NEW YORK—Memories of times good and bad are the linchpin for the new Broadway musical “Water for Elephants.” Based on the 2006 novel by Sara Gruen, it’s the tale of a world where the sweet smell of nostalgia mingles with reality’s bitter aftertaste.
Mr. Jankowski (Gregg Edelman) has left his room at a nursing home to attend a performance of a traveling circus that has come to town. A genial sort, he quickly endears himself to the company members who find him wandering around backstage—especially when they realize Jankowski once worked in the circus himself, as he soon starts to recall.
