In the final hours of 14 April 1912, the RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, collided with an iceberg. The ‘unsinkable ship’ slowly sank. It was one of the most tragic disasters of the 20th century, with 1,517 men, women and children losing their lives.

Based on real people aboard the most legendary ship in the world, Titanic The Musical is described as ‘a stunning and stirring production focusing on the hopes, dreams and aspirations of her passengers, who each boarded with stories and personal ambitions of their own.’

The musical, with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone, first opened on Broadway in 1997 and won five Tony Awards, including best musical, best score and best book. 

This new production, helmed by the artistic director of Charing Cross Theatre, Thom Southerland, and coming direct from London, has enjoyed critical acclaim across the board. The production visits Birmingham, Thom’s home town, next month as part of its UK tour. 

“We did it at Southwark Playhouse in 2013,” says Thom. “Since then, it’s been across to Toronto, Tokyo and many other theatres in Japan, then back to London - and now it’s embarking on its first UK tour. I think it’s really important that she finally sails around the country.

“It’s so lovely that I’ve been able to work in the US and go around the world with it, but when I had the phone call to say that it’s going to be in Birmingham, I was just ecstatic. It’s in Birmingham over my birthday week, and it was always my birthday treat to go and see something at Birmingham Hippodrome. It’s beyond my wildest dreams, and it’s going to be very emotional when the show finally arrives there. I never, ever thought it would happen, I sort of dreamed it, but to think it’s my piece that’s coming home is really quite special.”

Thom was encouraged to become a director by his teachers and his family. “I loved watching theatre and desperately wanted to be a part of it. I was a terrible actor, but I needed to find some way into the industry whereby I could still work in a theatre. It was my first love.”    

So he moved from Walsall to London, took an undergraduate course at Rose Bruford College, and following his graduation started work on the London fringe. “Making my own shows is sort of where Titanic was born. It was in a very small theatre, and then it sort of took over. It’s been very lovely that, for the past five years, the show has been my life and has taken me around the world. It’s been tremendously exciting.

“I was on holiday in New York in 2001 and bought an original souvenir brochure for a dollar from the original Broadway production of Titanic. I looked at it and thought, “Oh my god - this is the most lavish and huge-scale show!” I’d heard about it but hadn’t heard any of the music. I needed to hear what the show was like. How is it even possible to do a musical about the Titanic story? I immediately went across to the record store in Time Square, bought the CD, the original cast recording, went back to my hotel room and listened to this music. As always with Maury Yeston’s music, he gives you everything, and suddenly I became rather obsessed with the musical. I asked him whether we could do the show in London in a 200-seat theatre and he said yes.”

Thom is keen to point out that the production is a very long way away from the 1997 smash-hit blockbuster movie. “This version doesn’t fictionalise anything. The Titanic famously had more than 2,500 people on board. There’s so much drama and so many stories that Peter Stone and Maury Yeston decided they would base everything in the musical version on fact. There are more than 150 characters played by 25 actors, and they all come on stage at certain points and tell us about their own personal journey and what the Titanic meant to them. Of course, the story is the same and there’s no spoiler alert - everybody knows what happens at the end.

“I think what’s so wonderful and absorbing about this version is that it tells you something that you don’t already know about the Titanic. There are so many conspiracy theories, but this just tells you the information as it happened and allows us to indulge in these wildly romantic stories about people who set off for a new life in a new world. When I listened to the score, I realised that it was all about people, and that you didn’t need to really see the ship - everybody knows what the Titanic looks like. I think the musical version very beautifully tells us everything we need to know about the Titanic story, and anything that we can’t do is left to the imagination. 

“For the production I was very insistent that we didn't replicate the sinking. I think there’s a line of taste there. I suppose the success of the show is testament to the material, and it just proves that you don’t need to do anything literally. What Maury Yeston’s music and lyrics do - and Peter Stone, who wrote the script - is tell you every piece of information in many ways. Musically, you feel like you really are part of this ship.

“It seems like every week there’s a TV programme stating that there’s new information about the Titanic. There are all sorts of conspiracy theories: Was there a fire in the boiler? Was it a big insurance job? The beauty of the Titanic story is that we will never know. The show never tries to point blame and always tries to give the overview. It allows us not even to try and think about whose fault it was, but just to comprehend what lessons we can learn from the Titanic.”

Thom always likes to ask previous cast members back. “I think that’s really important. The success of the show is because of the actors who were involved in those original productions. The iconic and incredibly detailed performances are so crucial. We’ve had more than half returning - this is a bigger production, so there are five extra people in the show - and we have some newbies, which always creates a very lovely dynamic in the cast. It's a true ensemble piece. The actors play so many different roles, and everybody gets their moment. There are no stand-out leading characters.”

So what’s next for Titanic The Musical?

“Another production is heading to Japan. It’s going to be revived there, and we’re just about to announce another season at Charring Cross. I think when you’ve done a show as big as Titanic, there’s nothing that can rival that.”

Titanic The Musical drops anchor at Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday 4 to Saturday 9 June.

By Lauren Foster