Today we are celebrating a particularly epic and eminently emotionally evocative Best Musical Tony Award winner just announced to be returning to the Great White Way later this year in a stripped-down, back-to-basics production based on a recent rapturously-received hit London revival - Maury Yeston and Peter Stone's TITANIC!
In Every Age Originally opening on April 23, 1997 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and ultimately running there for 804 performances, the premiere production of TITANIC started out as anything but a dream - the preview period itself has been described by many directly involved as an all-out nightmare, as a matter of fact; and, understandably so. Originally book-ended by a contemporary prologue and epilogue depicting the unearthing of the famed drowned luxury ship in 1986, the musical was extensively revised and rewritten over the course of its somewhat long preview period. Composer/lyricist Maury Yeston adjusted many musical passages and added material that would go on to become among the most cherished in the score, while master bookwriter Peter Stone and director Richard Jones continued to shape and refine the complex, multi-layered story weaving together fact and fiction in an entertaining and intriguing manner. Undoubtedly, the most problematic element of all those endured during the 27 previews was the oft-malfunctioning three-tiered set, which reflected the sinking of the ship as the show progressed with an increasingly raked series of levels upon which the actors inhabited the various classes on the ship - steerage to crow's nest. It was a massive production and the famous sinking of the ship was addressed in a surprising way, indeed, yet the prospects of the production as a whole looked quite dire as it faced unfavorable reviews once it finally opened and the production was at last finalized and frozen.
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