All aboard for Titanic the Musical! As opening night approaches, rehearsals are becoming more intense and more often for the cast and crew members of Titanic the Musical. The audition process started in late January and early February. With an outstanding 63 people in the cast, most members have rehearsal once or twice a week. Between vocal, acting, and dance rehearsals, some cast members have been living and breathing for Titanic rehearsals. With the show only a few weeks away, it will become more common for cast members to be practicing every day.   The crew has been actively working on making props and the set: the ship is being built (and hopefully no water will flood onto the auditorium carpet that needs to last until 2037).

“Everyone who comes to us and hears that we are doing Titanic says, ‘Oh, that’s wonderful – but how are you going to make the boat sink?’ and all I can say is, ‘I think we have solved the problem with our process of creating the set, but you have to come see the show to figure out how we do it,” said Producer and Co- Director Mrs. Andrea Roney.

Contrary to popular belief, Titanic the Musical is not the Jack and Rose version as seen in the movies. Although most of America has fallen in love with Jack and Rose’s love story, Titanic the Musical has romantic moments that will satisfy all audience members. This version has more characters who accurately represent passengers and crew members that were on the ship. Titanic the Musical will also show more stories of characters that were on the ship. Unlike past North Penn spring musicals, there is not just one lead: Titanic the Musical was written to showcase many individuals.

“In this show, we have a wide collection of characters from across the passenger list and the crew that was onboard the ship and the support staff that were there to make the passengers safe and comfortable. We see the different people through all of these characters and their journey on the Titanic and their experience with what happens when the Titanic hits the iceberg,” said Roney.

Titanic the Musical has been compared to Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera. All three shows have the actors singing throughout most of the show, limiting spoken dialogue. This scored musical will have a North Penn student orchestra playing from start to finish.

Unlike last year’s spring musical, Beauty and the Beast, Titanic has a very depressing ending. The actors have the challenge of being able to evince sadness and make the audience feel loss and devastation. North Penn senior Melissa Fuhr, who plays Alice Bean in the show, commented on the difficulty of being a funny character in an upsetting show.

“The biggest difficulty so far is probably just trying to take in the entire show as being a sad show, but respecting the stories definitely. Also, trying to make my character funny and keep it as that funny character that kind of gives people a chance to breathe with all of the tension, but also be serious, be an actual person, because sometimes when you’re just playing for laughs, you’re not being a real person. I want to keep that realness in my character,” said Fuhr.

The talent and hard work put into the show by its many cast and crew members is surely worth seeing and supporting at the time of the show’s opening. NPHS Theatre’s production of Titanic the Musical will be April 30, May 1, and 2 at 7:30 PM and May 3 at 2:00 PM.  For tickets, go to www.npenn.org and click on the Titanic logo link – or visit Ms. McGuriman in F40. Tickets are only $5 for students and $10 for adults.  Tickets will also be sold at the door before every performance, along with candy grams and flower grams that are available to be sent to cast and crew members.