Review: Titanic the Musical at Birmingham Hippodrome

Unlike the Oscar-winning 1997 film starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, this production is not centred around a fictional love story. Instead, it offers a detailed and heartbreaking account of the event, based on the lives of the real passengers on board the legendary ship in April 1912.

The first half of the production focuses on the hopes and aspirations of the first, second and third-class passengers, as they embark on their journey to a new life in America. While generally light-hearted and humorous in places, the dialogue is riddled with dramatic irony.

My favourite number fell in the first half of the production, which was noticeably longer, offering a glimpse into each character’s motivation for getting on board.

The duet between miner Frederick Barrett (Adam Filipe) and junior wireless officer Harold Bride (Alastair Hill) is touching. Barrett asks the radio operator to send a message home to his sweetheart. In it, Barrett asks her to marry him and promises to return home to her.

As a young, slightly awkward telegrapher, it is to Bride we return in Act Two as he desperately sends out an SOS message to the SS Californian for its assistance. The British Leyland Line steamship was thought to be just six miles from the RMS Titanic at the time of its sinking. But despite being the closest ship in the area, the crew took no action to assist.

Uneasiness creeps in with warnings of an iceberg, which are dismissed time and again by the ship’s Captain (Graham Bickley).

Too much pressure is placed on his shoulders by businessman J. Bruce Ismay (played by Martin Allanson), to increase the ship’s speed to 23 knots, with the aim of making the destination in six days. But the price of his ego is a heavy one.

Unaware of the fate that awaits them, the passengers on board revel, dance, and fall in love, while the audience sits solemnly in anticipation. Among them is Emily George, from Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, who learned her trade doing am dram in Telford. She plays third class passenger Kate Murphy, a rare survivor on the Titanic.

There is a palpable sense of panic and terror which emanates from the stage in Act Two. It is fast paced and keeps the audience on tenterhooks.

The staging is particularly impressive during this half, with the flickering lights and the groans from the ship’s hull. My stand-out moment was Thomas Andrews’ (Ian McLarnon) solo number as he clings to the railings – tears swirling in his eyes – as it tilts upwards before plunging into darkness.

Nearing the musical’s denouement, the audience are met with a list of names of all those who perished. The survivors, in front, are wrapped in blankets belonging to the Carpathia – the transatlantic steamship which answered the call and picked up the remaining 706 people. It’s a poignant scene, emphasising the great loss of life.

Set to a powerful score, Titanic the Musical acts as a thoughtful and deeply moving tribute to the 1,503 souls who perished ­– and the loved ones they left behind.

Titanic the Musical runs at Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday, April 19 to Saturday, April 22.

Tickets start from £27 and can be booked at birminghamhippodrome.com