The Broadway play “Water for Elephants” Coming to the Overture Center June 16-21: Destined for the Theater
by Jonathan Gramling
It seems that ZaKeyia Lacey, who is performing in “Water for Elephants” that is coming to Overture, was destined for the theater. It’s like she was surrounded by the necessary ingredients and environment to pursue an acting career. All she had to do was reach out and grab it and the theater world would be hers.
It all began at a very young age.
“I’ve been dancing since I was four-years-old,” Lacey said. “And it was one of those things where my sister was doing it, so I was also doing it. And I studied tap, ballet, hip hop and all of these different styles of dancing. I ended up competing for seven years in competition dance. And then I went to a performing arts high school in Delaware, Cab Calloway School for the Arts. And that’s where I fell in love with theater.”
And it didn’t hurt that she lived just a relative hop, skip and a jump from Broadway.
“I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware.” Lacey said. “I frequented Broadway and I think that’s a big part of how I got into theater. I was
Above: A scene from ‘Watewr for Elephants” coming to the Overture Center. Left: ZaKeyia Lacey
introduced to The Rockettes at a very young age. I was introduced to The Lion King when I was five-years-old. It was my fifth birthday present. Driving to New York and getting used to the city and being able to see Broadway shows was something I did a lot growing up.”
And then, Lacey went from the proximity to Broadway to the relative isolation of going to college in Florida.
“From there, I made the decision to go to Florida State and be able to get my BFA in musical theater,” Lacey said. “It’s been an up and down journey, but I think I’ve always wanted to do theater. Florida State is a very small program. There was about eight of us who got admitted and seven of us who graduated to cross the stage with a BFA in 2025 in musical theater. It was very rigorous and very structured. Also being from Wilmington, I wasn’t able to go home a lot because Florida was about a 16-hour drive. I did make it a couple of times. But being away from home and also not being close to New York, as close as I was, I was kind of removed from the mainstream Broadway theater scene. But I also learned so much about what I wanted to do in the future. I aspired to be a choreographer. I was hoping that would go somewhere. And being able to put myself in so many different positions such as swinging shows, dance tapping shows. There were these amazing opportunities, but they were so challenging in their own way. Four years of that, it was a lot of different things that made me the actor that I am now.’
One thing that Lacey took advantage of was performing in regional theater to perfect her craft.
“I’ve been performing for quite a while,” Lacey said. “I started out when my regional debut was in summer theater in Georgia. And then I was able to do some productions at The Muny in St. Louis. And then I was able to go to the Ogunquit in Maine.”
As Lacey enters the world of theater, she has had to do some souls searching in terms of where she fits in the theater profession. Is she an African American artist or an artist who is African American?
“A lot of working into the industry, especially right now, is learning who I am as an American artist as well as just in this generation, I think there are a lot of roles that are made for me, but there are not a lot of roles that are made for me that don’t necessarily have to deal with being a woman of color,” Lacey said. “And so I think that finding roles for myself that don’t necessarily have that story all the time is a little bit difficult. And I don’t just feel having that casting thing sometimes of being like, ‘I’m in this room because I deserve to be here, not because of any other factors. And being able to just really feel like I’m not sitting in a room and I’m taking care of my culture and my roots and understanding that there is a need for me to be on stage for other people who look like me and feel like me that there is some representation in touring across the country, which is really important to me. I don’t necessarily think that. I think I’m proving to people and many of my co-workers and a lot of casting directors that I am in theater because of my talent. And I am in the room because of my personality and the way that I shine through on stage.”
And it was through Florida State that Lacey developed her path to Broadway.
“I got my agent through this program that was called The Links Program,” Lacey recalled. “I was able to get my agent my junior year of college. And so I was auditioning a little bit before I actually graduated. I would get a call from my agent asking me to go in for something, book a flight, drive two hours to Jacksonville, fly to New York, get to the audition and then come back and be able to do my classes. That was a lot junior and senior year.”
And it was her agent who set up the connection to get the job performing in the national tour of Water for Elephants.
