Chip Zien and Judy Kuhn (Joan Marcus)
I was unable to attend an early performance of this grand finale to the 2024 season, but I did catch it just before it finished its brief run on June 16th. I am so very happy to report that under Music Director Rob Berman and Anne Kauffman’s imaginative staging it was up there in all its glory as delivered by an extraordinarily gifted company of over 20 actor-singers who moved with precision throughout and sang with glory. From the moment Conductor Berman raised his baton for the overture to this glorious score by Maury Yeston (music and lyrics) we were involved. We were aware that Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations were going to illustrate the score and that Peter Stone’s book would tell us the tragic tale of the maiden transatlantic voyage of this “unsinkable” luxury liner on April 15,1912.
Brandon Uranowitz, José Llana, Alex Joseph Grayson, amd Chuck Cooper (Joan Marcus)
There is a great deal of story as we slowly get to meet oand engage with a dozen or more of the passengers in all three of the Irish built ship’s class accommodations. Captain Smith who is in full command of everything is played with authority and relish by the powerful Chuck Cooper. Eighteen of the ship’s Officers and Crew appear generously throughout. Two of the elderly first class passengers are Isador and Ida Strauss–a prominent and wealthy department store manager and his wife, who will figure prominently in the story. John Jacob Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim and fifteen other first class passengers figure in the tale as do four third class passengers who are seeking better lives in the new world that beckons them to America. As this Encore! production was offered to us as a concert performance, actors were permitted to carry scripts, but this was done so discreetly that it in no way interfered with movement which was constant and cleverly choreographed by Danny Mefford.
Ramin Karimloo (Joan Marcus)
The original production of this grand musical play ran for 804 performances in 1997, and it won 5 Tony Awards including Best Musical. I offer a special rave review to the Casting by the Kelsey Office’s Craig Burns and Rachel Hoffman who have assembled dozens of excellent featured players all of whom can sing, dance, and act with star quality. Pretty much ignored these past 27 years because of its size, it is a most welcome Encore!