Cruising for a bruising: Hop on Titanic: A New Musical at the 5th Avenue Theatre.Premise: Biggest boat in the world hits an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Sound familiar? It was the basis for one of the most popular movies ever made. This time, it's a musical!
Pitch: My Fair Titanic
Pedigree: This is the little musical that could: Before it opened, critics and popular word-of-mouth said it would sink. It went on to win five Tony awards, including best musical, score (Maury Yeston) and book (Peter Stone, who wrote 1776). Rosie O'Donnell loved it--she's quoted in the press material!
Audience: Titanic movie aficionados who still can't get enough of that big boat! Broadway musical fans in search of a strong score. Anyone who appreciates a good disaster tale.
Verdict: You have to give credit to any musical that can take the sinking of the Titanic and make it compelling, enjoyable and--above all-- not campy or cringe-inducing. What sounds like the high-concept Broadway pitch from hell is actually one of the strongest American musicals to hit Broadway in a good long while. Granted, you know how it's going to end, but Maury Yeston's strong score and Peter Stone's intelligent book make this voyage a worthwhile and completely viable retelling of the most famous sinking-ship story of all time. Moving along at a rapid clip (not unlike the Titanic itself), the show economically introduces us to the ship's crew and passengers (first, second and third class) and their hopes and dreams during the first act, when they're sailing blissfully across the Atlantic. We get a cross-section of loving couples, from Irish steerage cuties Kate and Jim to Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor, and a window on their lives. Of course, it all falls apart when that iceberg looms up and the inevitable question arises: Who's going to live and who's going to die?
Titanic: A New Musical gives you everything that Titanic the movie doesn't: themes of man vs. machine, faithful re-creations of the actual passengers, and a heartfelt, intellectual look at what's probably still the crowning disaster of the 20th century. Conversely, it also doesn't give you what the movie did: awesome special effects in the service of an actual plot (hackneyed as it may be), a specifically focused love story to personalize the tragedy and, most glaringly, the look and feel of that big ship. In the opening number, as the passengers and crew are boarding, each parades out and stops about halfway across the stage, gaping open-mouthed at the huge, glorious ship. Problem is, the audience can't see it — we're left to imagine how fantastic it is. It's one of the major detriments of the show, along with a score that doesn't really deliver any memorable songs (they're more like anthems) and a staging that has, literally, the cast parading across the stage, standing in a line and singing. That's probably due to director Richard Jones' opera background, where dynamic direction takes a backseat to the music — it's the same thing here, except Yeston's score ain't Rossini or Mozart.
Still, in terms of touring shows, this is one of the better bets, and the huge cast gives a number of fine singers a chance to shine, however briefly, in the spotlight. The second-class passengers are first-class all the way: Philip Lehl and Christianne Tisdale make an affecting pair of almost-marrieds, while David Beditz and Liz McConahay are outstanding as a down-to-earth hardware store owner and his social-climbing wife. Melissa Bell, as the most prominent of a trio of Irish Kates, leads the requisite steerage number, "Lady's Maid," with an energetic and strong voice. The crew, led by William Parry (Capt. Smith) and David Pittu (First Officer Murdoch), also makes the navigational permutations compelling and tragic. The two brightest lights of the show, however, are radioman Dale Sandish and coal stoker Marcus Chait, who sing an improbably affecting love duet — Chait of his love for his fiancee at home, Sandish of his love of the telegraph world he lives in. In fact, it's up to Chait to carry the conscience of the musical on his (very broad) shoulders, and his powerful voice is more than up to the job. Don't expect the pyrotechnics of the film or other Broadway spectacles, but this Titanic does manage to sail a smooth and steady course. And, thank god, Celine Dion is nowhere in sight!