I am not convinced that musical theatre is an appropriate medium for a tragedy of such horrifying dimensions as the sinking of the Titanic.
In an article in the programme, Maury Yeston (music and lyrics) tells us that "we write musicals by thinking with our hearts—wanting only to connect and touch yours." While such an approach may be successful with less challenging subject matter, a more rigorous and possibly non-musical approach is required if the audience is to experience the catharsis that arises from deep engagement with tragedy.
The first half of the musical introduces us to a wide range of characters, members of the crew and passengers, the very wealthy and the very poor, those who are running away and those who look forward optimistically to a new and better life in a new country.
The characters are initially introduced in groups of three: Captain, Owner, Architect; Stoker, Lookout, Telegrapher; and in steerage three Kates from Ireland. Add to this the love interest: an elderly couple who still care for one another, a young couple falling in love, a husband angry that his wife is from a higher social class than himself, a husband who feels rejected because his wife wants to mingle with the wealthy.
There is so much going on that it difficult to distinguish between the individual characters presented. This is in significant contrast to James Cameron's film version where Leonardo DeCaprio and Kate Winslett are identified as the focus of the action long before the ship begins to sink and therefore, as audience, we empathise with them when disaster strikes.
In the first and happy part of this production, we see what we expect to see in a musical. So happy songs, exciting choreographed dance sequences showing the stokers at work in the engine room and the contrast between formal dining and dancing in first class and a joyful romp in steerage.
Some characters are now beginning to emerge. Martin Allanson plays Bruce Ismay, the irascible owner of the White Star Line, who urges the Captain (Graham Bickley) to go faster so that he can reach New York before a shipping rival. Bickley is reluctant at first but weakly succumbs as the demands increase.
Bree Smith gives a lively performance as a lower-deck passenger determined to mix with the wealthy Americans in first class. Abi Hudson coming in as an understudy gives a confident and highly energetic performance as one of the Kates from Ireland and proposes marriage to the eligible Jim Farrell, a strong performance from Chris Nevin.
As the second act starts, there are messages received about icebergs but these are ignored. Once the Titanic hits the iceberg, there is a growing realisation that the unsinkable ship will founder long before help can arrive. We now see scenes which introduce the Telegrapher, a convincing and moving performance by Alastair Hill, and reveal an almost unhinged Ship's Architect, played by Ian McLarnon, who attempts to correct the errors in his design as the ship is sinking.
The set design by David Woodhead is impressive and the wall of riveted steel panels convincingly like images of the Titanic. The class differences between the passengers (a consistent theme) are reinforced by levels which also provide convincing spaces on high for the Captain and down below for men in the engine room and also adequate space for group scenes and dance.
What the production and the setting has not managed to engage with is the panic which set in as the ship began to sink and trapped passengers from steerage attempting to break through to higher levels. Also, there is little to show what was happening to those attempting to survive in the small boats or in the freezing sea once the Titanic had gone. At this point, silence and sound effects would have been more acceptable than a singing chorus.
The whole cast gives everything they've got to the performance but the ending is disappointing and doesn't leave behind an audience that has been deeply moved though drained by the experience.