Theatre Under the Stars society brought its magic once again to Stanley Park this summer, as it has been its tradition for the last forty-plus years. On this occasion, they opened their season with a magnificent musical production around a topic that has created a bit of a popular cult in the last years. The production, a former recipient of five Tony awards, is very appropriately named “Titanic”.
Having been such an awarded show, the play kept up to the expectations. Although the story of Titanic is of public knowledge already, TUTS’ production went the extra mile to present the storyline in a very linear manner for easy understanding – starting from the inception of the legendary ship all the way through its wreckage. The play, however, did not focus on dryly describing the story of Titanic, but it created a storm of feelings in the audience by presenting highlights about the personal stories and emotions of select characters – including crew, passengers, and managers of the cruise.
Titanic proves to be a great show not only because of the complexity of the acting portion, which features talents like Russel Roberts and Alexander McMorran, (with a cast of over 40 actors and frequent variations of scenario and lighting cues, director Max Reimer and stage manager Jennica Grienke surely did an outstanding job putting the pieces together). It proves to be great also because it is beautifully accompanied by the live orchestra that makes the musical possible – featuring some 20 instruments, conductor Kevin Cripps sure does a magnificent job with his department as well. Also noteworthy are the costumes, where Chris Sinosich and his team were able to come up with realistic pieces that certainly helped the audience to set themselves in the times of the Titanic (around 1912) seamlessly.
Running for about 3 hours, Titanic is a very continuous play that maintains a fresh pace throughout the whole performance. It is a show that, despite of its tragic nature, will leave the audience with a sweet after taste and with the will to check out more from this honourable theatre company.
