the life vs. titanic

so i was listening to the score to the life yesterday and i remember clips of the show that i've seen over the year and am just bewildered as to how it lost all three tony's to titanic... i just can't comprehend it... so maybe someone can help me... thanks... andrew

TITANIC was a better show.

THE LIFE had some good stuff in the score, but it was bogged down in the theatre by a baffling book, and lead characters who were (despite their professions) dull as dishwater. There were some great performances, and McKneeley's choreography was fun, but in the end, THE LIFE really had nothing to say, except "Gee, it sucks to be a hooker."

We covered some of this material in the recent Steel Pier thread, helpfully linked below.
Steel Pier - plus The Life and Titanic

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I love TITANIC. I think the score is fantastic and the book by Peter Stone is one of the best books in recent memory. It managed to be touching and funny. not to mention completely historically accurate which was quite an accomplishment. I mean, obviously we can only guess the kinds of conversations they had, but any time numbers, dates or anything of the sort is mentioned it's all completely accurate and no invented characters either, they were all real people who existed and had lives. Peter Stone is definitely missed...

The Life had a score based on 1970's bumper stickers, My Way Or The Highway, It's My Body, etc. There were a few good songs but not enough to make the overall score good. Queen's operatic numbers were very much out of place, much of the music was dark, dreary and uninspired. Many of the numbers between Queen and Fleet sounded exactly the same. The pacing and flow was bad, too many of the dark, depressing songs in a row then suddenly an upbeta number that seems to come out of nowhere and deosn't seem to fit. Watching this show onstage made the score slightly better than just listening. At least you could see some reasonable transition from one number to the next and it made a bit more sense.

There was also nothing challanging or complicated in the score of The Life. Almost every song was specifically written for one voice. There are very few songs with multiple voacle parts and the few that exist don't work as well as they should because of the uncomplicated nature of the music. It was a shame becasue there were some very talented and accomplished singers in the original production. One stand out in that score is the gospel number that Lilias White belts the hell out of. Even with that, teher is some holding back to accommodate the music. I've heard Lilias do so much better when she has a well written piece.

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i saw them both. titanic was entertaining. it had some cheesy moments (like when the mini ship ran into the iceberg) but there were some wonderful performances and beautiful songs that i still listen to today.

the life was a bore. yes, it had lots of talent, but it was like watching paint dry. i don't remember any of the plot, score, or characters from this show.... i DO remember that lilias had an amazing voice.

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Updated On: 12/31/04 at 01:34 PM

Oh God, I sobbed in that final scene. I'm a big fan of that show as well and agree it was far superior to THE LIFE.

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I love both these shows but if I chose a preference it would definitely have to be The Life. Any song with Queen singing in it is miraculous!

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I remember when we to see Titanic in preview, Ticketmaster called to tell us the preview was cancelled - the ship wouldn't sink

Enjoyed both. The sets for Titanic were on the cheap side.

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I know! The German sets were awesome. I love how you can see the ship in the back. Sure, it doesn't quite make sense in relation to the ramp, but that was the way to go since they wanted abstract... it does look awesome. it should have been done like that on Broadway.

i've only heard the album for The Life but i think Cy Coleman is genius and, as far as music and lyrics and talent go, the cd is really great. it's one of my favorites.

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TITANIC the musical actually did open before the movie, and might have actully been helped at the box office because of the movie's success. It ended up running over a year when it might have closed after six months. Unfortunately, there were little old ladies who would ask things like, "Is Leonardo Dicaprio still in the show?"

In my opinion, TITANIC, THE LIFE and STEEL PIER was all terribly flawed shows. TITANIC won because it was the biggest, most ambitious of the three.

Gosh, I don't know guys. I really want to believe that Titanic is as amazing as you all are saying it is.... but, out of the 86 cast recordings I own, Titanic is the absolute worst of the recordings. I just cringe when listening to it. Maybe I would have had to see it live to appreciate it, but just listening to the recording doesn't do crap for me.

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