Titanic the Musical

This show takes the audience on a wonderful journey with the crew and passengers of the ill-fated RMS Titanic - from the joy and excitement of joining the ship to the terror and stillness of its end – and the wonderful cast of Broughty Ferry AOS wrung every ounce of emotion from the score and dialogue leaving many of the first night audience with tears in their eyes. The ensemble singing, especially in Godspeed Titanic and the Finale, was outstanding. Paul Campbell as Commander Edward J Smith gave a powerful portrayal of the captain forced to take actions which went against all his years of experience just to satisfy the ego of the ship’s owner J Bruce Ismay, played so well by Bruce Martin that you just wanted to get up on stage and shake him and tell him to listen to those who knew better! The trio “The Blame” between the Captain, Ismay and the ship’s designer Thomas Andrews, played by David Newton, was excellent. Strong performances were given by Ross Leslie as Frederick Barrett the stoker and Ruaridh Mathieson as Harold Bride the wireless operator, their voices blending well in the duet “The Proposal/The Night Was Alive”. Strong support was given by Scott McRuvie as First Officer William Murdoch, Jacob Dudgeon as Second Officer Charles Lightoller and Marceli Guziewicz as lookout Frederick Fleet. Ashley Gorman was a delightfully vivacious Kate McGowan, full of aspirations in the “Lady’s Maid” number with the other two Kates – Kate Mullins (Susie Long) and Kate Murphey (Carina Millar). Jill Davidson as the social-climbing Alice Beane, along with her long-suffering husband Edgar played by Ged Ryan, added a lighter touch to the events at their every appearance. As did Sandy Kennedy as the ever busy Senior 1st Class Steward Henry Etches. Jen Shearer was an elegant and imposing Charlotte Cardoza surrounded by her coterie of cigar smoking, well-heeled card players John J Astor (George Anderson), Benjamin Guggenheim (Jurek Rzepecki), John B Thayer (Sal Baradhi), George Widener (Alan Calder-McNicoll), J H Rogers (Ewan Campbell) and lastly the boring Major (Roger Buist). The highlight for me of every production I have seen of this show is the wonderfully sentimental love duet sung by the elderly couple Isidor and Ida Strauss just before ship sinks “Still” and Graeme Smith and Elizabeth Wylie’s rendition did not disappoint. The orchestra under the baton of Richard Waghorn handled the difficult score beautifully. The relatively simple multi-level set worked well and, with some atmospheric lighting, added greatly to the drama of the evening. Well done everyone and Godspeed!

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