Silver Stars" and "Easy," respectively, are highlights of the show. They both also give a moving performance of "Wild." Sullivan has an imposing stature and his powerful versions of "The Lion Has Got No Teeth" and "You've Got Nothing" are quite menacing and emphasize August's volatile nature. Shoutouts also go to Javier Garcia as Camel, Tyler West as Walter, Grant Huneycutt as Wade, and Ruby Gibbs as Barbara because they each have a moment to shine. However, the insanely talented acrobats, jugglers, contortionists, and aerialists (Nancy Luna, Yves Artieres, Fran Alvarez Jara, Ella Huestis, Serafina Walker, and John Neurohr) are absolutely spectacular and make this show worth the price of admission. All of the circus acts are visually stunning and I was especially impressed by a breathtaking aerial performance on white silks by Artieres, who portrays the horse Silver Star, in the number "Easy" (this actually brought tears to my eyes). The colorful costumes, lighting design, and projections create a circus-like atmosphere and the metal set pieces used to represent the train cars are very clever. Finally, the puppets used for the menagerie of animals are very striking. I was a bit disappointed with the puppet for Rosie in the first act because you can only see parts of her or just her shadow but then she is revealed in her entirety in a show-stopping moment (literally because it ends the first act) after Jacob and Marlena are able to communicate with her and I loved this choice once I realized what it meant! I also loved that the puppeteers are dressed in nondescript coveralls when Rosie is training but in sequins when she is performing. There are flaws but I highly recommend this for the performances and the spectacle. It runs at the Eccles Theatre through August 30 and tickets may be purchased here.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

I loved I Saw the TV Glow so I was very eager to see Jane Schoenbrun's latest movie, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and I finally had the opportunity last night.  The Camp Miasma horror franchise has become stale after too many sub-par sequels so Kris Williams (Hannah Einbinder), a well-regarded indie filmmaker, has been hired to reboot it.  She is a huge fan of the series and wants to involve Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson), the actress who played the "final girl" in the original movie, in the new production.  Billy lives at the remote camp where the first movie was filmed and has become a virtual recluse but Kris tracks her down and visits her.  She explains to Billy that she was hired to fix the problematic transphobic premise of the movies for a modern audience because she is a queer filmmaker so she wants to explore a different perspective on identity.  Billy believes that she is over-intellectualizing the horror genre and that she should simply let it be a visceral experience.  The two of them eventually watch the first movie together (insert the plots of Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp with a killer known as Little Death into the movie within a movie) and Kris tells her that she has always been fascinated by the look in Billy's eye during the sex scene.  She reveals that it was at that moment her character found sexual release because she was about to be killed.  Billy initiates sex but Kris rebuffs her and confesses that she has never enjoyed it because she has some kind of mental block.  Billy suggests that she is, once again, over-intellectualizing it and that they should reenact the pivotal sex scene so she can become the main character and feel the terror before Little Death kills her.  Mayhem ensues!  I really enjoyed this, especially the idea that the movies you love shape who you are, but I do think that it belabors the central metaphor (it is definitely not subtle) and I started to feel like everything is a metaphor for sex (the candy, the metal vent worn by the killer, the weapon used by the killer, the winter setting which changes to spring, etc.).  I loved that the movie within a movie is basically a parody of slasher film tropes (the use of "A Long December" by Counting Crows made me laugh out loud) with kills that are hilariously over the top and full of sexual imagery.  Finally, Anderson is so entertaining to watch because she fully commits to the role (I laughed at the suggestion that Billy is channeling Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard).  I had a lot of fun seeing this late at night with a big crowd and I think it might become a cult classic!

Union County

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was Union County and I really appreciated the humane and honest portrayal of addiction but I found the observational approach to be a bit slow and remote.  Cody Parsons (Will Poulter) is an addict who is in a mandated recovery program along with his foster brother Jack (Noah Centineo).  He is barely hanging on as he struggles to attend required drug tests, support groups, and court appearances while living in his car and working a menial job at a lumber mill.  After a relapse which lands him in jail and Jack in rehab, he recommits to the program with the help of his counselor Annette (Annette Deao) and a fellow addict named Anna (Elise Kibler).  He begins taking the meetings seriously and has a breakthrough which leads to a reconciliation with his sister Katrina (Emily Meade).  However, a tragedy threatens his hard-won sobriety.  This features performances from people who are actually involved with the Adult Recovery Court in Ohio, including Deao, a social worker, Kevin T. Braig, a judge, as well as addicts who tell their own recovery stories in the court and support group scenes.  This (along with shooting locations in central Ohio and austere cinematography) gives the narrative an authenticity that is palpable and I was impressed by how seamless their performances are with those of the actors. Centineo is a live wire and Poulter is a coiled spring who telegraphs all of the pain and guilt Cody is feeling through facial expressions and physicality rather than dialogue.  It is a powerful and empathetic performance that does much to destigmatize addiction but the long silences sometimes become tiresome (my mind wandered at times) and there are a few scenes that require a bit more context.  This is a movie that I admire more than I love but I still recommend it.

