And it has produced an uncommon camaraderie among the many forged, a product of the interdependence that circus requires. (You can’t actually fly by the air except you belief the folks on the bottom to catch you.) “In circus, we’re a bit lawless,” Carroll mentioned. “But we’re also really collaborative.”
There is pleasure in seeing a performer arc out over the viewers and a heart-in-your-throat pressure when an aerialist dangles by only a hand or a foot. “We have that new language, beside the acting and the dancing, to add a layer of danger, emotion, intensity,” mentioned Alexandra Gaelle Royer, an aerialist and a member of the ensemble.
Gaelle Royer and her colleagues have taught the Broadway actors tips. (As the ring grasp, Paul Alexander Nolan cracks whips; Isabelle McCalla, because the circus’s star, swings from a trapeze.) And they’ve discovered a number of issues, too, equivalent to the best way to sing and dance for Broadway. “There is a level of humility and grace in the company because everybody’s a little bit out of their lane,” Stone mentioned. “And then at some point, every single person is right in their lane and able to just nail what they do best.”
When it involves the circus acts, that greatest contains juggling, silks, aerial hoops, a large Cyr wheel, tight wire, knife throwing, a unicycle and lots of acrobatic turns. Some routines are devoted to the circus of the Thirties, however dream sequences and abstractions just like the demise of the horse push towards the current. Even at a rehearsal — with an understudy within the lead, the forged of their avenue garments, a few of the rigging lacking and harsh work lights shining — the tips might nonetheless exhilarate. And the creators hope that they will do extra: rework “Water for Elephants” into one thing past the paler issues, making it really feel actual.
“We feel it on some base level that these people are really risking their lives for us,” Carroll mentioned of the performers. “That’s really profound and beautiful.”
