If I told you that I had just seen Titanic at Ithaca College, you would probably think I was talking about the film. Then you are in for a surprise when you come to find out that there was a musical of the same name that came out just a few months prior to the James Cameron blockbuster film in 1997. Complete with vivid dance numbers, memorable characters and the beloved ship that met its end in 1912, the musical takes us on a whole other journey than what we have already experienced with the movie.
Focused on the three different classes (1st, 2nd and 3rd class, also known as Steerage) aboard the RMS Titanic, everything ranging from set to costume to lyrics evoked in us a sense of otherization between each class. However, what they have in common in the end is truly what matters. If, at the beginning, much of the discussion from the 3rd class was about becoming like the rich, and a want of wealth and fortune, much of it became equalized by a sense of loss in the end. Much of what I think was poignant in the musical was how it started out showing that people are so different based on their social and economic standing, but that they are the same in the end when it comes to love and loss.
The set design definitely reflected these qualities. This was one of my favorite parts of how Ithaca College staged this production. The only ever-present part of the set was a split staircase reminiscent of the movie. In this case, the stairs were a place where the main characters would gather during musical numbers or to converse. From the start, it was a form of division, where characters of the higher classes would be standing further up than those of the lower classes. At the very top was the captain, his helper, and occasionally the very bombastic Mr. Ismay, the man who owned the company that had launched the Titanic. What initially was a symbol of division became a symbol of union when, towards the end of the musical, part of the staircase was split away to symbolize the surroundings of a lifeboat being lowered. In this moment, women of all classes sat down on the ground together, symbolizing their equality in this tragedy.
The costume design was another such poignant exemplification of the story’s morals. In the start there is a vast distinction in the clothes the different classes wear. Dressed in bland beiges, 3rd class cannot compare with the opulent furs and feather hats of the 1st class passengers. In fact, one of the most clever parts of the ending is that as the passengers are sitting down after being rescued, their clothing is covered by the blankets they have received, covering up the identities that the passengers once held.
In terms of performance, I think there was an absolutely wonderful ensemble, but the most memorable three performances in my book belong to Jake Jervis (Ismay), Jackson Avery Marshall (Captain), and Eli Vanderkolk (Andrews). Each displayed different types of authority as the owner, captain and builder, respectively, of the infamous ship. As the captain, Jackson Avery Marshall had the perfect air of looming over the scene, bombastically shouting orders while maintaining a sort of unbreakable composure. Jake Jervis, as Ismay, made himself so dislikable that I sometimes felt as if I was not in the theater at all. Constantly taunting and pushing his authority onto others until the end, when he sneaks onto one of the lifeboats to survive, Jervis left no room for us to sympathize with such an imprudent character. Andrews, played by Eli Vanderkolk, came off as a very gentle and composed person, until suddenly it was the very end, and he broke down in a pivotal moment of distress and mania where he tore apart the ship's schematics. The most memorable moment in the musical was when those three men most responsible for the vessel debated and fought over who was to shoulder the blame for what had happened during the musical number “The Blame.”
My only word of criticism towards the musical was that the music was not very memorable. I was once told by a theater critic that you know a musical was well composed when you walk out of the theater and are able to sing or hum a song (or even several) as you’re walking home. Titanic: The Musical simply did not have that. The performance put on by Ithaca College was very memorable, but the compositional score left much to be desired. I genuinely look forward to seeing what the Ithaca College School of Music, Theatre, and Dance will put on as its next production.
Lusine Boyadzhyan is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at lboyadzhyan@cornellsun.com.
