MY TICKET TO THE TITANIC

　
Recently, I bought myself a front row seat for TITANIC the musical at our local community theatre. I found it more poignant than the 1997 movie, which I saw on the big screen for maximum effect.

I know I'm in the minority, but I found the film disappointing. I thought the cheesy romance cheapened the whole tragedy. Back then, there was a standard of decency that does not exist today.

To my eyes, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio made an incongruous couple. She looked 25 and he looked 15. It was lousy casting.

I didn't have a high opinion of the Rose character. If I remember correctly, she was marrying that swarthy, smarmy rich guy to pay off debts incurred by her deceased father. Once she pulled her disappearing act at the end, these debts fell directly onto the back of her widowed mom. Who probably had no skills beyond being a wife and mother. Remember this was shortly after the turn of the century. -- Nice kid!

Now they are releasing this film in 3D. Personally, I think they should leave bad enough alone.

A far superior movie version was made for TV way back in 1981. I believe it was a two-parter called S.O.S. TITANIC. They focused on several stories, not just one. All of them were actually interesting.

When I first heard about a live musical based on the Titanic, I thought it seemed inappropriate. We all know it didn't have a happy ending! However, it was masterfully written and performed. It started out light-hearted and hopeful with lots of humor which made the tragedy all the greater.

Also I was curious to see how the final scene would be staged. It was done verbally, just as action scenes in the ancient Greek plays. The actors were as good, if not better than most paid professionals. They all possessed star quality!

Three years ago, I saw the live play, SCOTLAND ROAD, a supernatural tale involving the Titanic. It was an expensive show with professional actors, too. I had a prominent and generous (albeit suffocating) boyfriend back then. I enjoyed the performance, but the end left the audience scratching their heads trying to come up with an explanation. -- Twilight Zone territory!

Believe if I'd been stuck aboard the sinking ship, I would have been shoving furniture overboard. Watching to see what floats, then jumping on top of it.

So many lives were lost all because of the greed and arrogance of a few. Sound familiar? A thousand years from now, the Titanic tragedy will remain a source of fascination. -- If the human race is still around, then.