By Eva Trieger
VISTA, California -It almost doesn’t matter what’s on stage at the Moonlight Amphitheater because the venue is itself, so enchanting. I said “almost” because of course, to paraphrase some British fellow, the show’s the thing! Moonlight’s production of Titanic:The Musical was aligned with the Broadway production that first opened in 1997, the same year as Cameron’s film, Titanic.
Through the pageantry and grandeur we’ve come to know and love at Moonlight, the historic tragedy unfolds without the fictional Rose and Jack, but with greater emphasis on depicting the class consciousness of the day. In 1912, The White Star Lines most assuredly made distinctions between the obscenely wealthy in First Class and the working class immigrants in Third Class. Though it is true that the latter lost the greatest number of lives in the disaster at 530, the remaining 987 who perished were members of the upper classes. Affluence or a lack of it, did not alter the course of the ship, nor her passengers’ destinies.
I applaud Moonlight for taking on such a challenging show and providing a more honest portrayal of the tragedy. For those who are expecting to see the James’ Cameron love story, there may be some surprises. This ambitious show seeks to educate, not merely entertain, by “examining causes, conditions and characters involved in this ever-fascinating drama…”
Director Larry Raben worked with Steve Glaudini and Elan McMahan to fuse Maury Yeston’s musical score with the acting of over 38 named characters in addition to the company. As many of you know, Glaudini was doing double duty for this run, not only is he the Producing Artistic Director, but he also played J. Bruce Ismay.
Once again, the 26 piece orchestra is comprised of many talented musicians, including four students from Westview and Carlsbad High Schools. A unique program encourages young musicans to hone their craft with the Orchestra Musician Mentorship program, wherein professional musicians and educators mentor these burgeoning students right in the orchestra pit!
Costumes are credited to Carolotta Malone, Roslyn Lehman and Renetta Lloyd. The Kates, from Third Class,Sarah Errington, Shaina Knox and Katie Sapper, were adorable in their smocks and aprons. Astor’s pregnant young wife had quite the fashion forward maternity gowns, and even the men in the boiler room were looking jaunty.
For this reviewer the play fell short of the mark for two reasons. The pacing felt a bit draggy. The first act lasted over an hour and by its end I didn’t feel particularly attached to any one character. It was abundantly clear that the classes were segregated or intended to be, though not everyone was in accord on that point. The second detractor for me was the difficulty in following all the lyrics in this beautiful open air setting. This is not usually the case with the musicals I’ve seen at Moonlight, but as this was more of an operetta, there was more singing than in previous productions.
Despite the minor criticisms, take yourself out for an evening of picnicking under the stars, but be sure to take along your life jacket, no spoiler alert here.
The five-time Tony Award winning play will be performed through September 3/ Tickets are available by phone 760.724.2110 or from the website www.moonlightstage.com
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