Titanic the Musical at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh

I have to admit that when I first heard about this musical I wasn’t impressed. I couldn’t begin to imagine how songs could be sung about such a tragedy.

But, obviously, that’s why I don’t write musicals! And where have I been, not to know that Titanic the Musical has won a handful of Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score for composer Maury Yeston, and Peter Stone, for the book?

Its many plaudits are well deserved, on so many levels. This is a magnificent piece of theatre, a reverent and tasteful account based on the people who were actually on that fateful voyage, presented by a sterling company of performers who navigate big numbers and complex harmonies with apparent ease.

It doesn’t dwell on the moment ‘the ship of dreams’ hits the iceberg and what follows. It celebrates those aboard the ship, and how they were having the time of their lives: from the stoker who proposes to his girlfriend via the new fangled telegraph, to the Irish couple in third class who fall in love, and Lady Caroline, who is eloping with the son of a greengrocer from Deptford, to the in love and lovable Strauses, who have just left Macys, the world’s largest department store, to their son.

As the passengers board the ship there is a sense of excitement; and the action is fast-moving as everyone is full of hope for the future, in their private lives and with the launch of ‘the largest moving object in the world’. Little asides make it all the more real – an animated bellboy reads off the provisions list for the three-day crossing: 36,000 oranges, 40 tons of potatoes…

But as soon as a problem is detected the atmosphere changes and the tension rises to panic as the iceberg looms large, and ominous music, a cacophony of voices, together with sound designer Andrew Johnson’s creaking and grinding, heralds the ship’s final demise.

This all takes place on the understated set – just a deck with a backdrop of the riveted side of a ship in which holes appear once disaster strikes. It won David Woodhead the Off-West End Award for Best Designer.

I am in awe of so many fine performances in this production, from Paul Kemble’s powerful opening number as Ismay, owner of the Titanic, to Sam Brown’s plaintive No Moon No Wind shortly before the impact. Kemble should certainly be singled out, however. Understudy to four characters, this seasoned actor stepped up to the mark to play the not inconsiderable role of Ismay, delivering a fine performance as the bombastic man who bullies the captain into ordering the ship to go faster and faster, then turning on him when disaster strikes and finally disappearing into the lifeboats with the women and children.

The enormity of what happened, and the moving back stories, in particular that of the Strauses, had me in bits, especially the final scene, in which the company faces a screen naming each of the 1,500 people who died that night. I’ve never cried so much since seeing War Horse! As the company sang, Sail on, sail on, great ship Titanic, I felt I knew her and the people who had been aboard her and she will now certainly sail on in my heart.

Image: Pamela Raith Photography

Titanic the Musical is at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh from Mon 19 Jun to Sat 24 Jun 2023.