Friday, June 17, 2011

Ridgefield Playhouse Presents "Water for Elephants"

Ridgefield Playhouse Presents "Water for Elephants"

Water for Elephants, starring Academy Award winners Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz with co-star Hal Holbrook, will be shown at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Saturday, July 16, at 7:30 p.m. as a Ridgefield Playhouse Film Society "Screenwriter Film Series" event. Richard LaGravenese, the screenwriter for this recently released film, will be at the Playhouse to participate in a post-screening Q&A hosted by television personalities Ira Joe Fisher and Morton Dean. Richard LaGravenese also adapted two popular novels The Horse Whisperer and The Bridges of Madison County to film. This event is sponsored by Cohen and Wolf, P.C., HBGroup, The Ridgefield Press and Sony XDCAM HC.

Based on Sara Gruen's bestseller, Water for Elephants is an epic tale of a young veterinary student, Jacob, who falls in love with Marlena, a star performer in a circus of a bygone era. They discover beauty amidst the difficult world of the Big Top and come together through their compassion for a special elephant. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, stating: "This is good sound family entertainment, a safe PG-13 but not a dumb one, and it's a refreshing interlude before we hurtle into the summer blockbuster season."

Water for Elephants tells the story of a love between two people who overcome incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford. The saga unfolds as a series of memories by 90-year-old Jacob Jankowski (played by Hal Holbrook) who lives in a nursing home. Jacob's story starts when he is 23 years old and preparing for final exams as a college veterinary student when he learns that his parents have been killed in a car accident. When Jacob discovers that his veterinarian father was deeply in debt because he had been treating animals for free as well as mortgaging the family home to provide Jacob with an Ivy League education, he leaves school just before graduation.

Young Jacob Jankoski (played by Robert Pattinson), penniless and homeless, enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, working as a vet for a second-rate circus that is struggling to survive during the Great Depression. He works for August (Christoph Waltz's role), the unstable circus owner and animal trainer whose violent tendencies cause everyone around him to be cautious, including his beautiful wife Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) about whom he is extremely possessive. Even though his is a veterinary student without a degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie of animals. There he meets Marlena, who is the star of the equestrian act, and is married to August. Jacob also meets Rosie, an elephant seemingly un-trainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

For reserved and general admission tickets ($10 adult; $7.50 senior; $5 student), call or visit the box office at (203) 438-5795, or order online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a not-for-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.

Source => Broadway World / Via => Spunk Ransom

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