Book: Peter Stone; Score: Maury Yeston. At: Griffin Theatre Company at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets: 773-975-8150 or www.handbagproductions.org; $39. Runs through Dec. 7
There's little risk that Griffin Theatre Company will need a pre-show announcement advising audiences not to toss handfuls of cocktail napkins into the air at the conclusion of the opening number of its gloriously intimate production of the Broadway musical Titanic.
However, for anyone who has been to the Chicago gay bar Sidetrack for Showtunes, the clip of Titanic from the 1997 Tony Awards is a much-loved favorite to mock. Along with a climactic napkin toss, many Sidetrack patrons shout-out spoof lyrics that rather callously laugh at the idea that a musical was inspired by the notorious 1912 maritime disaster in which 1,517 people died after the title "unsinkable" passenger ship struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
But instead of dismissing the five-time Tony-winning musical ( which debuted several months before James Cameron's blockbuster film version ), I'd advise those same sniggering Sidetrack patrons to see Griffin's beautifully realized and small-scale Titanic to take in a great and moving piece of theater. Although Titanic debuted on Broadway with a huge cast of 43 and a hydraulic set that tilted everything 45 degrees, this revised version ( first seen in Toronto and London ) featuring new orchestrations by Evanston-based Ian Weinberger makes an extremely strong case for a more intimate and less high-tech approach.
Director Scott Weinstein and music director Elizabeth Doran have assembled a vocally glorious cast of 20 performers who are in constant motion doubling up as crew members and passengers from different social strata. All that character switching emphasizes the musical's questioning of the value of human lives based upon wealth and class, and how all these people's lives were tied together to this tragic event.
Weinstein imposes a welcome restraint on the performances, which wisely don't become too overwrought and melodramatic once the ship starts sinking. Weinstein also creates a number of lovely stage pictures against the very effective abstracted nautical backdrop by set designer Joe Schermoly, with Rachel Sypniewski's lovely period costumes and Brandon Wardell's colorful lighting design also providing great support.
Since there are so many great performances in Griffin's Titanic with nearly every actor delivering strong solos amid their powerful choral ensemble work, I won't pick out favorites in the cast. Due to limited column space, it would be unfair to leave out all those who definitely deserve praise for such finely articulated performances.
So laugh at Titanic all you want when its optimistic opening number is screened at Sidetrack. Just be aware that the full show is a musical masterwork that truly needs to be seen in its entirety to be fully appreciated. And with the Griffin's impressive intimate production of Titanic, there's no excuse to plead ignorance of its musical glories.