Paige Parkhill on Choreographing "Water For Elephants" at CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre

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The critically-acclaimed musical celebrates its Canadian world premiere in Toronto from July 7-19.

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Paige Parkhill , who hails from Kelowna, B.C., serves as Associate Choreographer on the Tony Award-nominated musical Water for Elephants , coming to Toronto’s CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre next month.

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BroadwayWorld spoke with Parkhill – who has been part of the Water for Elephants creative team since late 2022/early 2023 – about her remarkable career, what being an associate choreographer entails, her frequent collaboration with fellow-Canadian Jesse Robb , and how it feels to be part of the team bringing Water for Elephants to Canada.

Growing up in Kelowna, was it your dream to work on a Broadway show?

My dream was simply just to dance. That was it. When I was introduced to dance, something unlocked inside of me: I felt like I was home, I was comfortable and could be myself. There wasn’t this Broadway thing in my brain, I just loved working and storytelling through dance. My life has taken me on this patchwork of projects where I’ve met so many amazing, wonderful people and learned so much along the way.

How long have you been a part of the Water for Elephants team, and what drew you to this project?

Co-choreographer Jesse Robb and I were quite late to be brought onto the team. We came on at the tail end of 2022 in preparation for the Atlanta out-of-town tryout. Since it was a new project being tried out for Broadway, it was an instantaneous “yes.” It’s been the gift that keeps on giving, and the show is very near and dear to my heart.

Water for Elephants was your Broadway debut. Was there anything that surprised you about working on Broadway?

A lot surprised me. I was surprised by all of the extra expectations put on the actors in terms of all of the interviews and media events, addressing fans after the show.​​ The schedule is quite grueling. Creatively, we’re always working. We’re working until the wee hours of the morning, up early the next day to address changes for previews, rinse and repeat. But I definitely gained a whole newfound respect for actors working on Broadway. It really is the Olympics of theatre.

I saw the second preview of Water for Elephants on Broadway and it was about 2 hours and 50 minutes. For the tour, it’s been cut down to 2 hours and 25 minutes. Were there any significant changes you remember during the preview process or specifically for the tour?

Specifically for the tour, a large scene in what was the speakeasy on Broadway was very much condensed, basically taken out for the tour. The writers were able to take the important information from that scene and sprinkle it throughout other scenes. There's a hotel scene in Act II that was a little condensed, a few eights here and there taken out of some dance numbers, but it was primarily the speakeasy scene that changed. The show is much tighter now, better for the general public’s attention span.

Do you have a favourite moment in Water for Elephants ?

I have a lot. Zostań, the Act II opener, is one. It’s an epic celebration, a happy moment. Co-choreographer Jesse Robb created a really exciting palette of dance break vignettes that come about very spontaneously. Another favourite is probably the dream sequence, with more of the circus element. There's a big swell in the music when Marlena ascends on the trapeze and it kind of transports me to another place.

What were some of the challenges faced with presenting and staging the touring production?

Oh, many challenges because in addition to some of the scenes being cut or shortened, the cast is smaller, so we had to execute the same show with fewer people. That was a major puzzle in and of itself to kind of retract, renegotiate all of the moving parts with fewer people. That was a huge challenge.

What is something about the role of associate choreographer that people may not realize?

Well, associate choreographers do quite a bit. You are fully pre-pro’ing with the choreographer: creating, establishing, developing, all of that. You're trying to keep organized, keep materials ready and available for the choreographer. You're demonstrating, teaching, delivering information to the cast. Oftentimes, the choreographer will demonstrate, but oftentimes they are with the director focusing on the big picture, while you're on your feet, working the room. You're very much a liaison between the cast and the creative team as well. I'm not doing things like this [interviews]. This is unique, to do an interview.

For you, what is the most rewarding part of being an associate choreographer?

Delivering the final product and sharing it with my family is the reward for me. Having my family be able to see the fruits of our labour – that’s probably the biggest reward of all.

You’ve worked with fellow-Canadian Jesse Robb on several projects. What makes you want to keep working with Jesse?

Jesse and I worked at Disney Cruise Line in Toronto many years ago. With that job, you were supposed to remount the original vision, but he always went a little rogue, and something about that really interested me. I loved how much of a visionary he was, so creative, thought outside of the box. I loved his quality of movement, very athletic. Those are huge qualities that I recognized very early on. And I felt a pull, a kindred spirit in that regard. He’s always surprising and there's just something about him – he’s like this mad scientist magician. I think my curiosity leads me a lot and I'm always excited to see how we'll develop the next project or current one.

Can you tell me a bit about your career with the Walt Disney Company, and how that experience may have come in handy with your role on Water for Elephants ?

I’ve been really lucky with my career. I started with Disney in 1999 and got to see ships and theatres being built, shows being created. A lot of people don’t like the rehearsal process or creation process, but I was exposed to it at such an early age, and quickly discovered that I thrived in creation, that it was my happy place, a very “easy,” good, natural and true state of working for me. I loved being part of a new production and seeing everything come together from scratch.

My career with Disney, being exposed to the process of opening these massive projects, really helped me and groomed me to know the rhythm of early development and production. It taught me how to run a room. It really played a huge part in my life, and continues to.

Does it feel special to you having a show you’ve worked on make its Canadian debut?

Yes, it’s very special and, selfishly, I wish it was visiting more Canadian cities. I’m a little sad that it’s not going out west to my home province [British Columbia] but it's very exciting, and it's exciting that the co-choreographers are Canadian – Jesse is and Shana [Carroll] lives in Montréal and has her big company [The 7 Fingers] based there. It’s unbelievable. I think I haven't really processed it yet.

Do you have a dream project you would like to work on?

I’m saying it. I would love to work on a project with Taylor Swift for a multitude of reasons. I highly admire her as a woman in this business who has fastidiously cared and endured and built a nourishing body of commercial art with a highly supportive team, of course. I admire her ambition, imagination, gumption, self-confidence, and business acumen. I like working in different mediums. I'm open to anything and everything – I just love exploring.

Are you working on any projects, presently or in the future, that you’d like to discuss?

Well, Jesse and I just finished an epic version of Come From Away at Theatre Calgary and a monumental production of Hairspray at The Muny. Next up is a new musical called A Beat of Our Own. It's had a few iterations, you may have heard it as Bhangra Nation. It will be having an out-of-town tryout at the McCarter Theatre at Princeton University this fall. So, I'm gearing up to get back in the trenches with another project. I’m very excited about this one, it has incredible music and the dance genre is very different for me.

Water for Elephants , the Tony Award-nominated musical adaptation of Canadian-American author Sara Gruen ’s beloved novel, made its world premiere at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre in July 2023. The show later transferred to Broadway where it celebrated its opening night on March 21, 2024.

The Broadway production – directed by Jessica Stone , co-choreographed by Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll , with a book by Rick Elice and original music & lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co. – was deemed a New York Times Critics’ Pick.

Ryan Emmons , Associate Director of the Broadway production, serves as Director of the North American tour.

Individual tickets for the North American Tour of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS in Chicago are going on sale! Individual tickets range from $30.00 to $130.00, with a limited number of premium seats available.

The North American tour of Water for Elephants will arrive at Shea’s Buffalo Theatre this April, bringing Sara Gruen’s bestselling novel to life with a Tony-nominated creative team and an award-winning Broadway production. Tickets are on sale now.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/Interview-Paige-Parkhill-Associate-Choreographer-of-WATER-FOR-ELEPHANTS-at-CAA-Ed-Mirvish-Theatre-20260621)._