Grant Gustin to Star in Water for Elephants on Broadway

The producers of the new Broadway musical Water for Elephants have announced principal casting for the show, which is set to begin previews at the Imperial Theatre on February 24 ahead of an official opening night on March 21.

Making his Broadway debut, Grant Gustin will star as Jacob Jankowski, a young veterinary student who hops a train and joins the circus on the brink of graduation. Television audiences know Gustin for his portrayal of Sebastian Smythe on the hit series Glee. He also played Barry Allen in The Flash.

The cast will also feature Isabelle McCalla (The Prom, Shucked), four-time Tony Award nominee Gregg Edelman (City of Angels), Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Award nominee Paul Alexander Nolan (Slave Play), Stan Brown (“Homicide: Life in the Streets”), Joe De Paul (Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion), Sara Gettelfinger (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), and Wade McCollum (Wicked).

Based on the novel by Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants features a book by Rick Elice, a score by PigPen Theatre Company, and direction by Jessica Stone. It made its world premiere in June at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.

Water for Elephants features circus design by Shana Carroll (The 7 Fingers), choreography by Jesse Robb (Miss Saigon) and Shana Carroll, scenic design by Drama Desk Award winner Takeshi Kata (Clyde’s), costume design by David Israel Reynoso (Sleep No More), lighting design by two-time Tony Award winner Bradley King (Hadestown), sound design by Tony Award nominee Walter Trarbach (Spongebob Squarepants), projections by David Bengali (The Thanksgiving Play), hair & makeup design by Campbell Young Associates (A Beautiful Noise), puppetry design by Camille Labarre (Into the Woods), music supervision and arrangements by Drama Desk Award winner Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Some Like It Hot) and Benedict Braxton-Smith (Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls), orchestrations by Tony Award winner Daryl Waters (New York, New York), music direction by Elizabeth Doran, fight direction by Cha Ramos (Jagged Little Pill), and production stage management by Timothy R. Semon (Company).