TITANIC w/ Cuervo, Moran, Mulheren, Petkoff, Piech & Stram

[sowren1020]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 3:29pm

The Tony Award-winning musical Titanic, which will be presented as a benefit for the New York Society for Ethical Culture, at NYSEC's 800-seat Concert Hall, at 7:30pm on this evening, Monday, June 21. Matthew Hamel will direct the event, which will feature music direction by Jonathan Tessero. Titanic, written by Maury Yeston and Peter Stone, was the winner of five 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Score.

Original Broadway cast members who will be performing in the concert will include Alma Cuervo, Martin Moran, Michael Mulheren, Jennifer Piech, Don Stephenson, and Henry Stram.

The cast will also include Robert Petkoff, Jeffry Denman, Liz McConahay, Doug Kreeger, Eamon Foley, Matthew Scott, Andrew Samonsky, Emily Loesser, Bruce Sabath, Ryan LaTour John Jellison, Tim Jerome, John Hickock, Blair Ross, Alison Cimmet, Bailey Hanks, Brian O'Brien, Autumn Hulbert, Kevin Crewell, Matt Lutz, Peter Cormican, and Brian Scott Lipton, along with a 23-piece orchestra.

The event will also feature a pre-show panel about the musical, featuring composer-lyricist Maury Yeston and NYSEC Leader Anne Klaeysen, to be moderated by Josh Wellman, at 6:30pm. VIP ticket holders will be able to attend ap ost-show reception.

For further information, visit www.nysec.org.


Updated On: 6/21/10 at 03:29 PM

[Shakeshafte]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 3:40pm

I didn't get to see this back in '97 - will go tonight so I can hear it! Looks like a great cast.....

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 6:26pm

please report back after you see it! One of my favorite scores!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 11:20pm

It could have been a really excellent show tonight, but there were so many sound problems that I have to downgrade it, as a whole, to merely "good."

I didn't know that it was going to be a reading of the show, as well; I just figured it was going to be a concert. Made me realize how clunky the script is. There were microphones just off the lip of the stage, so much of the dialogue was unaudible.

It was a very well-sung show; Martin Moran and the gentleman who played the Barret stopped the show with "The Night Was Alive," as did Alma Cuervo and the gentleman who played Mr. Strauss. Liz McConahay sure seemed like a fabulous Alice - but I couldn't hear her!

The score is magnificent, and this just re-affirmed that, sour notes from the orchestra and all.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 11:40pm

It was certainly well sung, but unfortunately, the acoustics were horrible, so that one missed a lot of the lyrics and dialogue. Too bad, because the show deserved a better presentation.

[Sauja]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 11:45pm

It was such a disappointing night. The orchestra began, and I was thrilled by the full sound of it. Then folks started singing. And what a muddled mess the sound was. The talented people on stage deserved a better venue and sound design. Frankly, it would have been better wholly unmic'ed as then at least there wouldn't have been the weirdly doubled up sound. I love the score so much, and I was extremely excited to hear it again, but I left at intermission as I just found it literally too difficult to listen to. I don't know if it was better on the orchestra level, but the balcony was a disaster. Listening to the cast recording now. I sure hope they have another chance in a better venue! I'd certainly give it another shot.

[sowren1020]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 11:48pm

After Eight, I have to agree with you about the terrible sound issues at the Ethical Culture Society. Last year when they did JEKYLL & HYDE there were fewer ensemble numbers so the lyrics were sometimes coherent, as opposed to tonight, where we couldn't understand a blessed word anyone sang. The producers of this venue should either realize they can't have an orchestra that size, or get head mikes or a sound system that doesn't over whelm the performers. Jennifer Piech as Kate McGowan was one of the most understood singers, as was Robert Petkoff but to take money from an almost sold out house, knowing that you are presenting a substandard technical side of this concert with professional actors,is not professional. Sarah Melissa Rotker, who seems to have produced this, needs to just get one piano for that space and stop being so ambitious with too many instruments. It was a disservice to the singers and the material.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 12:17am

The sound and accoustic issues were HORRIBLE. Whoever was in charge of that needs to be fired immediately (and I don't even care if it was a volunteer). It really detracted from the enjoyment of the concert, which was otherwise quite good.

Everyone in the show was really wonderful, though the big standouts for me were Robert Petkoff as Andrews, John Hickock as Ismay, and Liz McConahy as Alice Beane.

Bailey Hanks, in a small role, played Katherine Elle Woods Murphy.

It was nice to see so many original cast members taking part as well.

