Titanic was the third Tony Award winning show in which I had the good
luck of being cast. It was a sleeper hit, taking the Tony for Best Musical
in 1997. Written by Maury Yeston with book by Peter Stone, it preceded
the blockbuster movie. I was cast along with my husband, Kevin Gray (who
played the role of “Andrews” the architect) in the First National
Touring Company from 1998-2000.
I think the movie’s success helped greatly to give momentum to
the stage version. However while on tour I remember we spent much time
explaining to people “No, Leonardo Di Caprio is not in the show” and “No
it’s not the same songs”…and so on.
Actually the movie was a mixed blessing. The publicity it generated
helped the marketing of the show. But on the otherhand the movie partially
eclipsed what I thought was a beautiful score by Maury Yeston, which
is well worth finding and listening to, even though the show has been
closed for some time now.
We opened with the show at The Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, in January
1999 and toured with the company through 17 cities leaving the company
in January of 2000. I was a “swing”, covering the roles of
Charlotte Cardoza, Eleanor Widener, Marion Thayer, Mme. Aubert, Edith
Corse Evans, and Stewardess Hutchinson and Stewardess Robinson.
It was during this tour that Kevin and I wrote our musical, “Dracula… the
Covenant”, which would eventually be produced at the Stonington
Opera House in 2003.
Critics Quotes
“Terrific. A grand glorious musical.”
Ed Kaufman, The Hollywood Reporter
“ A Triumph. A score which soars, a masterpiece.”
Sheridan
Morley, The London Spectator
“The Gem of the Ocean,”
Nancy
Franklin, The New Yorker
“ ‘Titanic’ is epic yet sincere, grandly tragic without
succumbing to maudlin emotional excess, its conflicts and tragedies are
rooted in history…”
The Orange County Register
“Sensational! A genuine winner! Some of the best Broadway voices
these ears have ever heard.”
