Titanic The Musical - Sedos Review

Reviewed by Kathryn - Standing In The Wings

Titanic was designed to be a legend. She became a legend for the wrong reasons but the world is still fascinated by the story of the ‘largest moving object in the world’ of its time. There have been countless films, documentaries, books and in 1997 Titanic The Musical opened on Broadway, running for over 800 performances. Numerous productions have followed around the world with the latest being Sedos’ run at The Bridewell Theatre, London. 

Photo by Elizabeth Grace

The Bridewell Theatre is a hidden gem in the heart of the City of London, tucked down a side street near Fleet Street, and if you didn’t know it was there, you’d easily walk past it. Transformed from an old swimming pool, it’s a rather apt venue for Sedos’ November production. 
 
The scene is set with the blueprint of the Titanic projected onto a white cloth as the audience arrive with the skeleton of the hull pushing through to transport us to Belfast 1912 where the ship was built. 
 
As the 18-piece orchestra strike up the overture, under the controlled and empathetic baton of Musical Director, Ryan Macaulay, the blue prints come to life as the audience are taken on a virtual tour of the ‘Ship of Dreams’. 
 
Therein follows over two hours of beautiful storytelling of American Millionaires, ‘wannabe’ 2nd class passengers, 3rd class dreamers and proud crew members who all board Titanic to be part of a ‘new world’. 
 
Titanic The Musical is, without a doubt, vocally demanding of every cast member but this 33 strong ensemble handle it with ease. The powerful opening number, The Launching/Godspeed, Titanic created goosebumps especially when coupled with the soaring strings and majestic brass from the orchestra. 
 
Creating the impression of many more cast members than were on the stage, all company members, bar a few of the ship’s crew, doubled with 1st Class becoming 3rd Class and vice versa, providing a strong company feel and an evident team effort from all involved. 
 
Every single person on the stage worked hard to portray the story as a whole but also as their own characters, paying tribute to the real-life people who were onboard the fated maiden voyage. However, an extra nod must go to Toby Chapman as Frederick Barrett and James Daly as Harold Bride and their interpretation of The Proposal/The Night Was Alive. Their voices blended perfectly and the emotional depth they both provided was excellent. A pure delight. 

Photo by Elizabeth Grace

Another standout moment was The Blame, performed by Daniel Saunders (Captain Smith), Luke Leahy (Thomas Andrews) and Richard Upton (Ismay). A song, such as this, can easily become shouted and loose its impact. This was a powerful, controlled but very emotional rendition which perfectly captured the panic, despair and disappointment of the three characters. 
 
A beautiful moment of calm amongst the panic of impending doom, was the only love duet in the show, Still, performed by The Straus’ (Tony Rosenberg and Annie Housego) capturing that true love is strong until the end. 
 
Direction by Louise Roberts and Rob Archibald was well drilled and thought out with some very powerful visual moments which resulted in tears for many (all?) of the audience. Cleverly done. The touches of humour were a light relief as needed but the gravitas of the event was not missed and was effectively created and delivered. 
 
Having seen Titanic The Musical several times before, I was keen to see how Sedos’ would create this production on a small stage and with a more modest budget than the current tour. But create and deliver they did. Congratulations to the entire company on an excellent production, both onstage and backstage, on producing a moving, stunning show of a legend. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
 
Titanic The Musical runs until Saturday 2nd December 2023 at The Bridewell Theatre, London. Tickets are very limited and are available from sedos.co.uk

Photo by Elizabeth Grace