Standing Ovation! Broadway Adaptation of Water for Elephants Nabs PETA Pony Award

For Immediate Release:
March 27, 2024

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

And the Pony goes to … Water for Elephants. As the musical’s Broadway run commences, PETA is awarding the production team with its second-ever Pony Award—the organization’s play on a Tony, honoring the most animal-friendly theater productions—for creating lifelike puppets and special effects to portray an entire cast of animal characters, including not only Rosie the elephant but also a dog, a camel, a peacock, llamas, and big cats. The production also incorporates powerful messaging about how animals suffer in circuses and showcases dazzling human performances, such as acrobatics, aerial dancing, and ropedancing.

“Water for Elephants is putting human artistry front and center—from its talented two-legged performers to its visionary production team’s exquisite animal renderings,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “PETA encourages everyone in the entertainment industry to follow its example by bringing animals to the stage and screen through creativity, not cruelty.”

 PETA notes that animals used in the entertainment industry are taken from their mothers as babies and beaten in order to force them to learn to obey out of fear of punishment. The 2011 film version of Water for Elephants featured an elephant named Tai, who, as this video shows, was beaten and electroshocked after being abducted from her home in nature and sold to notorious Hollywood exhibitors Kari and Gary Johnson. Handlers typically use bullhooks—heavy fireplace poker–like weapons with a sharp metal hook on one end—to “break,” beat, and terrorize elephants, prompting the musical’s protagonist to proclaim that they should be illegal.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—awarded its inaugural Pony Award to Life of Pi for similar puppetry wizardry.

PETA points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

Note: “Tony” and “Tony Awards” are registered trademarks of American Theatre Wing Inc., which is not affiliated or associated with PETA, nor does it endorse, sponsor, or otherwise approve of PETA or PETA’s Pony Awards.