Note 5: Titanic

Many of you must have seen the well-known film- Titanic, but do you even know it has a Tony Awards winning musical version, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Scenic Design, and Best Orchestrations.

I don’t have to say much about the plot of the story, because I know everyone must at least have seen once the movie in their life. So here is just a simple introduction. The musical is recounted from three perspectives – the steerage passengers dreaming of a better life, the newly minted middle class seeking their fortunes, and the wealthy old guard, who simply want everything to stay the same. Unlike those new and modern musical productions, it’s a treat for lovers of traditional musicals, with classic songwriting and costumes.

What makes the musical different from the film version is the positive aspects of what the ship represented in the musical– humankind's striving after great artistic works and similar technological feats, despite the possibility of tragic failure, and the dreams of the passengers on board: 3rd Class, to immigrate to America for a better life; 2nd Class, to live a leisured lifestyle in imitation of the upper classes; 1st Class, to maintain their privileged positions forever. The collision with the iceberg dashed all of these dreams simultaneously, and the subsequent transformation of character of the passengers and crew had, it showed great emotional and musical expression onstage.What appealed to me the most is that the musical is supposedly about the history's most tragic maiden voyage, in which fifteen hundred people lost their lives, was obviously preposterous. Astonishingly, Titanic manages to be grave and entertaining, somber and joyful; little by little you realize that you are in the presence of a genuine addition to American musical theatre.

Titanic is set on the ocean liner RMS Titanic which sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912, so last year (2012) was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the original ship of dreams. In memorial of the fateful night, here for your information, this summer (2013) at the National Concert Hall (Taipei, Taiwan), National Taiwan University Chorus is going to present the Titanic musical on stage! The clip below is the production that NTU Chorus made in 2010. I believe this year with more experience, they will have an even better performance.