The kids, who are only 5 to 11 years younger than me, are all right. Director Deb Gottesman introduced the Theatre Lab’s Musical Theatre Institute for Teens’ production of Titanic: The Musical by saying that the students had three and a half weeks to prepare the material, and I’m absolutely stunned by the astonishing results. This production had a cast and crew of 13- through 19-year-olds, and several belong in community and professional theater, stat.
Titanic: The Musical, with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone, debuted in 1997 on Broadway. Notably, it’s unrelated to Titanic, the movie with Jack and Rose, which was released in the same year. It’s especially different from the movie in that the film focuses on two characters while the musical focuses on about 30. Act I of the musical shows the hubris leading up to the iceberg strike, which happens seconds before the drawing of the curtain for intermission. Act II shows the sinking and briefly covers the aftermath for the survivors.
The Theatre Lab’s Musical Theatre Institute for Teens focuses on pushing students to successfully execute exceptionally difficult productions. The Director’s Note for this production from Gottesman includes the line “[W]e believe that people learn the most when they are asked to do the hardest things, even beginners.” This production proves the truth in that philosophy.
Set Designers Deb Gottesman and Angelo Merenda have created a full three-story set for this fabulous production: with three floors: a ground floor for the lower-deck third-class passengers, chefs, and engine crew; a second floor for the first-class passengers; and a very top floor for the captain and his mates. The set is made of metal rods that are thin enough to not block our visibility of any action onstage and are also so expertly assembled that we marvel at how such delicate-looking materials can create such a sturdy set that the cast climbs on throughout the show.
Antonio Amaral plays Thomas Andrews, the British businessman who was the naval architect and engineer of the Titanic, and he needs to be in professional theater as soon as someone can get him into something. He delivers a completely engrossing performance as this tragic figure who has just enough hubris for you to know he’s cooked, and just enough humility to make you like and admire him. He gives us a tour-de-force in the late-Act II song “Mr. Andrews’ Vision,” which someone sitting near me was correct to be filming.
This is especially true as he fails to ward off the repeated demands for increased speed from the aristocrat J. Birdie Ismay, also well-acted by Maggie Campione. Ismay constantly demands that Captain E.J. Smith (played by Basleel Dinessa), First Officer Murdoch (Reagan Scott), Second Officer Lightoller (Caroline Hutchins), and Third Officer Pitman (Clara Cortelletti) go faster, to the ship’s ultimate demise. Scott has the difficult assignment of being an actor, who might be a minor, who is required to play a character who walks off the stage to — spoiler — take their own life. These kids have stepped up to take on tough material.
There is such a diverse array of talent on display. As The Major and a dancer for the first-class passengers, Jeremy Cronenberg is a comedic joy to behold and I can’t wait to see him in future productions in DC. As aspiring first-classer Alice Beane, Joy Charbonneau-Lovaas is a phenomenal performer, delivering her lines and songs with remarkable fluidity and vocal strength. As downtrodden engine/boiler room worker Frederick Barrett, Jesse Kliman is a delightful performer as well.
Campione is cast as a gender-bent version of the real-life J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman and managing director of the White Star Line who was the highest-ranking White Star Line officer to survive the sinking. Campione, Amaral, and Dinessa as Captain Smith share a fantastic number in Act II, “The Blame,” which is about what it says on the tin, where they each deliver top-tier performances. Campione does a wonderful job making Ismay into a villain we love to hate — but part of me wonders if this is one of those examples of unfortunate representation, where a woman or member of a minority is cast in a villainous or unappealing role that doesn’t make the inclusion at play particularly productive, or necessarily helpful.
At the opening night show I saw, there were a few issues with sound for the horde of individual actors with individual lines, where mics would not be turned on in time for their lines, but this is an easy fix for future productions. Moreover, when the entire 37-student cast joins in song, it brings a tear to the eye — as do so many of the moments featuring couples about to experience parting by death, where I genuinely shed several. The lighting work by Lighting Designer Marianne Meadows was fantastic, and their collaboration with the set design team created an illuminated backdrop that can be adapted perfectly to reflect a vision of a night sky or the rising tides of the sea. The Theatre Lab team’s visual work on this production creates an absolutely spectacular image that lives up to the original Broadway set.
This production was truly stunning and truly didn’t even need to be reviewed under student production standards. These students are going to go on to further greatness, and as someone once said, we should be watching their careers with great interest.
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 20 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.
Titanic: The Musical played July 11 to 13, 2024, presented by The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts’ Musical Theatre Institute for Teens performing at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE, Washington, DC.
Titanic: The Musical
Story and Book by Peter Stone
Music and Lyrics by Maury Yeston
Directed by Deb Gottesman and Lucia LaNave
Choreographer Sarah Frances Williams
