Lost in April--Chips off the iceberg

No musical is given birth to in perfect condition (recent productions like The Capeman give evidence enough of that). In fact, a lot of shows go into previews with a lot of crap still intact. That's the idea of previews--to find what doesn't work and excise it.

Titanic was certainly no different. Most (all?) of the changes made between the late March, early April previews were for the better, making a tenser, tighter, more effective show.

This page, however, demonstrates some of what you might have heard and seen if you saw a preview early in the run.

From the Playbill
--Songs that were cut in their original running order.

Barrett's Song
--The altered words to Barrett's Song and two little scenettes that were cut.

Charles and Caroline
--The cut scene leading up to "I Give My Hand".

The Missing Binoculars
--Fleet and Lightoller talk and sing about the missing binoculars. Taken from "No Moon".

The Complete Loading the Lifeboats Scene--A Work In Progress
--A drastically different view of the loading of the lifeboats.

The Millionaire's Deck Scene
--The four millionaires talk to Etches and sing about their "great crime".

The Third Porthole Scene
--The third porthole scene currently in the show, only different--features Murdoch, the Captain, Etches, and Harold Bride.

Robert Ballard's Monologue
--Titanic explorer, Robert Ballard (played by Michael Cerveris), had a part in the musical. This is what he said.

Tidbits Lost
--Snippets lost in previews. Little views of what didn't survive.

Read a review of previews
--From Broadway/6174, an interesting review that discusses what was altered.

Return to Swings and Things


All quoted material on these pages is by Maury Yeston and Peter Stone. Quotations are used to demonstrate changes made in Titanic in previews and not to infringe on their rights as creators.