“Titanic the Musical” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

[rating=5]Energetic and vibrant, “Titanic: The Musical” is perfection itself. Presented by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the show is resplendent with marvelous singing and acting, brilliant directing, eye-popping sets, gorgeous music, and everything else that makes for great entertainment. The musical, based on true events, was written by Peter Stone and was the winner of five Tony Awards. A bit of a cross between the movie “Titanic” and the TV program “The Love Boat” plus an abundance of music and dance numbers, the show is framed by intensive historical, navigational, and engineering research. Spoiler alert: We all know that the luxury ocean liner was on its maiden voyage and struck an iceberg, and we all know how it ends: in tragedy. Yet despite all the sadness and the loss of so many lives, we can take comfort that romance still flourishes, that people for the most part are good and decent, and that something important can be learned by studying the lessons of this horrible disaster.

In April 1912, the RMS Titanic brought together numerous people from all walks of life; and in this performance, we witness how each of them wants to realize their dreams by traveling across the Atlantic Ocean from Southampton, England, to New York City. Bruce Ismay (Andrew Varela), an English businessman and president of the White Star Line (the company that operates the Titanic), keeps wanting the ship to go faster and faster for publicity reasons, while Captain Edward Smith (David Hess) is eager to please. (After all, it is his last sea voyage before retirement.) On board are the wealthy and prominent people, who are delighted to travel in luxurious first-class accommodations so that they can be catered to so royally. Then there are those in second-class who are solidly middle-class, many of whom are tourists, as well as those who aspire to rise socially and become “like their betters.” Finally, those in third-class (steerage) yearn for greatness in their own way: These immigrants seek the prospect of coming to America, where the streets are paved with gold and they can start their lives over again. For many, coming to a new land represents a new beginning—and possibly the end of class distinctions.

Although each performer is better than the next, there are some memorable standouts. Lillian Castillo does an incredible job infecting the audience with her optimism and zest for life as she portrays Alice, a woman of moderate means wanting to live the life of the aristocracy. Matt Daniels, who plays the pitman and Etches, combines his strength of physique and character with a remarkably fine singing voice. And Philip Hoffman, as Isidor Straus, makes a very convincing owner of Macy’s Department Store. Every actor in the show portrays a real person onboard ship, and there are so many great performers that they cannot all be listed here.

Director Mark Clements seamlessly moves us from one scene to another without skipping a beat. He cleverly utilizes all parts of the auditorium to widen our perspective of the ship and nicely rotates all the occurrences taking place on stage. The incredible sets are perhaps the most outstanding element of the show. I never saw a crowd ooh and aah over scenic design as I did here. Tim Mackabee has done extraordinary work building large sets that move quickly and generate excitement. One moment, the audience sees the captain and crew steering the ship; the next moment, we see the passengers strolling the deck. Together with Jason Fassl’s amazing lighting design, the re-creation of being onboard such a large vessel is so well done! In particular, one scene with several people on deck with a pink sky and blue water in the background was so lovely and realistic-looking that the audience did a collective gasp. It is a marvel to see the shining stars in the sky and the way they light up the stage and the characters. Mike Tutaj’s video and projection design could not have been any better. Having relevant dates displayed as supertitles when parts of the story take place and having those letters fade in and out is exceptional. Costume design by Alexander B. Tecoma is perfect to the minutest detail, and extraordinary research and handiwork has gone into crafting each garment. No detail has been spared or left to chance.

What can a musical be without fantastic music and dance! While the original music and lyrics are by Maury Yeston, with orchestrations by Joshua Clayton, it is music director and keyboardist Dan Kazemi, who leads the show’s orchestra beautifully. He and musical supervisor John Tanner have taken the original score and have constructed a masterful repertoire. The balance of vocals and music is done exceedingly well due to the efforts of sound designer Cricket S. Myers. The sound is great, although I personally wore a set of earplugs. Jenn Rose does an awesome job as a choreographer, and there are a lot of great dance numbers that add tons of vitality to the production.

The historical aspects of the show cannot be minimized. A half hour before the performance began, there was a very informative lecture about the history of invention and mechanical innovation, leading up to the building of the Titanic. The Titanic followed the building of similar ships like the Kaiser Wilhelm and the Lusitania, and it was preceded by a sister ship called the Olympic, followed by one called the Gigantic, also launched by White Star. Even though the ship had advanced safety features and was engineered to be “unsinkable” with its iron and steel construction, not enough precautions had been taken in its design to ensure the safety of everyone at sea. Above all, the Titanic lacked enough lifeboats, as the space for the necessary number to accommodate all the passengers and crew was sacrificed to building more elegant surroundings for those in first class. While the use of the radio and the telegraph meant that ship-to-shore communications and inter-ship communications could be sent and received in real time, the iceberg warnings were largely being ignored. Hence the unfortunate collision ultimately had to do with human error in the way that the ship was being operated.

This is the first show I’ve been to since COVID with masks optional. This was in part because I had left the confines of Cook County and was now in Wisconsin. Maybe 1/6 of the audience wore masks, including myself. What was interesting was that families and groups of friends who came to the theatre together often had some members wearing masks and others who didn’t. Coincidentally, in the car on my way back home, I had my radio tuned to WTMJ (620 AM), and I listened to how COVID numbers in Milwaukee had recently gone up, such that the city decided to reinstate its mask mandate on public transportation. That said, I have no idea if or how the rising numbers of cases may or may not affect theatregoers in the near future.

If ever a performance deserved a glowing review, “Titanic: The Musical” is the one! The audience loved every moment of it! As I took the elevator down to the parking garage afterwards, a gentleman who had been in the audience with me said, “It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.” No doubt it got a standing ovation.

“Titanic: The Musical” runs through May 15, 2022, at the Quadracci Powerhouse, at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, 108 East Wells Street, in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Ticket prices begin at $20 and go up depending on seat location and date and time of the performance.

Performance schedule:

Wednesdays – 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays – 7:30 p.m.
Fridays – 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays – 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Sundays – 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Special performances:

Thursday, April 28th, 7:30 p.m. – American Sign Language performance
Sunday, May 1st, 2:00 p.m. – Closed captioning performance

For tickets, go to: https://www.milwaukeerep.com/shows/show/titanic-the-musical/.

For more information about tickets, you can reach the ticket office by calling 414-224-9490 or by emailing tickets@milwaukeerep.com. You can also visit the ticket office in person (108 E. Wells Street, Milwaukee).

Visit http://www.milwaukeerep.com for general information about the theater and to learn about their other offerings, or call 414-224-9490.

Parking is available via iParkit.com at the Milwaukee Center Self Park, 819 N. Water Street. For parking information and directions to the venue and the parking garage, go to: https://www.milwaukeerep.com/visit/directions-parking/.
Note that the parking facility is directly below the theater.

Please check the website for information about current COVID protocols, which may be subject to change at any moment. See: https://www.milwaukeerep.com/covid-19-update-center/.