BALTIMORE —

The Broadway musical "Water for Elephants" is now on stage at the Hippodrome in Baltimore, launching its first national tour.

The show explores the interactions between humans and elephants through the story of a young man who becomes a veterinarian with a traveling circus.

Zachary Keller, who plays Jacob Jankowski in the musical, visited the Maryland Zoo on Tuesday to meet Felix the elephant.

"Even just being on stage with the puppet version of the elephant, which is brought to life by our acrobats and ensemble, even that is just such a cool experience, but to get to be in front of an actual live elephant, it's life-changing," Keller told 11 News.

Keller is using his experience feeding, observing and learning about Felix as inspiration for his role.

"It's really a story

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