Isabelle McCalla (‘Water for Elephants’) on finding ‘moments of connection’ between musical theater and circus [Exclusive Video Interview]
Isabelle McCalla is an expertly trained dancer, but had no experience in any type of acrobatic arts before taking on her latest role. “I was in gymnastics class for a month when I was seven and quit promptly,” says the actress with a laugh, “but I am a little bit of a daredevil.” That adventurous attitude serves the actress well as she stars in “Water for Elephants” at the Imperial Theatre, which brings the high-stakes of a circus to Broadway. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
McCalla plays Marlena in the show, which is adapted from the best-selling novel. Marlena is the equestrian of a traveling circus and trapped in a troubled marriage with the controlling ringmaster August (Paul Alexander Nolan). Her world is turned upside down with the arrival of Jacob (Grant Gustin), a veterinarian who gives Marlena the glimpse of a life filled with love and possibility.
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Most of the high-flying stunts are left to the trained circus performers in the cast, but McCalla had to learn an intricate trapeze routine for a dream sequence that sees Marlena elegantly twisting around midair. Luckily, the production employed renowned circus choreographer Shanna Carroll of The Seven Fingers. “She kind of started the lyrical trapeze, making circus storytelling,” explains McCalla, “how you create narrative structures out of acrobatics.” She admits to being thankful for her background in dance, which helped her capture the smooth lines necessary to pull off her aerial routine. “The only hard part was doing pull-ups. I’m not a fan of those,” she quips, “but I can do a single pull-up now!”
When McCalla is back on solid ground, she is able to put her range as a singing storyteller to work while other circus experts take to the sky. The fusion of these disciplines is perhaps most clearly on display in the song “Easy.” In it, Marlena attempts to soothe her sick horse Silver Star. The stallion is represented by both a puppet and aerial artist Antoine Boissereau, who dazzles in a midair silk dance, all while McCalla’s vocals soar through a hypnotic melody. “I think it’s the perfect example of how you can blend the two mediums of circus and musical theater together,” states the actress. “Through watching his aerial routine on the silks, I learned what moments I could manipulate the horse to do the same movement that he’s doing, or to evoke that same movement. And we find moments of connection when we both are feeling free and easy.”
For all of these complex moments with many moving parts, one of the actress’ most powerful moments on stage actually comes from stillness. The song “What do You” finds a distraught Marlena alone onstage, mulling over the decision of which life she wants to lead. “It’s my favorite part of the show,” admits McCalla, who says she loves the meditative quality of the music and how it forces her to simplify her performance. “It reminds me that theater can be just as powerful, if you just zoom in and if you sit still…And so the more I can lean into that moment of stillness, the more effective I think it is,” she reveals. “It feels like the most human moment that I get to do and one that a lot of people can relate to.”
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