“Water for Elephantsofa168,” a circus romance adapted from Sara Gruen’s best-selling novel, will close on Broadway on Dec. 8, the latest big-budget musical to shutter during a challenging time for the theater business.
The musical was capitalized for up to $25 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That’s at the upper end for Broadway musicals, although producing has generally become more expensive postpandemic; the show, with a large cast of actors and acrobats, is also costly to run, and it will close at a loss.
At the time of its closing, it will have had 25 previews and 301 regular performances at the Imperial Theater. The show is planning a national tour to begin in Baltimore in the fall of 2025.
“Water for Elephants” had an initial run last year at Alliance Theater in Atlanta; the Broadway production opened March 21 at the Imperial Theater. Jesse Green, the chief theater critic for The New York Times, gave it an enthusiastic review, calling it a “stunning, emotional production” and said “it leads with movement, eye candy and awe.” Most other reviews were also positive.
The show has been struggling at the box office; last week it grossed $623,896, according to figures from the Broadway League, which is not enough to sustain a musical of this size. During that week the show played to houses that were, on average, just 62 percent occupied.
The show was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including best musical; it won none. Reflecting a trend on Broadway, the show has a huge cadre of credited co-producers; the lead producers are Peter Schneider, a former Disney executive who was also among the lead producers of “The Lion King” and Jennifer Costello of Big Red Barn Productions.
“Water for Elephants” features songs by PigPen Theater Co. and a book by Rick Elice; it is directed by Jessica Stone. The show makes heavy use not only of acrobatics, designed by Shana Carroll working with choreographer Jesse Robb, but also puppetry (to depict animals), designed by Ray Wetmore, JR Goodman and Camille Labarre.
The show is the fifth musical to announce closing dates since early May, following “Lempickaofa168,” “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” “The Who’s Tommy” and “The Notebook.” Broadway is always a difficult industry, and most shows fail, but the odds of success are particularly long now that production costs have risen, audience size has fallen and a high volume of shows are competing for attention.