Grant Gustin's Broadway Opening Night Photo Diary
"People kept asking me if I was excited for opening night and it's funny because we have done 24 shows leading up to it, so it felt like we had already opened," Grant Gustin, star of the new Broadway production of Water for Elephants, tells T&C. "I think I was trying to temper my excitement so as not to get too anxious—maybe I was just regulating myself." Of course his feelings about it changed by the time opening night did come around, which was last night: "I didn't realize how special it was actually going to be," he says.
The musical, based on the bestselling 2006 novel of the same name by Sara Gruen, marks Gustin's Broadway debut—and his return to the stage after 13 years of doing film and TV (you might recognize him from The Flash series on CW). Which also meant this was his first-ever opening night. It did not disappoint. "I had yet to experience what I know now is the magic of an opening night on Broadway," he says. "There is really nothing like it."
Here, Gustin shares some of his highlights from the evening.
"It definitely hits you that there is so much history in the Imperial theatre," Gustin says. "I saw Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz at the Imperial, I saw Billy Elliot at the Imperial, and in looking up the history I saw that Gene Kelly performed on this stage. It's insane. He was one of my earliest heroes and inspirations as a kid. I started tap dancing when I was 8 because of Gene Kelly."
"Paul (Nolan), Izzy (Isabelle McCalla, pictured here), and I have our dressing rooms on the same floor and we spend so much time together on stage. The three of us have really become like siblings."
Mom sent flowers, his agent sent a bottle of bourbon, but Gustin's favorite opening night gift? "One of the aerialists and circus performers in the show is actually an incredible artist. And she plays an orangutan in the show and there is a moment where she takes my handkerchief out of my pocket and then throws it back to me. And she got me a white handkerchief and on it she sketched the train that's represented from our show. It was really sweet and so personal."
Some elements of an opening night were familiar—the red carpet, the party after, friends and family cheering in the audience. Others, like the legacy robe ceremony, were new to Gustin. "Each time a Broadway show opens, they give this robe to the chorus member with the most Broadway credits," he says. "Paul Castree received it, and there were all these other previous recipients there. You could feel just the history of Broadway and how much it means to the people that have been a part of it year in and year out."
"I have a lot of tattoos, so step one when I get there is cover them," Gustin says of his pre-show prep before going on stage as Jacob Jankowski. "Then I get into wardrobe really early and I decompress for a little bit. I'll read something that has nothing to do with his show. Then right before we go I'll do a quick meditation to center myself."
"When they call places, there is this ritual we all do together as a company before the curtain goes up," he says. "There is a line in the show: 'Step right up and put some wind in your sails.' So we form a circle and say 'step right up' over and over again until everyone has joined in."
"This was towards the end of the night. I hadn't seen Paul all night and I went up to the third floor to find him. And they asked to take a picture of the two of us and he scooped me up."
"After doing The Flash for nearly 10 years, I knew I wanted to get on stage to cleanse my palate after playing one character for so long, and in one medium," Gustin says. "I knew it was going to be scary and hard, and I felt like I needed that. And I got obsessed with the idea of doing Water for Elephants. It felt like the perfect show at the perfect time."
"Going to that first rehearsal can feel like the first day of school. You just hope everyone likes you, you just want to fit in. And it's been so long since I've done a musical. But they all made me feel so welcome and supported. And that's just kind of what this whole show is."
You Might Also Like
