Operatic in its style, historical inspiration and ambition, Titanic may have seemed unlikely material for musical drama when Maury Yeston (Grand Hotel) and Peter Stone (1776) began work. But by the time the show premiered on Broadway in October of 1997, cultural fascination with the “ship of dreams” had reached a fever pitch, and Titanic received critical and audience acclaim, as well as five Tony Awards including Best Musical.
Pared down to its essence by director Anne Kauffman (The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window) and highlighting the majestic sweep of Yeston’s nearly sung-through score, Titanic remains a symphonic musical theater revelation. The Encores production meditates on the nature of ambition and the human scale of this epic tragedy, focusing on the class divides both illuminated and transcended by the ship’s inexorable sinking and painting a heartrending portrait of the individuals whose dreams of America were dashed in the Atlantic. Featuring Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper, Eddie Cooper, Drew Gehling, Tony Award nominee Ramin Karimloo, Emilie Kouatchou, Tony Award nominee Judy Kuhn, Tony Award winner Bonnie Milligan, Tony Award winner Brandon Uranowitz, Samantha Williams, Lilli Cooper, Ashley Blanchet, Adam Chanler-Berat, Andrew Durand, Alex Joseph Grayson, Ari Notartomaso, Jose Llana, Nathan Salstone, Tony Award nominee A.J. Shively and Chip Zien.
