I love history. If you asked me two years ago what I was going to do with my life, I was going to study history. Fast forward two years and now I am studying film and really enjoying. Anyways, I remember when I was in year 5 at school we did a project on the Titanic. I remember really enjoying this project and I remember going to museums and just soaking up all the information like I was a sponge. Since then, I have never really touched the history of Titanic again, however, I have watched (many times) the film Titanic directed by James Cameron. I even based my A Level film coursework off of this film. So, it is fair to say, that I like learning about the Titanic. When I heard about Titanic: The Musical, I knew I would have to go and see it.
Yesterday, I was one of the luckiest bloggers as I was invited to go and watch Titanic: The Musical. I was invited along with the Southampton Bloggers to go and see the hit broadway musical Titanic at the Mayflower Theatre. Titanic: The Musical was first released on broadway in 1997, it ran for two years and in that time won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score. The show ran in London at the Charring Cross Theatre and now Titanic is going on tour. The tour is starting in Southampton, which I thought was a really nice touch as Southampton is where the ship set off for its maiden voyage.
Let me give you a brief history lesson on the Titanic. The Titanic was a luxury cruise liner that was owned by the White Star Line. It was designed and built by Thomas Andrews in Northern Ireland. The largest moving object on earth made its way down to Southampton ready for the maiden voyage to New York. The ship left Southampton on the 10th April 1912, with 1,317 passengers on board. The owner of the ship, Joseph Ismar, was pushing Captain Edward Smith to increase the speed of the ship to make the headlines that the ship had arrived early in New York. The Captain agreed to increase the speed and ignored the warnings of ice.
On the 14th April 1912 at 11:40pm the ship hits an iceberg. It damages many of the water tight compartments, too many for the ship to stay afloat, and the ship starts to sink. It takes two hours and forty minutes for the ship to disappear below the water. The ship only had 20 lifeboats which could only accommodate a third of the 2,222 people on board. 1,517 people lost their lives and the Titanic became one of the most tragic disasters of the 20th Century.
The musical is not like the film, Jack and Rose don’t make an appearance! However, the show is based off of real people that were aboard the ship. The story focuses on their hopes and dreams that they want to try and achieve once they get to America. You get to know a number of passengers from the different classes all dreaming of making a life for themselves. The Third Class Passengers dream of having a better life. The Second Class passengers wish they could also enjoy the lifestyle of the rich First Class passengers. The First Class passengers just wish that their legacy and richness will continue. Throughout the show, you get to know many different characters. You never really attach to one character as there are multiple narratives in the story. You get to learn little bits about all of the characters which is a nice touch.
I felt that the acting in this was incredible. The Captain, Andrews and Ismar were portrayed exceptionally well. The music was also stunning and the harmonies were insane. Another incredible portrayal was of the bell boy. He was an incredible actor and had a superb singing voice. In fact, the whole cast was incredible. I could not fault them.
I’m not going to lie, I did get rather emotional at this show. I cried multiple times. The narrative is just so moving and emotional. I cried at the start as they were all boarding the ship, as I knew that not all of them were going to survive. Another time there were tears falling was when the women were leaving on the lifeboat and they were leaving behind their partners. They did this so well and it was so moving.
One thing that I was concerned about when hearing about the show was how they were going to portray a sinking ship. I understand that this is technically very difficult, but let me tell you, they did it well. The set was super simple. It consisted of a stage, a balcony and a moving staircase. How they showed the stern (back) of the ship being raised vertically was stunning. It was like the audience was a witness of the ship sinking. It was beautiful and very moving.
At the end of the show, the entire audience was up on their feet applauding the cast for such an incredible performance. I don’t think I’ve been to a show where the entire audience was on their feet. It was a sight to see and I think that a standing ovation speaks volumes. It was a bloomin’ good show.
A massive thank you for to the Mayflower for the invitation. I would 100% recommend to go and see this show, but remember your tissues! You can book tickets to see Titanic: the Musical at the Mayflower here. You can also find out where else the tour is going here. Make sure you check out my other theatre reviews here.
