A Dive into the Titanic Musical

Published 2023-04-07
1997 was certainly a good year for Titanic fans. Neither screen nor stage could keep away from discussing the Titanic's tragic maiden voyage. Most know the James Cameron screen adaptation well - it made box office history, which still holds water today. But, did you know there was a Broadway production that opened on the same year? Maury Yeston (Nine) and Peter Stone (1776) collaborated to tackle the herculean theme of Titanic - which naturally opens many commentary doors across a breadth of subjects. I decided to take a look at their piece from the history, the set, the characters and more.

00:00 Introduction
04:37 Why did they build Titanic?
08:52 Summary
24:25 Post summary
28:10 What you wore decided...
37:30 The infallibility of technology
44:48 Conclusion/Credits

Titanic Broadway Special:    • Titanic on Broadway Special - 1997  

All images and videos used in conjunction with the 'Fair Use Act'.

All Comments (21)
  • @TheDramaDorks
    Thanks for checking out this video. The subject of Titanic is huge and can go down so many rabbit holes. I tried my best to do my due diligence and be as thorough as possible - my computer storage is now at full capacity of books, pictures and topics I wanted to discuss on the matter but had to cut for time/relevancy to the musical. For clarity, I just wanted to add that for the summary some of the lines are out of context but this is due to the lack of decent pro shot material that's out there - the promo reconfigured lines in different scenarios (Ismay in the First class dining salon for example). And only recorded certain parts - the lack of Victoria Clark was quite sad to see. I really hope you enjoy this video. Titanic is a subject which has fascinated me since I was a child and I'm glad that I got to view it through the lens of one of my favourite mediums. There is still so much we will never truly know and it falls into a type of mythology where everyone has a different take on the matter. - including this adaptation. I'd love to hear yours. Please share with your two other Irish Kate's 😀
  • I can't believe this channel only has 12k subscribers. I'm not even a major theater fan (somewhere between "casual" and "knows more than the average normie"), but I eat this and Wait in the Wings' content up. I'd never heard of this production before. It reminds me of when I was in a high-school graphic arts class and made up a program for Hindenburg: The Musical. Granted, my song titles were more tasteless.
  • @hambaby931
    in touching on the racial aspect of how people in the titanic were treated, one story i always think of is about masabumi hosono (grandfather of haruomi hosono of yellow magic orchestra), a japanese civil servant who survived the sinking of the titanic. when he got back to japan, people thought he was dishonorable for saving himself of going down with the ship (he was falsely believed to have pushed other passengers aside to get on a lifeboat), and american and british press didn't really care about him either because he was japanese so his story went untold for decades
  • My parents took me to see this on tour in 1998 and it changed my life. One of my favorite musicals, and vastly slept on from a technical standpoint. The score is STUNNING and gives me chills every time.
  • "Where you go, I go," walked so "You jump, I jump, right?" could run, apparently. Also Brian D'arcy James was fine as hell in this musical...
  • @Erni3K
    I've only seen a high school version of this, but a friend saw the original run and was....gobsmacked at how dreary it was. I do love the idea that the ship is the victim. Thanks!
  • @markbeck8384
    I think this really is a tremendous musical, and treats it's subject with great dignity. Of course, it's Broadway, so there is a little romance, a little comedy, to keep it moving; but the ending is really poignant.
  • @dorisopen1869
    Worked on it in a German theater only a few weeks ago. Has to be the best production from start to finish that I have worked on in my whole theater carreer. Great cast, costume, stage and of course music. Hope we will play it again soon!
  • @hazelleblanc8969
    I saw this on Broadway and went in with exactly the attitude you mentioned - how can they possibly make a musical out of such a tragedy. I had no trouble following the large cast; perhaps the fact that my husband is a huge Titanic junkie so I already was familiar with some of the characters, was a help. I felt that they got the emotions of the situation spot on, and the three tiered stage really gave you a sense of the separation of the classes. Victoria Clark, who played Alice, had so bubbled with life, and her husband had shown his love for her by putting up with all her nonsense about the first class passengers. When she turned around in her Carpathia blanket and looked completely drained of life, I actually felt a chill run down my back. Great acting.
  • @DrOz-pe5fh
    "Autumn Shall we all meet in the autumn? Golden and glowing by autumn Shall we still be best of friends? Best of friends... All through each languorous season We ebb and flow Romance, defying all reason Will come, then go Still, perhaps this autumn Love won't retreat in the autumn All that we have won't be past Won't be past... Let breezes blow and turn cold As we continue growing old This autumn Love newly found May yet last"
  • This is an excellent piece - well researched and delivered. Please do a sequel on the people who sailed and lived the horror of that fateful journey.
  • Please don't stop making these videos! You guys are super talented and the videos are so well done and researched, you deserve to have way more subscribers than you do! I'd love to see that follow-up Titanic video you teased in this one, as well as more videos on Broadway musicals!
  • @violeta7298
    i consider myself sort of a musical nerd and yet i keep learning about iconic musicals i didn't know about before! i think the titanic is something that has been talked about so much that the true meaning of the whole thing gets lost, directors/writer want to elevate the whole thing and say so much about when... it's not. It a boat that sank and so many people died because of classism, xenophobia and very poor organization skills. It's a tragedy, not this big metaphorical moment in history (it can be use metaphorically, ofc, but the the actual boat sinking is not) i am definitely gonna check it out in full now! amazing video!
  • @rgmrtn
    It was about the music. The music fills in what the book and lyrics gloss over.
  • The Milwaukee Rep theatre just did this musical and it did very well but I never knew all this!
  • First! 😂 Great documentary btw! Always wanted to learn more about this show ❤
  • @joshmcmillan348
    I was gonna comment “i feel like Dive is an insensitive choice of words for a video about a ship that sank”… and then I realised a musical about said ship that sank is even more insensitive so….
  • @mckeldin1961
    Excellent -- and impressive -- video. Thank you. You point out the show's flaws honestly. I would say that in a musical you have to allow the music to carry a lot of the storytelling (and I don't mean the lyrics... but the actual music). It's very hard to gauge just how well the themes and stories are shored up by the music, because to be successful the score should ideally strike an audience in a single hearing during a single viewing of the play... something difficult to do with even an attentive audience. But I saw the show more than 10 times back in 1997 and '98, so I felt the music filling in the gaps left by the book. In fact, I was surprised that you found the representation of third class lacking -- but on reflection, you're right, at least insofar as the book is concerned -- because both "Lady's Maid" and "The Staircase" filled in a lot of those gaps for me. But obviously there was hubris in believing you could encompass all the creators' clearly wanted to touch on in the length of an average Broadway musical. Still, I'm really glad they tried, because flaws and all, I loved the result.
  • @chibiktsn3
    There’s a proshot that Fathom Events showed in movie theaters that was excellent. The staging is significantly pared down from the original set, but it was still wonderful.
  • @sosure
    i saw it in previews way back when. 3 HOURS of non stop opera style singing and virtually no special effects, except a tilted stage! It was a SNOOZEFEST