Titanic The Musical: Sheffield theatregoers moved to tears as tale of real life tragedy is re-told

Titanic The Musical is most definitely not a stage adaptation of the blockbuster, so anyone expecting that and the famous ‘My Heart Will Go On’ soundtrack hit by Canadian singer Celine Dion will be in for a shock at The Lyceum in Sheffield this week.

Instead, this musical is a moving and sombre portrayal of the greatest maritime disaster in history.

Everyone knows the tragic ending to what should have been a record-breaking voyage from Southampton to New York in April 1912, and this sensitively produced piece of theatre sticks exactly to the script.

In what could be described as a musical history lesson, those behind this touring production did their research and every character on stage is based on a real life Titanic passenger.

A Hollywood twist is not needed on a real life drama which played out in the Atlantic Ocean all those years ago – where social class was the difference between life or death, lovers were torn apart and an ambition for fame and legendary status proved deadly.

The musical follows the lives of a number of central characters including certain passengers on the ship and those behind the maiden voyage – builder Thomas Andrews (Ian McLarnon), captain Edward Smith (Graham Bickley) and owner of the ship J. Bruce Ismay (Martin Allanson) – with the audience quickly becoming engrossed their back stories and whether they are to live or die when the ship goes under.

Full of optimism and excitement as the ship set sail, Godspeed Titanic, performed by the entire cast, helps portray the sense of hope and adventure felt by those onboard.

But as the tragedy begins to unfold and reality sets in as passengers and staff realise what dreadful fate awaits them, the music takes on a darker, more sombre and dramatic tone – adding to the atmosphere as panic, desperation and despair sets in.

One of the most dramatic scenes, visually, was when the Titanic was in the final stages of sinking and action focused on ship builder Andrews grabbing hold of the side of the ship to try to avoid falling into the dark, freezing water as it tipped. As dramatic as it was, I think producers missed a trick and could have had the entire cast involved in that scene to portray the sheer horror of what it must have been like staring death in the face with every man, woman and child onboard fighting for survival.

But for pure heart wrenching emotion, the scene involving devoted couple Isidor and Ida Strauss (David Delve and Valda Aviks), who were married for 40 years, is particularly worthy of mention. A final waltz together as the ship goes down certainly tugs on the heartstrings.

Another simple yet effective technique to help create a sense of what it must have been like for passengers and staff as the ship started to take on water was when the theatre was plunged into darkness as the electrics on the Titanic started to fail.

A screen detailing the name of every single person to lose their life brought a hush to the theatre and tears began flow as cast members playing Titanic survivors revealed some shocking details including that 50 bellboys under 15 perished and there were 450 empty seats in the lifeboats which took 705 survivors to dry land.

This feels like a true and honest representation of the Titanic tragedy and the tone feels just right. It honours those who lost their lives in an enthralling and captivating way without needing unnecessary Hollywood-type spin on what is already the most heartbreaking story which does not need any exaggeration. It is already shocking enough.