From the Bel Air Drama Company:
The Bel Air Drama Company will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the TITANIC disaster by presenting “TITANIC, the Musical” on the weekend of April 12th, 13th and 14th. Showtimes are at 7:00pm on the 12th and 13th with a 1:00pm matinee on the 14th. Saturday night’s presentation will begin at 8:15pm and timed so that in the performance, the ship strikes the iceberg at 9:40pm (11:40 Ship-time) – the exact time of the collision 100 years prior. All tickets are $10 in advance (see any member of the cast or crew for advanced sales). Tickets are $12 at the door.
In addition, the Drama Company will be hosting a TITANIC dinner event on Saturday night prior to the show. The dinner will include menu items from the final meal aboard the ship, and will be catered by Sterling Caterers of Jarrettsville, MD. Cast members will be in attendance in character (including passengers, officers and the Captain). Combination tickets for dinner and the show will be $35. Combination tickets will only be sold in advance (see any member of the cast or crew for advanced sales).
Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the centennial weekend of TITANIC.
The sinking of the TITANIC in the early hours of April 15, 1912, remains the quintessential disaster of the 20th century. A total of 1,517 souls-men, women and children-lost their lives (only 711 survived). The fact that the finest, largest, strongest ship in the world-called, in fact, the “unsinkable” ship -should have been lost during its maiden voyage is so incredible that, had it not actually happened, no author would have dared to contrive it. But the catastrophe had social ramifications that went far beyond that night’s events. For the first time since the beginning of the industrial revolution early in the 19th Century, bigger, faster and stronger did not prove automatically to be better. Suddenly the very essence of “progress” had to be questioned; might the advancement of technology not always be progress? Nor was this the only question arising from the disaster. The accommodations of the ship, divided into 1st, 2nd and 3rd Classes, mirrored almost exactly the class structure (upper, middle and lower) of the English-speaking world. But when the wide discrepancy between the number of survivors from each of the ship’s classes was revealed-all but two of the women in 1st Class were saved while 155 women and children from 2nd and 3rd (mostly 3rd) drowned-there was a new, long-overdue scrutiny of the prevailing social system and its values. It is not an exaggeration to state that the 19th Century, with its social stricture, its extravagant codes of honor and sacrifice, and its unswerving belief that God favored the rich, ended that night.
The musical play TITANIC examines the causes, the conditions and the characters involved in this ever-fascinating drama. This is the factual story of that ship-of her officers, crew and passengers, to be sure-but she will not, as has happened so many times before, serve as merely the background against which fictional, melodramatic narratives are recounted. The central character of our TITANIC is the TITANIC herself.
– PETER STONE, Author of “TITANIC, the Musical”
I tried to go to the performance last night, but was turned down at the door because tickets were sold out. I was looking forward to it all week, and was disappointed about being turned down. That being said, I am very happy for BAHS and the BADC because it definitely prooves it was a great show and that they are doing something right! Kudos!
Kyle, I am so sorry you missed the performance last night but you are right, the show was great in many ways.
The performances were very moving (everyone in my row of the audience was in tears by the end) and the theatrical spectacle of the sinking ship was simply stunning.
The school lobby also featured many displays of information about the disaster. The playbill included more facts and a visual perspective on the size of the Titanic compared to BAHS that I wish I could recreate here. What an outstanding educational experience this must have been for the students involved!
The entire production honored the lives of those lost (each cast member played the role of an actual passenger) and it brought a 100- year-old event to life in a way that I will never forget.