Customer Reviews

Titanic (1997 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I saw Titanic live on Broadway, thought it was spectacular, and subsequently purchased the CD.

This is an amazing musical, deserving praise on every front. First and foremost, however -- if you're a serious musician, you will appreciate the score. The orchestration is rich and lush and with many subtle, refreshing touches. The pit orchestra is one of the finest ever, with a brass section that will truly blow you away. In Maury Yeston's hands (or his orchestrator's?), the fabulous brass section breathes life and dignity and excitement into a stellar score. The strings support the score wonderfully, too, as they subtley sing away beneath the cast. The ensemble of the entire pit, including the woodwinds and percussion, is to be commended, and as tight as any "legit" orchestra. Too often the Broadway orchestra is ignored; yet try doing a musical without the orchestra parts. In this case, the score and instrumentalists all but steal the show.

Which is not to downplay the cast, who are fabulous. The singing is wonderful. The songs are beautiful and appropriate and touching, as well as very singable. Yeston has managed to create a score and a book that are heartwarming and heartbreaking without ever being schmaltzy. As many times as I've listened to this CD, I always find my eyes getting slightly misty on nearly every song.

Yestin not only paints a real and inspiring portrait of passengers both imaginary and real; he includes some meaningful concepts as well -- for example, the idea that one anonymous and modest telegraph operator connects all the people in the world, themselves yearning to connect. (What we all want when all is said and done.)

I cannot disagree more strongly with those who have trashed this recording and musical in their reviews. In a world that increasingly elevates the trivial and the empty, this is a sophisticated, rich, wonderful musical and a serious (and entertaining) work. Its soaring melodies, poignant approach, intelligent lyrics, and above all, fabulous musical score combine to make it a tribute truly worthy of those who perished (and survived). This is not a musical for the Wednesday matinee crowd, for many standard "show" people, or for those who think Andrew Lloyd Weber is the apex of the musical. (Hardly. Listen to the score of "Phantom." It's a 3-hour "name that tune" from the classical canon.) It is, I believe, one of the best musical scores, if not the best, ever written for Broadway. And it was a real crime that the show was yanked as soon as the Tony nominations were made. I'm sure it would have had a long and highly successful run on Broadway.

No kidding. The whole cast sings a Broadway song as the entire ship goes under in this outrageous, incredibly dramatic and stirring Broadway show that succeeds in treating the sinking of the Titanic with respect, without plunging to the depths of creative and real despair. The best musical sections concern communication among the ship's officers; an officer reporting on the ocean's temperment - "No sir, it appears to be a flat calm" ("No Moon") is delivered in a lifeless monotone like a sigh of relief before the iceberg takes their breaths; the frenzied and violent arguing among the ship's commanders and builder as the ship sinks, ("The Blame"), soars in intensity to operatic-like levels of tragedy. The musical also conveys a sense of time and regard for the generation of the Titanic; their hopes, fears, and understanding of their modern world, notably in "Barrett's Song", which delivers a life long passion of a young telegraph operator to the fateful journey. There's a rousing and emotion packed musical theme near the beginning and the end; "Godspeed, Titanic", and "Finale", and a song, "Autumn", taken from a song sheet actually found among the surviving artifacts of the ship, which fits securely and adds a haunting touch of authenticity. In the epilogue finale, the "Autumn" theme plays again in a moving musical interlude paying tribute to the lives lost. One can excuse the few imperfect moments; "Doing The Latest Rag", is a dull and obvious rag dance craze, typical of the 1910s, and particularly uninspired, and "Lady's Maid" is a touching but superficial and cliched 'immigrants coming to America' routine. All in all, it's a remarkable achievement. The CD includes a 43 page booklet with lyrics, pictures, cast and Titanic statistics. "A Night To Remember" the classic 1955 book by Walter Lord, remains the best source of the Titanic story, but this Broadway musical is a Titanic of a different color; a heart-felt, joyfull and tragic plunge to the ocean floor.

This is a phenomenal music of Shakespearean proportions. It amazes me how Stone and Yeston bring to life so many characters on the stage. The musical operates at many levels: the stories about the social classes (immigrants, middle and upper classes), the study of flawed people (the captain's capitulation to the owner's unreasonable commands, Alice's ambitions to climb the social ladder, the ship-builder's megalomaniac dreams, etc.), and an examination of how the ship is a microcosm of the times -- "a floating city" (from "In Every Age"). The music is outstanding. I get goosebumps every time I hear the complex interplay of voices in "The Proposal/The Night Was Alive (Reprise)/Canons." And who couldn't love the beautiful "To be a Captain?" This musical has amazing symmetry, as the earlier, happy numbers reappear toward the end in different, sad settings. [The upbeat "I Must Get on That Ship" (i.e., on the Titanic) becomes unspeakably sad when reprised for the scene when they decide who will get on the lifeboats. And the wonderful "The Night Was Alive (with a Thousand Voices)", about shy McBride's using the telegraph to finally find people he can communicate with, is heartbreakingly sung at the end about the drowning passengers yelling out to the people in the lifeboats. "To Be a Captain," in which the second-in-command ponders his awesome responsibility as acting captain of the ship, later becomes a prayer to God as captain of all of their destinies.] If you're not willing to make some effort and listen carefully and more than once, you may not enjoy the CD. But if you are willing, it repays MANY MANY listenings. It has been my "most listened to" CD for many months.

