Saturday, May 24, 2008

'Titanic' is ambitious production

By Katie Libecco

YOUNGSTOWN - I've waited my whole life to review something involving the Titanic this way: The ship sinks.

Moving on, the Youngstown Playhouse opened a very ambitious production of "Titanic: The Musical" Friday night running through June 15.

I say ambitious for a myriad of reasons, the least of which being a cast of about 65 (I'm rounding off since there was some double-casting). There was also a very large tilting platform to illustrate the boat sinking, set pieces larger than the Playhouse's wings and a 24-piece orchestra with a beautiful string section.

Not your average production of community theater. As to be expected in local musical theater, the girl's voices over-powered shyer male voices in ensemble numbers, there were some opening night technical issues (like Act I's long scene changes) and some lines were a little shaky.

I said it was local musical theater.

There's a general rule in theater that the audience is expected to suspend their belief to a certain point when watching a performance. Still, I somehow couldn't believe on any level that I was watching the Titanic sink on the west side.

But that fact brings me to the next point, that, isn't it weird to write a musical about a tragedy? That's hardly the Playhouse's fault, it most likely lies with Maury Yeston's music and lyrics.

While I expect the explanation would be that it's beautiful way to remember out past, but in reality, writing such a straight-forward music about such a horrific event feels weird to me.

I wondered, if there were a perfect performance of such a sad story, would I feel good leaving the theater? Probably not. Even if the Titanic sank generations ago, I don't feel like it's still something to sing and dance about.

It got me thinking about other tragic events that could soon grace the stage: "You're a Good Fault, San Andreas," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Virginia Tech" and "How to Succeed in Terrorist Attacks Without Really Trying."

In all fairness, people who like this genre would probably like this production, produced and directed by John D. Holt. I just happen to avoid musicals where lyrics are basically rhyming everyday conversations. I find it easier to get captivated in Sondheim's fanciful lyrics than to understand why people are singing about dying on a sinking ship. The whole situation just feels odd to me.

But if you're a fan of shows like "Cats," "Evita" or similar Broadway productions, this will be a show you'd enjoy. I'm holding out for "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Katrina!"