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Imperial Theatre

  • Theater
  • Midtown West
  • price 4 of 4
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Photograph: Chad BatkaNatasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
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Time Out says

Built in 1923 by the Shuberts, the Imperial seats 1,443 and has been the venue for many a historic musical, including Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver! and Pippin. The Imperial’s recessed ceiling and wall panels feature floral and geometric motifs. It is currently home to the Russian-themed Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.

Details

Address:
249 W 45th St
New York
Cross street:
between Broadway and Eighth Ave
Transport:
Subway: A, C, E to 42nd St–Port Authority; N, Q, R, 42nd St S, 1, 2, 3, 7 to 42nd St–Times Sq
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What’s on

Water for Elephants

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Musicals
  • Open run

Broadway review by Adam Feldman  Step right up, come one, come all, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step right up to the greatest—well, okay, not the greatest show on Broadway, but a dang fine show nonetheless. Although Water for Elephants is set at a circus, and includes several moments of thrilling spectacle, what makes it so appealing is its modesty, not glitz. Like the story’s one-ring Benzini Brothers Circus, a scrappy company touring the country in the early years of the Depression, this original musical knows it’s not the ritziest show on the circuit. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in wonder, and it’s pretty wonderful at making things up. Water for Elephants has a book by Rick Elice, who wrote the delightful stage version of Peter and the Starcatcher, and songs by the seven-man collective PigPen Theatre Co., which specializes in dark-edged musical story theater. This team knows how to craft magic moments out of spare parts, and so does director Jessica Stone, who steered Kimberly Akimbo to Broadway last season. Together—and with a mighty hand from circus expert Shana Carroll, of the Montreal cirque troupe the 7 Fingers—they have found the right tone for this adaptation of Sara Gruen’s 2006 romance novel, which operates on the level of a fairy tale. The plot is basic. The impoverished Jake Jankowski (The Flash's Grant Gustin), a sensitive and floppy-haired fellow, is forced by family tragedy to drop out of his Ivy League veterinary school. With nothing

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