Titanic the Musical: An Historical Recipe for Success.
The maiden voyage of the Titanic — fueled by greed, incompetence, indifference and a rigid class structure — was a recipe for disaster. By contrast, the 1997 Peter Stone/Maury Yeston award-winning musical — firmly rooted in historical fact, music that recalls the period and (thankfully) devoid of sentimentality — is a recipe for success.
So is the beautifully sung Orpheus Musical Theatre Society production of Titanic the Musical — a work that is as much opera as it is traditional musical theatre.
The well-researched vignettes about a small selection of crew members and passengers from each of the three classes on board, gives a human face to the massive maritime disaster that is far more powerful than the horrendous statistics: 1,514 people drowned after the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg on April 15, 1912; just 710, most of them first-class passengers, survived. Many more of the 2,224 on board would have lived, if the ship had carried the requisite 54 lifeboats instead of just 20, but the ship’s owner, the White Star Line, and the designer opted for additional space on the luxurious first-class decks and cabins instead of safety. After all, the huge ship was touted as unsinkable, wasn’t it?
That might have been so, but for the failings of the human beings involved and this is probably why the book points to the negative qualities of three individuals: White Star board chair J. Bruce Ismay; the ship’s designer Thomas Andrews; and its captain, E.J. Smith.
As directed by Deb Miller-Smith, Tony Keenleyside plays the unpleasant and cowardly Ismay with great energy. Terry Duncan opts for a smiling, Teflon-style approach in his presentation of Andrews. John Litster as the compliant captain, on his last voyage before retirement, focuses on demonstrating inertia, weakness and lack of involvement (a little too much for my taste).
Among the highlights of the show, under the musical direction of Paul Legault, are the strong choral work and the magnificent singing of such performers as Justin Hills as Stoker Frederick Barrett and Eugene Oscapella and Barb Seabright-Moore as Isidor and Ida Strauss. (The real-life heroine of the disaster, she refused to leave her husband of 40 years, when offered the chance to escape during the “women and children first” call.)
Also in good voice, Christine Moran has fun with the role of social climber Alice Beane and Jim Tanner as Henry Etches delivers a very credible chief steward, complete with stiff upper lip.
Costumes by Judy Froome, a workable, relatively economical set by Margaret Coderre-Williams, fine lighting by Chris Amott and sound by John Cybanski complete the picture of a demanding and frequently moving show. You might not leave humming or floating on the melodies, but the early excitement and wonder engendered by first sight of the Titanic, the disbelief that disaster has struck and the moments of human connection will definitely not sink from memory.
Ottawa’ Iris Winston, June 3, 2012
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Titanic, The Musical
Book by Peter Stone
Music and lyrics by Maury Yeston
Orpheus Musical Theatre Society
| Director: | Deb Miller-Smith |
| Musical Director: | Paul Legault |
| Choreographer andAssistant Director | Valerie Keenleyside |
Cast
Crew and staff |
|
| Captain E. J. Smith | John Litster |
| 1st Officer William Murdoch/ensemble | Murray Doggett |
| 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller/ensemble | Dan DeMarbre |
| 3rd Officer Herbert Pitman/Taylor/ensemble | Jeremy Sanders |
| 4th Officer Boxhall/ensemble | Michael David |
| Chief Engineer Bell/Wallace Hartley/ensemble | Sean Brennan |
| Radioman Harold Bride | Michael McSheffrey |
| Lookout Frederick Fleet/ensemble | Milton Dover |
| Stoker Frederick Barrett | Justin Hills |
| Quartermaster Hitchens/Bricoux/ensemble | Shawn Smith |
| Chief Steward Henry Etches/ensemble | Jim Tanner |
| Steward Latimer/Sailor/ensemble | Andriano DeLuca |
| Stewardess Hutchinson/ensemble | Marie-Hélène Brière |
| Stewardess Robinson/ensemble | Megan Damini |
| Bellboy/ensemble | Patrick Leblanc |
| Miss DaMico/ensemble | Debbie Kaplan |
First-class passengers |
|
| J. Bruce Ismay | Tony Keenleyside |
| Thomas Andrews | Terry Duncan |
| John Jacob Astor/ensemble | Chris Hearne |
| Madeline Astor/ensemble | Elli McKean |
| Charlotte Drake Cardoza/ensemble | Laura Burk |
| Edith Corse Evans/ensemble | Maureen Speer |
| Benjamin Guggenheim/ensemble | Sam Smith |
| Madame Aubert /ensemble | Susan Brown |
| Isidor Straus/ensemble | Eugene Oscapella |
| Ida Straus/ensemble | Barb Seabright-Moore |
| John B. Thayer/ensemble | Matt Easterbrook |
| Jack Thayer/ensemble | Nicholas Edge |
| Marion Thayer/ensemble | Andrea Kinsley |
| George Widener/ensemble | Rob McLeish |
| Eleanor Widener/ensemble | Joyce Landry |
| The Major/Stevedore/ensemble | Rick Burk |
| J.H. Rogers/Frank Carlson/ensemble | Bryan Jesmer |
Second-class passengers |
|
| Edgar Beane | Jim Robertson |
| Alice Beane | Christine Moran |
| Charles Clarke | Darren Bird |
| Caroline Neville | Michelle Opthof-Batstone |
Third-class passengers |
|
| Kate McGowan | Sascha Wiessmeyer |
| Kate Murphey/ensemble | Susanna Atkinson |
| Kate Mullins/ensemble | Mary Armstrong |
| Jim Farrell/Mr. DaMico/ensemble | Jesse Gervais |
Ensemble
Ben Blacklock, Alison Foley Howard, Isabella Hearne, Sophia Marshall, Émilie O’Brien, Doug Thicke.
Titanic the Musical continues at Centrepointe Theatre to June 10, 2012