All in all, this just reaffirms what a brilliant score this is, and how it's time for revival. Hopefully in 2012, with the centennial of the sinking, there will be a revival coinciding with that.
Updated On: 6/22/10 at 12:17 AM

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 12:35am

I really enjoyed tonight. I'm glad I was in the front row because at least when there was a scene in front of me I could hear. I lost everything that happened with the Third Class Passengers because I was on the opposite side.

This show is so brilliant and I'm so happy to have finally seen it with a full orchestra.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 12:40am

I thought everyone onstage was great but the sound issues were horrendous. Clearly the space isn't equipped to amplify singing/musicians, and they either should have moved it to a different space or used a different sound system as there was a crazy echo for the majority of the concert. I was in the 7th row of the orchestra so it wasn't too horrendous for me and I caught a lot of stuff that folks higher up probably missed, but it was a shame that the sound issues messed with what otherwise would have been a wonderful concert.

I had never heard the score live before though, and it was glorious. Robert Petkoff was a standout for me, but everyone was really wonderful.

I also went to the pre-show talk with Maury Yeston who I found fascinating to listen to, he's a really intelligent, interesting guy.
Updated On: 6/22/10 at 12:40 AM

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 1:29am

I left at intermission as I just found it literally too difficult to listen to. I don't know if it was better on the orchestra level, but the balcony was a disaster.

I was in the second row in the center Orchestra and couldn't hear anything that happened stage left. All the bits with the third class passengers were inaudible. Anytime someone turned their head towards the side, their voice just dropped off. It did seem that the sound got better during the second act, I don't know if they turned down the mics or told the actors to stand father from that or what, but I could hear a lot better after intermission.

And whoever set up the discussion with Maury Yeston also did a very poor job. There was a pre-show panel starting at 6:30pm that said "Admission included with benefit ticket purchase" on the NYSEC website. Yet they ended up turning away a good 30 or so people saying that "the pre-show discussion is now full." WTF!? Don't say that admission is included with ticket purchase and then tell ticket holders they cannot get in! Nowhere on the website does it say anything about seating being first-come, first-serve, or that the panel would be held in a small room instead of the actual theatre. That's some crap right there.

The music was beautiful and the singers were wonderful, Robert Petkoff (Andrews), Ryan LaTour (Barrett), Matthew Scott (Fleet), Martin Moran (Bride) and John Jellison (Strauss) in particular. It's a pity all the actors on the other side of stage were short-changed by the terrible sound system.

I knew the sound would be terrible from the very first moment when that woman stepped up to the mic to promote the SEC and I could barely understand a word she said, the sound was so bizarrely amplified. I'm certainly never paying to see another event at that place again.

Updated On: 6/22/10 at 01:29 AM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 9:41am

Bailey Hanks played Kate Murphy.

[JumpJumpJumpSoHigh]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 9:57am

Horrible, horrible sound issues aside, I had a lot of fun last night. Titanic was one of my favorite shows when it was on Broadway, and I'd nearly forgotten how much I loved it. Some of the book (and lyrics) are a little clunky, but last night I was newly blown away by how gorgeous the music is. Yeston has a real gift for an atmospheric score.

My favorite performances came from the folks who had been in the cast before. It felt like I was watching them step back into the physicalities of the roles, just as they'd played them on Broadway. It was especially lovely to see Martin Moran as Harold Bride again. This was the first show I ever saw him in, back in 1998, and he's been one of my absolute favorite stage actors ever since.

The night was alive with a thousand voices....

JJJ

[Shakeshafte]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 2:39pm

"Sarah Melissa Rotker in association with Josh Wellman presents Titanic".

Gosh. What can I say after last night's "performance".
I wil promise, that after witnessing the horrendous sound system (was there no sound check?????), and the complete rip off of the audience and the actors and the musicians who came to stage this attempt at a "musical concert" that I will never again go to see anything that these two people try to put together.

I could see the actors struggle to compensate for the over orchestrated music, no body mikes, and the acoustics that were a nightmare to listen to. The conductor was trying to hold his (overly loud) orchestra in an echoing venue, and people were leaving by the droves at intermission.

There were some incredible performers onstage last night, but a lot of us never got to hear a word they were trying to sing. I'll know better next time. And I feel bad for all the peformers who tried to make last night work.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 2:47pm

I attended last night as well and was really looking forward to it, especially since I loved the Broadway production. The sound problems were beyond frustrating. The evening came off as a very rough rehearsal (sound problems, missed tempos, clunkers from the orchestra). What a shame because the score to the show is beautiful and there were some very talented people on that stage.