About the work
Titanic is a musical by Maury Yeston (music and lyrics) with a book by Peter Stone, premiered on Broadway in 1997. It depicts the sinking of the luxury liner RMS Titanic in 1912 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The work is unrelated to the film of the same name released the same year.
Plot
On the maiden voyage of the supposedly unsinkable ocean liner Titanic, the hopes of passengers of every class interweave—from the first-class millionaires through the aspiring middle class to the steerage emigrants who all dream of the American dream. Owner, captain, and designer wrestle over speed and prestige. When the ship strikes an iceberg in the night, the catastrophe reveals dignity, cowardice, self-sacrifice, and tragic failure, while the lifeboats fall far short of what is needed.
Cultural significance
Titanic is an elegiac, almost oratorio-like ensemble musical that distils the human microcosm on board into an emblem of the doomed class society of the Edwardian era. Yeston's hymnic score, carried by large choral scenes, is regarded as his most mature. Despite a notoriously troubled rehearsal period, the work became a success and saw a much-admired, intimately cast British reworking in 2013.