I was not exactly enthralled with this CD the first time I listened to it, but I gave it another chance, and slowly, I have grown to love it. It's a beautiful story, and I really enjoy how so many different plot strands are woven together so effortlessly, all entwined by the disaster of the ship's sinking. There's a lot of fascinating characters in this, and you would think that the result would be sort of unfocused, but really, the impact of the tragedy hits harder when you realize all these people you have come to love are about to die (well, not all, but some of my favorites! *sniff*) The orchestrations are great, especially in The Night Was Alive and The Blame. The whole score is really inspiring, and some especially great songs are The Night Was Alive (Bride is the best!), Mr. Andrew's Vision, I Must Get On That Ship, The Blame...well, I won't go on, because really they're all good! Some seemed kind of boring to me at first, most especially What a Remarkable Age This Is, but now I really like it. Titanic will grow on you, so buy it! I promise that you will love it. And if you have a chance, see the first national tour when it comes to a theater near you! The touring cast ROCKS!

This musical is such a wonderful version of the story of the Titanic, it really is of a very high calibre of writing for the musical stage. People will see musicals from time to time and be amazed, moved or whatever they feel in their hearts at the time. When I first played this CD I was almost carried away to another world, so to speak, with the passengers. I could'nt help but feel a little bit sorry for all those on board, in maiden voyage. In all the excitement of the first voyage, none of them had any idea that this unsinkable ship would come to such a disaster so soon. If this musical touched me in this way, when it really tugs at your heartstrings, something is happening, something special. It's just a wonderful score!!

One of my favorites. Although it is wonderful as a whole, there are little bits and pieces of amazing that pop up which are what really make this album soar. Moments such as

Barrett and the other sailors' optimistic, "Fare thee well my darlin', I'll be back before a fortnight has passed..."

Alice Beane expressing her longing to be apart of the first class: "I want more than we've got Edgar. Why don't you?"

Jim Farrell coaxing Kate McGowan onto the lifeboat by singing [the semi-reprise], "You're going to be a lady's maid! Lady's maid in America!"

Also, "The Blame" is an excellent song. Highly recommended.

The musical Titanic may not have the best writing in terms of dialogue and staging, etc. But in terms of musical writing, scoring, and arraging, this production has some amazing high notes! I've been in the orchestra playing Titanic before. I have played so many things before, but this experience was one that truly stuck with me. There is so much complexity and character in the music that it makes touches your heart in an amazing way. I would recommend this musical to anyone solely for the reason that the songs have some of the most brilliant orchestrations in musical theater.

I got the Titanic C.D. over a year ago--and I saw the show for my first time over a year ago as well, and I never wrote a review. This C.D. is spellbinding. It's absolutely incredible, and the awesome actors will have you bawling by the second act when they promise, "We'll meet tomorrow!" Highlights on this recording for me are: Victoria Clark as the hilarious second class passenger and social climber Alice Beane, Michael Cerveris as Mr. Andrews (wow...), Brian d'Arcy James as Stoker Barrett (he has the most amazing voice), Jennifer Peich as Kate McGowan the third class passenger aspiring for a better life, and Alma Cuervo as Mrs. Ida Strauss (she made me bawl). Michael Mulheren and Robin Irwin also make a wonderful and heartbreaking Mr. and Mrs. Thayer. This is a musical that will be around for a long time (I know from seeing it on stage three times--each time more thrilling than the last), and so will this C.D.!

Well-acted, well-sung, well-orchestrated, well-written, and bewilderingly unmoving. Since I bought this, I've listened to it twice. I love Nine so I really wanted to like this more. Fortunately, there's other, more effective Maury Yeston scores.

I bought this CD because I have been selected to play the character Isidor Strauss, former owner of Macys department store in NYC, with a local theatre company. To most, the music will be unfamiliar which is a great shame because the score is rich and sweeping and the lyrics faithfully record the events of the night of April 12th when the "unsinkable" 'largest moving object in the world" fell foul to a collision with an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland and sank within 2 to 3 hours. Most of the characters featured in this stage version were real people so, researching the project has been very interesting.Although the subject matter is a disaster, the writers have been able to incorporate touches of humour and social comment into the text - with the first act having the spirit of excitement and awe while the second act reflects the denial,awareness and finally the desparation of the victims.Well worth listening to and give it time, really listen and enjoy. The lyrics are included with the CD cover, along with a selection of photopgraphs from the original production.