Back to Titanic
On Thursday, this being the centenary week of the sinking of RMS Titanic, I travelled up to Bromley after work to watch West Wickham Operatic Society’s great production of Titanic the musical.
Titanic the Musical. Sounds crass, doesn’t it? Those three words conjure images of flying icebergs, substandard cover versions of Celine Dion and the horrifying possibility of a tap dance to the strains of Wallace Hartley’s band.
Thankfully, none of these things form part of this show, and strangely it is not just a show I enjoyed watching, it’s one of the shows I’m proudest of having appeared in. First performed on Broadway in 1997, Titanic has music by Maury Yeston and a script by Peter Stone. It features dozens of named characters – all bar one of them actually sailed on the great ship’s fateful voyage. The ‘star’ is the entire company, and nobody’s heart goes on. At least, not in so many words.
I had the great fortune to perform in Titanic during November 2008, playing the character of Harold Bride, one of the telegraph operators on the ship. I was one of a privileged few members of the cast who only played one character (some, even with well over 50 people on stage, were obliged to take on 3 or more roles), and he was a character I came to love. We were encouraged to research the people we were playing, which made the rehearsal process more educational than for your standard show! We all knew where the authors had deviated from a totally accurate portrayal of events in service of dramatic effectiveness, and as we truly appreciated the reality of the people we were portraying, more than a few tears were shed in rehearsal.
The scale of the show is huge, following characters from all three classes on the ship as well as a number of crewmen from captain to stoker, chief steward to bellboy. Each has their hopes and dreams, each has their own way of speaking. Despite the parade of characters, the audience is somehow never lost and the wide focus makes it clear that this show is not about one or two passengers, but about the ship and all who sailed on her. Although much of the dialogue is laden with irony due to the audience knowing what’s coming, it never descends into spoof and instead of being crass it serves as a memorial to the great ship and all who sailed on her. Their hopes and dreams, their strengths and weaknesses, their failures, their heroism and above all their humanity.
The voyage of RMS Titanic is a legend. This year, there will be many productions of the musical around the world. Don’t be put off. Go. The music is majestic, the ensemble singing is amazing and the show pays homage to those who were lost without being over-sentimental. There simply is no better dramatisation of these events.
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My posts from the time of the show :
The Singing Librarian Talks 
I really must look out for this show – thank you so much for a lovely reminder.
It is a great musical – brilliantly written, very moving, and definitely worth seeing.