One of my favorite shows is “Titanic,” that ambitious, almost operatic musical by composer Maury Yeston and book writer Peter Stone.
I was an early champion of this 1997 show despite rocky previews and jokey reviews (“They sing, they dance, they drown!”). The first preview ran nearly four hours — and they still couldn’t sink the ship.
The critics played their roles as icebergs, and for a time it looked as if they’d capsize the $10 million production, at that time one of the most expensive in Broadway history.
But Tony nominators liked it, and it went on to win five Tonys, including Best Musical. “Titanic” never returned its investment, but its reputation has grown over the years, and it’s been performed at opera houses throughout Europe.
And now I’m pleased to report that a new production’s just opened in England to rave reviews.
Directed by Thom Southerland, who trained under the great John Doyle (“Sweeney Todd”), this chamber-size “Titanic” is running at London’s 240-seat Southwark Playhouse. The cast doubles and triples up on the roles, and the audience is just a few feet away as they sing some of Yeston’s gorgeous choral numbers — “There She Is,” “Godspeed, Titanic,” “We’ll Meet Tomorrow.”
Mark Shenton, the prolific blogger and Sunday Express drama critic, tweeted: “Am basking in the sheer beauty of Maury Yeston’s score and the wonderful cast.”
The production has only six musicians, as opposed to the 30-plus who played the Broadway show. But that, apparently, hasn’t dulled the impact of the score.
The show “is sung in full-throated glory,” said The Observer. “The ensemble work is glorious. It lifts the spirits.”
(Somebody slipped me a bootleg recording of the opening number, and I swear you’d never know there are just six musicians.)
The Guardian called it an “adroitly staged and affecting chamber production,” while the Times of London raved: “[A] gripping, ambitious ensemble piece — cracking good.”
There’s already talk of a West End transfer.
I asked Yeston about a possible New York production, and he responded by e-mail: “These are very early days. It only just opened and who knows how many folks from here have seen it yet? But they did a terrific job, and it’s so powerful in a small space! Very gratifying for the production to get such a warm and wide reception. I so wish Peter were here to see it.”
Stone died, of pulmonary fibrosis, in 2003 — and he is still much missed for his quick, devilish wit and practical showbiz know-how. I once saw him fix a scene in a troubled revival of “Annie Get Your Gun” by altering one line. The alteration brought the entire scene into focus.
An example of his wit: “In my many years, I have come to the conclusion that a useless man is a shame, two are a law firm and three or more are a congress” (from his musical, “1776”).
Stone was a great cynic, but my lasting memory of him is from the opening night of “Titanic” on Broadway. He was there with his date, Lauren Bacall. The buzz on the show was bad, and Stone said he’d braced himself with a couple of martinis. But at the final, deeply moving number — when the survivors in life jackets are joined onstage by those who drowned — the audience was on its feet, crying. I looked at Peter, and he, too, was weeping.
“Titanic” is a great show.
Surely this new production is something the Roundabout Theatre Company should have in its sights.