Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, until 27 March 2010

Titanic The Musical

INVERNESS Opera has a problem. They have chosen to put on a little known show based on a story that everybody knows. Everyone knows that the Titanic strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks with huge loss of life. The problem is that the show does not sink; in fact it is a great success.

Let’s look at some of the statistics to gauge the level of that success. There may be only two acts, but there are twenty-three scenes, and in view of my comments about previous shows, it is a pleasure to report that, for the most part, the scene changes were slick and seamless.

There are forty-three named roles, and another eleven unnamed ones, and that is before we get to the extra general passengers, the twenty musicians in the pit orchestra under the direction of Steve Jones, the dozen or so stage crew, and all the front of house members who make the audience so welcome. With so much to manage it is inevitable that, with one or two exceptions, the show is a series of tableaux, rather than dramatic scenes.

Although Titanic – The Musical was a hit on Broadway about ten years ago, it has yet to have a professional production in the United Kingdom, so Maury Yeston’s tunes are new ground for Inverness, and there are many reasons why that ground should be fertile.

The main theme is big and expansive, and it seems to be a background for so much of the show, from the opening Prologue with the story behind Titanic being projected onto the stage screen, and sometimes slightly too much onto the stage floor, right through to the closing scene of the survivors on board the Carpathia and a reminder of the optimism of the passengers and crew boarding the Titanic at Southampton.

Maury Yeston tells his story through the sense of conflict between the three main characters – Thomas Andrews the naval architect, played by Des Devine, proud and confident about his creation until beset by doubts; J Bruce Ismay, the owner of the White Star Line, determined to drive the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic, played by Richard Miemczyk; and Donnie Matheson as Captain E J Smith, on his last voyage before retirement.

To mitigate the tension between these three, there is a range of cameo roles to add a human touch to the story; Martin Anderson as First Officer Murdoch, unsure of his own capabilities; Peter Kelly as Stoker Barrett proposing to his girlfriend by telegraph; the sheer professionalism of Senior Steward Henry Etches, portrayed by Andy Warburton; the dancers and on-stage band performing the catchiest number in the show, ‘The Latest Rag'; the love and commitment between Isador and Ida Strauss, the owners of Macy’s Department Store, in the reliable hands of Scott Don and Jenni Lomax, going down together with the ship after singing ‘Still’, one of the most moving songs in the show.

The list could go on, and I apologise to all those members of the company who have put so much hard work and dedication into this production and are not getting a personal mention.

The design and lighting were simple but effective; with so many set changes there is no time for complicated sets, and every tableau was positioned in time and location by the supertitles projected above the stage. And well done to the wardrobe department; the costumes struck just the right chord and were a realistic reminder of how people dressed in those days before the Great War.

Finally, may I hold up my hand and admit that I was one of the doubters who were concerned about the choice made by Inverness Opera for this year’s main production? An unknown show in a very different style with a huge number of named roles and unfamiliar music and songs – it was a very brave decision. But thank you, Inverness Opera for proving that my apprehensions were unfounded.

© James Munro, 2010

Links

• Inverness Opera