"Titanic" Takes the Stage

My pal Dave Lavender provides a great story about the musical Titanic, which takes the stage this weekend in Huntington.

Here, take a look:

When the 43-member cast of Titanic The Musical takes to the stage in Act 1 to bring the vocal thunder on such songs as "I Must Get On That Ship" and "Godspeed Titanic," there's not an extra inch of space on the historic Jean Carlo Stephenson auditorium stage.

Nor should there be, as it is essential to show that everyone is on board and that everyone -- regardless of class and where they were on the ship -- has a story to tell.

Filled with equal parts joy, drama and sadness, the immense musical, Titanic, which won a Tony for Best Musical in 1997, steams into opening weekend as Fifth Avenue Theatre Company presents the musical with superb timing -- just a year before folks mark the 100-year anniversary of its sinking on April 15, 1912.

Under the direction of Eddie Harbert, the epic historically-accurate musical, Titanic sets sail at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 29-30 and May 6-7, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 1 and May 8, at the Jean Carlo Stephenson Auditorium in Huntington City Hall.

Folks should arrive at least 45 minutes before the show to see the historical exhibit downstairs in the lobby and featuring authentic props (such as blueprints and dishes) and costumes from the blockbuster movie, "Titanic," and local newspaper accounts of the tragedy.

There will also be a children's pre-show called, "The Titanic Comes to Town."

Tickets are now on sale (304-696-5522) for $15 and $12 for children.

Director Eddie Harbert said he always thought "Titanic," the most expensive show of all time when it first came to Broadway, would be too difficult.

"I just wanted to do something different, and we were looking at scripts and nothing really rang true," Harbert said. "I had never seriously thought about 'Titanic' because I thought it would be too hard. But I was going through some stuff on the Internet and I just fell in love with the music. It was so stirring and it made me want to do it."

And if Harbert was going to do it, he was going to do it right.

Once Fifth Avenue cast the production, they took a weekend trip to the world's largest Titanic museum in Pigeon, Forge, Tenn., home to more than 400 personal and private artifacts from the sinking of the ship, which sank with 2,223 passengers on board.

Of those passengers, 1,517 died within minutes.

It was at the museum that they learned of so many of the touching stories like the love story of U.S. House of Representatives member, Isidor and Ida Strauss (played by Bill Hannah and Sharon Whitehead). Although she could have boarded a lifeboat without her husband, she refused and they died together sitting in deck chairs as the boat sank.

Hearing those stories and putting their hands into 31-degree water (the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean where the Titanic sank just south of Newfoundland), hammered home the humanity of the show said assistant director Zach Davis, who also has a role in the musical.

"I think initially you focus just on the tragedy but I think going there our focus shifted to the fact that these were real everyday people and I think getting to know them it really puts your own lives in perspective," said Davis, who is the father of an 8-month-old son. "I think it makes you appreciate what you have."

To make that human connection to the 99-year-old tragedy, Fifth Avenue is handing out with each program information about one of the passengers boarding the Titanic and the audience members will not know (unless they really know their Titanic history), whether or not the person makes it to a lifeboat or perishes in the chilly sea.

"I think a defining moment at the museum was when you are in third class and you go to the gate that was locked and you go and look through the gate and see the water coming down the steps," Harbert said. "We have water coming down the steps in the production and it so motivated us and there are lots of moments like that in the show. I think it became the mission of all of us to bring the stories of these people here. It is a celebration of their life."

To further cement that bond and to build some suspense in getting to see the massive two-story ship set, the production also begins in a unique way and different from the Broadway production. The crew and passengers walk in from the back of the theater up the middle aisle, onto the gangplank and onto the stage with the curtain drawn like they are on the dock ready to set sail.

Actor Josh Janotta who plays Frederick Barrett, the poor man shoveling coal into the Titanic's boilers to get it going faster and faster during the show, sets the timbre of the show as he stops, takes the hands of audience members while passionately bellowing the number, "Fare-Thee-Well," which he sings with Ron Short, who plays telegraph operator, Harold Bride, and David Day who plays crewman Fredrick Fleet.

Choreographer Coni Anthony, who is doing her 18th show with Harbert since she moved to Huntington in 1993, said from the program to the unique opening choreography, "Titanic" draws the audience immediately into this widely varying cast of characters. Anthony said it has been a challenge working with so many cast members so they found ways to further the story within limited space.

"It's been a challenge but they sound fabulous, and it is an amazing and a touching story," Anthony said. "I think because you learn so much about them you have an affection for them."

Anthony also likes the fact that the musical, with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and book by Peter Stone, so well splays out the string of errors that caused the ship, which struck a massive iceberg late on the night of April 14, 1912 to sink some three hours later at about 2:45 a.m. on the morning of April 15.

Though there is a deep cast and a wide range of song and scene focus among the ships' classes, certainly three of the most important parts lie in the men, the ship builder, Thomas Andrews, played by Mike Murdock; the White Star Line owner, J. Bruce Ismay, played by Greg Kiser and the ship's captain, E.J. Smith, played by Scott Black, with whom the Titanic's fate lies.

"There were so many things that could have gone wrong and did," Anthony said. "There was a ship only 10 miles away on that night but did not come to their rescue because they didn't have a radio. People say they tempted God when they called it unsinkable and maybe they did. It went down it 90 minutes and was lost, and was full of people who had hopes and dreams for what lie ahead in America."
The ship is sailing

WHAT: Fifth Avenue Theatre Company's production of "Titanic The Musical" with a massive two-story ship set and featuring a cast of 43 people under the direction of Eddie Harbert

WHERE: Jean Carlo Stephenson Auditorium at Huntington City Hall

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 29-30 and May 6-7, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 1 and May 8.

HOW MUCH: $15 and $12 for children

GET TIX: Call 304-696-5522 or at the door

THE PRE-SHOW: The pre-show will start 45 minutes before each show. Stacy Bond is directing the pre-show called "The Titanic Comes to Town." Kids performing in the pre-show include: Jenny Morrison, Elise Hager, Christian Morrison, Danielle Reber, Tabitha Miller, Joey Hager, Zoie Fornash, Dhania Bond, Lily Hager, Paige Griffith, Madyson Knipp, Todd Claypool, Nathaniel Fornash and Trista Esque.

THE EXHIBIT: In the lobby a one-of-a-kind display of Titanic items including costumes and movie props from the famous blockbuster 20th Century Fox film, "Titanic," including a life preserver and chair on loan from an anonymous theater patron in Huntington. And Central City Cafe has loaned its framed front page Huntington newspaper announcing the Titanic disaster.

ON DECK FOR FIFTH AVENUE: Noises Off on Sept. 9-11 and Sept. 16-18, and "White Christmas" Dec. 2-4- and Dec. 8-11.

ON THE WEB: www.cityofhuntingtonfoundation.org