The overture was wonderful. I absolutely love the "Sail on" part of it. Michael Cerveris as Thomas Andrews was wonderful...I loved him throughout the whole show! I thought it was really cute how, when the ship's crew come out, they shield their eyes from the sun reflecting off the ship. :-)

The whole opening scene is just wonderful...it's a quick introduction to all the characters, and it captures the excitement of the moment perfectly! I really loved Victoria Clark as Alice Beane...she was hilarious! All of the sets were just wonderful as well.

The musical makes J. Bruce Ismay into quite a villian. For those familiar with the movie, he is shown there as being partly at fault, but not a terribly bad person. In the musical he is constantly obsessed with speed and cares for nothing else, and it is implied that the accident is mostly his fault. I didn't particularly like that interpretation of it. Brian d'Arcy James as Frederick Barrett was just perfection. "Barrett's Song" was wonderful...I loved the set for this as well, and I don't know about everyone else in the theatre, but I got pretty attached to his character right away. :-)

I think my favourite joke of the entire show came during one of the dinners in the first class dining salon...Mrs. Widener asked Madeleine Astor how she found Paris, and she replied, "Oh, luckily I didn't have to! Jack knew right where it was." :-) "Lady's Maid" was a wonderful scene, with all the third class immigrants singing about their search for a better life in America. Even the skeptical Jim Farrell is caught up in the dream by the end. It's especially touching since you know that most of them are not going to survive.

Probably my favourite musical moment is "The Proposal/The Night Was Alive". Both Brian and Martin Moran (Harold Bride) acted this part wonderfully, and the part at the end where they both start singing together is just breathtaking.

The whole "No Moon" scene was very well done...incredible sets once again! I wasn't quite expecting the crow's nest to descend from the ceiling as it did. :-) Just a side note here...am I the only one who thinks that the "Wake Up" tune sounds like something Sondheim would write? :-)

The effect of the ship actually sinking on stage was just wonderful. There was a gradual increase in the angle of the floor, and at one point, when a cart when rolling offstage, in the middle of the luxurious Grand Salon, it really showed how bizarre the whole thing must have seemed to the people on board. The scene where Ismay, Smith and Andrews argue over who is to blame for the mess is definitely one of my favourite parts of the show. The music is wonderful, and all three actors were great, especially Michael Cerveris again. Again though, I didn't really like how Ismay was portrayed in this scene...and that's not the fault of the actor, but rather the author's interpretation.

"We'll Meet Tomorrow", when all the passengers are being separated from their loved ones, was very touching, as was "Still", sung by the Strausses, who refuse to be separated and end up dying together. But the song that made me cry the most was "Andrews' Vision". The ship had been his dream most of all, and it was crumbling before his eyes, affecting so many other people in the process. The last scene was just perfect, and the full force of the tragedy just hit you. Again, in comparison to the movie, you definitely feel for Jack and Rose there, but here, there were so many characters that you sympathized with, and felt all of their losses. I cried almost as much as I was afraid I would.

The Quotes:

"Hey, you know who I am?"
Clarke Thorell, who obviously didn't get recognized that often

"We're from Canada"
"Oh, are you from Ottawa too?"
"No..."
"But you're with her?"
"Yes"
Karen and Gill confusing Clarke Thorell at the stage door :-)

"So sometimes I have to, you know, surf the piano..."
Michael Cerveris, on Mr. Andrews' Vision

The Pictures: