Displaying items by tag: Peter Stone

As a lifelong aficionado of the ill-fated ocean liner RMS Titanic, I’ve always gravitated toward any experience that would leave me feeling immersed in that famous moment of an era that nobody any of us knows anymore is alive to remember. I’ve watched every grainy, dated video interview with actual survivors of the shipwreck I can find on YouTube. I’ve even listened to audio rips of ancient vinyl interviews with others who were there and who lived. One of the several times I saw James Cameron’s Hollywood opus during its initial 1997 theatrical run was seated on the flooded floor of an overbooked movie house during a torrential rainstorm; it was like virtual reality, but way soggier!

I’ve learned all I can about the unfathomable chain of events that left the liner many fathoms below the Atlantic. And I’ve tried just as hard to learn about that long-gone period in which the wealthy crossed seas on boats instead of private jets, and immigrants did the same to an America that once welcomed them. But despite the books and the videos and the museum exhibits, April 15, 1912, seems as long ago as Gettysburg or the pyramids.

That’s why I truly appreciated and enjoyed the Marriott Theatre’s current run of Maury Yeston and Peter Stone’s Tony-winning Titanic: The Musical. Instead of awing me with titanic recreations of the floating behemoth like Cameron’s film or an array of sunken artifacts recovered from the seabed over two miles below, this production directed and choreographed by Connor Gallagher made me think about the things that were really lost on that calm April night. The somethings, actually. The someones. 1,517 someones.

Utilizing the Marriott’s theater-in-the-round setup, Gallagher lets his cast—the people on board the boat—bring this early-20^th-century story well into the 21^st. And what a cast he brings along for the cruise!

But first, we feasted. The Marriott has transformed its Three Embers Restaurant into the White Star Grill. Featuring food that would’ve been served to the passengers of the White Star Line’s crown jewel, the eponymous Titanic, I was already being time-warped back to 1912 before I’d set foot in the theater proper. Braised short rib. Wood fired lamb. Poached king salmon. Chicken lyonnaise. It was all food a gourmand of the time might have expected prepared as they sailed the Atlantic. And they would’ve approved of the Marriott’s take on the fare. What a way to start a night out!

Waldorf Pudding at the White Star Grill

As dinner digested, we met the folks who, in less than two hours, would either be among the 706 survivors of the disaster, or the more than twice as many who’d be listed among the dead.

Of course, there were the famous figures—famous in their time because of their social status and still famous because of their choice of transportation. There were Guggenheims and there were Astors. And just as rich, but as charming in their humility as they were onscreen and seem to have been in reality, were Isidor and Ida Straus, the elderly couple who co-founded Macy’s and who went down, together, with the ship. Mark David Kaplan’s Isidor was lovable, while his wife Ida, who’d loved him for over forty years, was played by Heidi Kettenring, whose vocal performances throughout the show were breathtaking.

Those known for the responsibility of Titanic’s existence and demise were well represented, as well. David Girolmo’s Captain Smith was as stoic and somber as the ancient mariner he already was on what was to be his final voyage after Titanic’s maiden trip. Christopher Kale Jones’ builder of the boat, Thomas Andrews, looked more haunted and heartbroken as the fate of his creation and himself sank in. And Adam Pelty played J. Bruce Ismay, head of the White Star Line, and as close to a villain as the story has, all business and bully and bluster as the boat makes its way toward the tale’s true villain, the iceberg.

Heidi Kettenring and Mark David Kaplan in Titaninc: The Musical at Marriott Theatre

But just as it was with the actual Titanic, the many other people along for the ride made the whole thing human, made it real, made us feel like we were there. If anyone could be called a hero in this story without any, it would be stoker Frederick Barrett, played by Darian Goulding. Goulding’s got the most fleshed-out storyline and maybe the most musical lines, too, and he makes the most of them with a wonderful voice and a way of portraying a guy from the days of coal-powered steam engines.

Another everyday person looking to make it across the pond is with-child Irishwoman Kate McGowan, played by Erica Stephan, who seems to fit into every role and production she’s part of. James Earl Jones II and Lillian Castillo also wow as American couple Edgar and Alice Beane who try to blend in with the other passengers, but who instead steal the spotlight with their own wonderful musical numbers. Another couple in love played by Francesca Mehrotra and Will Lidke were maybe my favorite vocalists of the evening, although Matthew Hommel’s dual roles as boy telegrapher Harold Bride and bandmaster Wallace Hartley reserved for him two of the evening’s best songs.

And, backing all of these varied performances and the ongoing score was as tight a Marriott orchestra as I’ve heard, conducted by Brad Haak.

When you head to Marriott Theatre’s Titanic: The Musical—playing now until June 1—you won’t find priceless trinkets plucked from the ocean floor, nor will you find lifelike walls of riveted steel. But you will find a lovely dinner followed by a truly immersive night to remember as you meet some of the people who lived, and who didn’t, on that calm Atlantic evening over 113 years ago.

*This review is also featured on https://www.theatreinchicago.com/!

Griffin Theatre Company has taken on the feat of recreating the Tony Award-winning musical Titanic. Launching this production in a much more intimate space at Theater Wit, the audience gets a real close up feel to the action and is able to capture the bevy of emotions delivered first hand. Scott Weinstein directs Griffin’s Titanic with intensity, giving this production a true feel of tragedy and humankind.

We are all familiar with Titanic’s maiden voyage that where the luxury passenger liner launched from Southampton, UK and sank in the Atlantic on April 15^th 1912 after hitting an iceberg on its way to New York City. In Peter Stone’s Titanic, we join the excitement prior to the ships fateful launch where the ship is boasted as the largest and fastest passenger sea vessel that also comes with the tag “indestructible”. Families, friends and crew members are giddy with enthusiasm and anticipation as projected so well in the show’s magnificent opening number “In Every Age”. After Titanic’s triumphant departure, we are taken to both the luxurious world of the ship as well as that of the lesser class. In its five day voyage, we are taken to ballroom extravaganzas, fine dining and also to the far less glamorous galleys and crew quarters.

All the while the good Captain Edward Smith and First Officer William Murdoch look to steady the course but do so under the pressure of ship owner White Star Line to increase its speed in order to break the speed record to cross the Atlantic. Finally, on a dark and quiet night, lookout Frederick Fleet notified Murdoch of an iceberg due ahead, but it was too late to maneuver, the ship receiving a 300-foot gash in its side, doomed to sink in the frigid waters. In all the panic and commotion we learn that there are only enough lifeboats to save a third of the ship’s passengers. Ultimately only 700 or so of the Titanic’s 2224 passengers would survive, the rest condemned to a watery grave.

In Griffin’s Titanic, we get a real sense of devastation after what is at first denial (after all they are on an indestructible ship). We see the blame game shifted between architect, White Star Line and the Captain. It is an interesting dynamic as we see both unbridled selfishness and unselfishness between the passengers as some are intent on saving themselves while some are more interested in trying to help others.

The set, though simple, converts well from ship deck, to dining hall and living quarters, to ship exterior. The music is strong and heartfelt (also newly reworked). Many numbers are memorable, seizing the essence of the situation so very well such as “I Give You My Hand”, “To Be a Captain”, “I Have Danced” and “God Lift Me Up”. We also get a number of excellent acting performances in the large cast of twenty, making this a very solid production that has everything you would want in a musical tragedy.

Griffin Theatre Company’s Titanic is a high seas adventure you will not soon forget. It’s a big show in a smaller theatre. This warm and stunning production is being performed at Theater Wit (1229 W Belmont) through December 7^th and tickets are priced at a very worthwhile $39. For more information, you can visit www.griffintheatre.com.