Interview: LaKendra Tookes of TITANIC: AN IMMERSIVE VOYAGE at Royalston Square

Ahead of the opening of Titanic: An Immersive Voyage in Minnesota, BroadwayWorld Minnesota spoke with Exhibition Hub Host LaKendra Tookes about the experience and what visitors can expect. Tookes also shared what it means to be part of the exhibition, some of her favorite elements, and what she hopes visitors take away from the story of the Titanic.

What does it mean to you to be a part of this exhibit?

Coming from the entertainment industry, I have always believed in the power of storytelling to transport an audience somewhere else. That is what makes being part of Titanic: An Immersive Voyage so exciting to me. Exhibition Hub and Fever have taken a story that people around the world already know and found a completely different way to tell it. Instead of watching the story unfold from a theater seat or on a screen, the audience gets to step inside it. To be part of an ‘edutainment’ experience that combines history, entertainment, technology and emotion in that way is incredibly special.

What can attendees expect from this exhibit?

Expect a production. Titanic: An Immersive Voyage is not a traditional museum experience where you simply move from display case to display case. There are artifacts and so much history to discover, but there are also dramatic room recreations, 3D views, video animations, immersive galleries and incredible technology that make you feel like you have entered another time and place. From an entertainment perspective, I love the way Exhibition Hub and Fever use all of those elements to build a story around you. You are not just learning about Titanic, you are experiencing the journey through the eyes of the people who were there.

What is your favorite part of the exhibit?

My favorite part is the immersive storytelling itself. As someone who works in entertainment, I am fascinated by what happens when you can make an audience forget for a moment that they are standing inside an exhibition. There are moments in Titanic: An Immersive Voyage when the scale of the visuals, sound, technology and recreated environments really pull you into the story. I especially love the recreated spaces because they give you that theatrical feeling of walking onto an incredible set — except here, everything is grounded in a real story and real people. That combination makes it very powerful.

What do you hope attendees take away from this experience?

I hope they walk away entertained, but also moved. The best entertainment stays with you because it makes you feel something, and I think Titanic: An Immersive Voyage does exactly that. We know Titanic as this enormous cultural story that has inspired movies, documentaries, books and generations of fascination, but this experience brings you back to the humanity at the center of it. These were real people with dreams, relationships and futures ahead of them. If people leave wanting to talk about what they saw, learn more about the people aboard Titanic and share the experience with someone else, then we have done what great storytelling is supposed to do — created a connection that lasts beyond the experience itself.

Thank you LaKendra for your time!