Reviewed by Jan Mellor
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Titanic The Musical, the title itself seemed a contradiction in terms, but I was intrigued.
The set opened with a man sat onboard a large ship making notes. He remained there writing as the auditorium filled. Immediately with the opening scene as passengers walking through the auditorium to board the vessel – the audience felt like they too were boarding with them. The passengers were introduced to the theatre in order of ‘rank’ with of course the first class being giving precedence. Most of the first class were American Millionaires who were journeying back to their homeland. Whilst others (mostly English) were venturing to the ‘Brave New World’ to gain wealth, families and a new beginning. We were introduced to couples within all three classes Kate a Jim the Irish lovers from 3rd class, the Beanes from 2nd class and the adorable 1st class Straus’s who had been together for 40 years. Getting to know some of the passengers (based on actual passengers of the fateful liner) made us familiar with the activities that occurred whilst the ship was afloat and endeared us with the personalities of those onboard.
The songs were dramatic, almost operatic, and as the crew and passengers sang ‘Godspeed Titanic’ I almost wanted to wave her off, as hundreds had on that fateful day on 10th April 1912. We get to know and understanding the crew and empathise with the pressure and challenge each person had, the demands on the captain to reach America in 6 days, the resistance of the ship’s designer Thomas Andres and the toil of the engine men. It didn’t feel like fantasy or fiction it felt real and mesmerising. The songs were powerful and were sung passionately with wonderful rich voices from every single cast member. The Edwardian costumes were divine and the portrayal of the classes within this 7-storey ‘floating city’ was conveyed with compassion, honesty, irony and warmth. There were over 20 songs within the whole performance these songs were majestic, powerful, sentimental and filled with optimism, determination or as the tragedy unfolded – love and fear.
I adored the ‘last rag’ dancing of the 1st class, the wonderful ‘Still’ sang by the Strauss’s as they prepared to go down with the ship and the ‘no moon’ sang by all, seconds before disaster struck.
The finale of the performance left the audience with the survivors standing in their blankets (from the ship that rescued them – The Carpathia) in front of the list of the 1,517 passengers who perished that fateful night. It was a respectful farewell to these innocent, brave and pitiful people, whose dreams and hopes had been stolen from them through foolish pride, greed and conceit. Wonderful performance, great choreography and skill.
It was a heart-breaking story that was brought to life on stage in a powerful and engrammatic way. The songs were strong, poignant and potent and brought the passion and courage to life before us as we sat almost fearful of the impending doom. The whole cast had outstanding voices, but most memorable for me were Joel Parnis (who played the engine room stoker) and Simon Green who played Ismay the financier of the trip who absurdly survived on the lifeboats with the 711 surviving women and children. It was an excellent performance that stayed with me through the journey home and is with me still. A remarkable way to convey what is one of the biggest tragedies in history.
A superb show. Gigantic!
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £13 to £50.40 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
Titanic The Musical is at the Liverpool Empire from 30 July to 4 August 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com/liverpool or call the box office on 0844 8713017.
Liverpool Empire Theatre, Lime Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 1JE | 0844 8713017