Late Fame

Last night I had another double feature at the Broadway beginning with Late Fame.  I was intrigued by the trailer and I found it very charming.  Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe) was once a member of the bohemian art scene in the 1970s and even had a volume of poetry titled Way Past Go published but he now works at the U.S. Postal Service and spends his evenings playing pool with a group of working class men at a local bar.  One evening he is approached by a wealthy and pretentious young man named Meyers (Edmund Donovan) who tells him that he and his artistic friends, who call themselves the Enthusiasm Society, have recently discovered his poetry and would love to have him join their group.  He grows to love how much they fawn over him, especially an exotic and mysterious actress named Gloria (Greta Lee), and this gives him a renewed passion for the arts.  However, even though he is very well-received at a poetry reading organized on his behalf by the group, he eventually realizes that he no longer belongs in this milieu and that Meyers and his friends are mere dilettantes.  The portrayal of the Enthusiasm Society is often very humorous and I especially enjoyed seeing Meyers' apartment because, even though he professes a disdain for contemporary culture, it is sleek and modern and filled with every technological advance (I laughed out when it was revealed).  I also enjoyed the juxtaposition between real artists, embodied by Ed and Gloria, and the poseurs, represented by Meyers and his group, who use them for authenticity.  The cinematography evokes the NYC of a bygone era, particularly a sequence in which Ed wanders the city looking for inspiration for a new poem, and I love that the members of the Enthusiasm Society dress like Victorian-era dandies.  Finally, Dafoe gives a grounded and effortless performance as a man who ultimately discovers that he is living a romanticized version of his past but Lee steals every scene she is in as the flamboyant Gloria, especially when she performs "Surabaya Johnny" at a club.  This is a sometimes funny and sometimes melancholy character study and I really enjoyed it.  Definitely seek it out.

Tony

Last night I went to see Tony with my nephew and I think it is a brilliant coming of age story (or bildungsroman as Tony would say).  Anthony "Tony" Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) is a brash and arrogant student at Vassar studying writing.  He applies for a prestigious fellowship but, when he doesn't get it, he tells his parents that he did and follows his crush Nancy (Emilia Jones) to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she has a summer job.  When he sees that she already has a boyfriend, he goes to a local restaurant called The Flagship and gets drunk.  This eventually leads to a job there as a dishwasher and he soon becomes immersed in the chaos of the kitchen.  He also befriends a volatile and heroin addicted cook named Sal (Leo Woodall) and pursues Nancy by lying about the fellowship.  After Sal goes on a bender and is fired, Tony lies about his restaurant experience and is given his job.  The Chef (Antonio Banderas) takes him under his wing and begins teaching him, but when Tony makes an error trying to impress Nancy which results in a catastrophic fire, he realizes that Tony lied and he fires him.  Tony has a moment of truth and ultimately confesses to Nancy and makes amends to Chef who, in turn, gives him a letter of recommendation for the Culinary Institute of America.  This reminded me of the biopics by Pablo Larrain about Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, and Maria Callas because it focuses on one pivotal period of time that changes the trajectory of Bourdain's life rather than the entire story and this approach is extremely effective.  I did not know much about Bourdain, beyond the fact that he was a chef who explored cuisine around the world, but I think this stands on its own as a universal coming of age story and I found it very compelling.  I think Sessa is strangely appealing (I adored him in The Holdovers) and his performance as an aimless young man trying to find his way is incredibly nuanced.  I was especially struck by the stark contrast between his interview for the writing fellowship at Vassar and his interview for admission to the Culinary Institute of America.  Banderas and Woodall (who is playing against type) are also outstanding and have a lived-in chemistry with Sessa.  Finally, I loved the 1970s aesthetic in the production design (especially the music and the costumes).  This is a definite crowd-pleaser and I highly recommend it.