By Staff
Staff Reports
Brewton Council of the Arts is bringing an award winning musical to Brewton Jan. 27, with a performance at 7:30 p.m. at Jefferson Davis Community College.
Titanic -- The Musical, is the depiction of the 20th century's most legendary tale of romance, adventure, greed and ambition told live on stage. Titanic is a joyous, breathtaking and often-heartbreaking Broadway musical that dramatically captures the series of events that occurred during the ship's historic voyage.
Rich and poor, young and old, they came from the four corners of the earth to board the modern wonder of the world. The jeweled and the jaded, the aesthetes and the athletes, the maids and the millionaires, the anonymous and the infamous, the down-at-heel and the upper crust, all of them destined for a landmark crossing. They traveled faster than man had ever traveled before, from one continent to another, surrounded by opulence, spurred by a tycoon determined to break the record for speed, captained by a trusted veteran of the high seas. Every one of them hoped they were bound not just for America, but for history. They were.
The name of the vessel was TITANIC and it is now a new Broadway musical written by Academy Award and Tony Award-winner Peter Stone with music and lyrics by Tony Award-winner Maury Yeston. For four days, life was carefree, the crossing perfectly smooth, the passengers increasingly eager for their arrival in New York. Then came Sunday, April 14. It was a cold, crystal clear night. The stars reflected diamonds off the black Atlantic. People bundled overcoats over their evening clothes to enjoy the brisk slap of suddenly frigid air sweeping the promenade deck.
Inside the first class ballroom, the crystal chandeliers bathed dancers in a golden glow as the band played on, and in the club room, the men warmed to card games and cognac, surrounded by statues of the gods, swathed in the smoke of expensive cigars. On the second and third class decks, most had retired for the night.
Many were asleep, lulled by the gentle heaving of the enormous engines and boilers, as they cut their record-breaking path through the water.
It was late, almost midnight, when one lone lookout saw the ice. Forty-five seconds later came the jolt.
If the owner hadn't been determined to surprise America by arriving a night early. If the builder had designed the watertight bulkheads to rise to a higher deck. If they hadn't cut the corner on an area of ocean they knew had been dangerous before. If it had been summer instead of spring. If the lookout's binoculars hadn't been missing from the crow's nest. If only one of these things had not been the case, TITANIC would today be the very definition of luxury, romance and fortitude, of bigger-faster-stronger, of progress victorious. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for ages 16 and under. For tickets or more information contact Edna Johnson at 867-2747.