Rick Elice interview: ‘Water for Elephants’ book writer
Rick Elice first encountered the story of “Water for Elephants” around 18 years ago when he read the novel in his book club. As a former creative director at an advertising agency who handled the Big Apple Circus and Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey, the story resonated. “I had some circus connection to it and read it as a circus novel,” he remembers. When theater producers approached him a decade later with the option to write the book for a musical adaptation, it was an easy offer to accept. But his view of the material had changed significantly. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
Elice recalls the “tragic turn” his life took when his husband of 35 years, Tony-winning actor Roger Rees, died of brain cancer. “I was sitting in my room with a broken heart, not really knowing what to do, suddenly being an individual for the first time in my life,” describes Elice, “and there’s ‘Water for Elephants’ sitting on my table. And of course, now I don’t think of it as a circus story anymore. Now I think about it as the story of somebody coming to terms with what it’s like when you lose everything.”
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The main character in the story, Jacob Jankowski, has also experienced tragedy. His parents have just died in a car accident and the bank has repossessed the family house, so he jumps on a train which just so happens to be a circus train. Elice smartly constructed the Broadway version of this story as a memory play, with Jacob being portrayed by Grant Gustin as a young man, and by Gregg Edelman as the older, widowed version near the end of his life. “He’s haunted by memories that are so vivid that they spring to life before our eyes,” explains Elice of the musical’s structure. “And these shadows of the past, I guess, give him the moxie that he’s lost because he has also just suffered loss.”
“It’s a coming of age story, not in the traditional way a young person becomes an adult. It’s a coming of age story for this older character who thought, it’s all over for me,” describes Elice. The older Jacob has lost his spouse, but by the end of the show he finds the courage to run away with the circus once more. “And he says, and it’s me speaking to the audience,” reveals Elice, “He says: I hate that she’s gone, but I’m glad she went first because being the survivor is terrible.” But the writer ensures that Jacob’s story carries the message that “you have something that can still be ahead of you.” It proves that just when you think life might have run its course, there is always the chance to discover a new beginning.
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In this unique way, the show provides an opportunity for the writer to work through his own loss, while showing others who have had similar experiences that they aren’t alone. “When I’m in an audience, I’m always looking for those moments of connection.” admits Elice. “And it occurred to me, in my shell of widowhood which I hate, that in fact, there’s lots of people who understand what that’s like. I felt so isolated and alone. I thought: boy, if somebody had said to me, you’re not alone, it would really mean something.”
“Water For Elephants” marks Rick Elice’s fourth Tony nomination. He was previously nominated in Best Book of a Musical for “Jersey Boys,” and in both Best Play and Best Original Score for “Peter and the Starcatcher.”