“During my senior showcase, the person who was doing casting, Frankie Ramirez, came to see us because my agent made a request,” Lacey said. “From there, I was actually moving out of my college apartment when I got the call that I had a call back. So I moved all of my stuff in 72 hours, moved back home, went to the call back. And the call back was from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. And then I didn’t hear anything. This was the second week of June. And then I booked it. You don’t always hear immediately. You don’t always have 18 million call backs before you book the job. Sometimes you do it once and then never hear anything. And then all of a sudden, you have it.”
Water for Elephants isn’t your typical Broadway show.
“Water for Elephants is a beautiful show based on the book written by Sara Gruen,” Lacey said. “And it’s this circus spectacular that has a love triangle and all of these amazing elements of showing this man who has everything how to find himself through the circus, through love, through song and dance and all of these amazing spectacles. It’s really a mixture of all of these things.”
And while this is Lacey’s first national tour and she doesn’t have a staring role, there is plenty to keep her busy.
“In the ensemble, I play Vera and I also cover the lead of Marlena,” Lacey said. “And I also cover the spirit of Rosie. We started rehearsals in August of last year. I would say we’ve been touring for eight months now. We’ve been in the process of Water for Elephants for about 10 months.”
As this is Lacey’s first national tour, it’s more like an adventure for her.
“I’ve found many different outlets and avenues on the road,” Lacey said. “One thing that I have really found that actually does affect my mood a lot is as soon as I get to a city, I unpack everything. I take everything out of the suitcase. I don’t want to know that I am living on the road. I put my suitcases away. I need to just clear my space. And I really want to enjoy every city because it’s a blessing to be able to travel across the country at the age that I am to see so many different places and perform before so many different people. So I really try to get out and meet a lot of people in the city, go to a lot of spots that are popular in the city because I can hear kind of what the energy is from each space. Each place is different. You’re never going to feel completely at home everywhere. But the good thing is that I am able to spread my wings and I want to be able to see what the city is like from other people, whether it’s going to a coffee shop or going to a bar after a show with friends. It’s nice to be able to feel the energy of the space that we are in.”
Lacey feels that hewr dream role hasn’t been written yet.
“I grew up thinking that I had these shows that I wanted to be a part of because those were people who looked like me,” Lacey said. “But I don’t think the stories I want to be a part of, the lead roles that I want haven’t been written yet. I am excited to see what new work comes out because I am really thinking that it’s going to be soon. If I had to say right now, I would probably say Sister Act, probably Deloris Van Cartier because she is the most like me. She’s from around Philly. She’s funny. I think that would be my dream role as of right now. But I don’t necessarily think that it has been written yet.”
A major reason why Lacey feels the role hasn’t been written yet is because the American theater scene is changing, undergoing a kind of transition to a new age.
“I think that we’re moving in a direction in the arts that is so amazing and so brilliant to be able to see so many different cultures on stage, shows like Buena Vista and Hamilton, all of these shows that are coming onto the stage right now and are traveling across the country,” Lacey said. “It is more than just the stories that we’ve seen growing up in entertainment. We see these numerous documentaries come out about history, especially African American history and I’m thinking that some of that is going to turn into musicals, plays and TV shows. And I think there is going to be a lot of art that comes out about history because we are culturally learning to move about our culture that is kind of hidden. I am excited.”
And Lacey hopes that Madison is excited about coming to see Water for Elephants.
“Everyone will find something that they can walk away with,” Lacey said. “I love the start of Water for Elephants. I don’t think that there has been one audience member that has walked away from the show saying that there wasn’t something that surprised them, something that was special to them. We have the most amazing acrobats. We have some of the most beautiful singers. And the dancing is just incredible. The choreography is by Jesse Robb and Paige Parkhill. So you have to come out. The direction is incredible. And I just think that there is something for everyone.”
ZaKeyia Lacey has hit the theater circuit running and there is no telling where her career will take her. Water for Elephants isn’t a bad start at all.
