Review: All Hands on Deck for TITANIC, THE MUSICAL at Omaha Community Playhouse!

Full speed ahead! The Omaha Community Playhouse has taken to the water with a 1997 Tony Award winning musical, TITANIC, THE MUSICAL. An ambitious undertaking based on actual events of the April 15, 1912 maiden voyage of the unsinkable RMS TITANIC, the musical displays humanity in all its shades when facing the prospect of a better life across the Atlantic or imminent death in its icy waters.

Written by Peter Stone with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, the musical ran on Broadway for more than 800 performances, but was ungainly as a traveling production due to it massive set. OCP’s Jim Othuse did a fine job creating the illusion of a ship using ladders and wooden framework.

Susan Baer Collins, Co-Artistic Director whose association with OCP dates back to 1979, has directed this show as her final voyage. Collins’ reputation as a master director is stellar. She has received numerous awards and the Nebraska State Governor’s Artist of the Year Award with veteran Carl Beck. Someone this experienced and skilled can be counted on to deliver only the finest, and she has.

Most people are familiar with the story of the TITANIC disaster, either through history or the Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio movie of 1997. Who hasn’t tried to recreate the scene where Kate and Leonardo are balanced at the bow of the ship with arms out flung?

The ending scenes of this production include a sobering film scrolling the names of the lives lost at sea. Sadly, only 20 lifeboats were included with the brand new ship when there should have been 54 to accommodate the 2,224 passengers onboard. Furthermore, there were reportedly 450 vacant seats on the lifeboats and there had been no evacuation drills prior to sailing. In one of the most dramatic scenes, TITANIC owner Bruce Ismay (Jay Srygley), Captain Edward Smith (Chris Thackray), and TITANIC builder and designer Thomas Andrews (Chris Ebke) shout sing “The Blame,” trying to pin the catastrophe on each other. Was it a poor design? Was it the pressure to arrive in NYC by a certain time?… after all, speed was more important than comfort and safety. Was it the ignoring of the messages sent to the bridge by Radioman Harold Bride (Aron Murname)?

The large cast represented the three classes onboard. Third class passengers see the ship as a means to a future. The three Kates: Kate McGowan (Charlotte Hedican), Kate Mullins, (Elise Fossler), and Kate Murphey (Rachel Brich) express their hopes to become a ladies’ maid, a sewing girl, and a governess.

Second class passenger Alice Beane (Haylee Grosvenor) provides comic relief as she boldly steals every opportunity to hob nob with the actors and millionaires up in first class.

First class passengers represent those who are used to being treated with every courtesy and perk. Elderly couple Isidor Strauss (John Morrissey) and his wife Ida (Sarah Ebke) turn the stereotypes on their heads with their sacrificial devotion to each other and not to their wealth.

The characters portrayed are varied in status and personality. However, few are defined well enough for us to get to like them. Hedican’s plucky Kate McGowan is an exception. Her attempt to seek out a husband results in an onboard relationship with a positive outlook.

As far as the music, Music Director Jim Boggess and his orchestra are consistently excellent. Vocals range from amazing to incredible to sublime. “Barrett’s Song” sung by Troy Allen and “Ladies’ Maid” sung by Hedican with the perfectly harmonized voices of Fosller and Murphey stand out. The music itself leaves something to be desired for me, but the golden voices of the cast make up for it.

Choreographer Michelle Garrity created something special when she crafted the scene with the guys in the boiler room with the shovels. The smokiness, the energy, the synchronization felt like a scene from HADESTOWN. I loved it.

This is a musical you can admire even if you don’t love the music or want to befriend the characters. It has a real history. It has a message: Who DOES decide who gets to live?

TITANIC THE MUSICAL runs through Jun 29. Tickets are available at www.ticketomaha.com or by contacting the box office at 402-553-0800.