For “Titanic the Musical,” Arts Bonita Director Kody C. Jones has assembled a cast of 55 youth and adult actors. This is not an adaptation of the Leonardo DiCaprio-Kate Winslet tragic romance. The characters in this show are based on real passengers from the voyage. The musical examines the rigid social structure in the U.K. and U.S. in 1912 and the disparate treatment of passengers based on class. Winner of five Tony Awards, “Titanic the Musical” tells a grand story about people's bravery, cowardice and the indomitable human spirit.

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“Titanic the Musical” debuted on Broadway on April 23, 1997, the same year that the movie was released. While the two have no correlation with or connection to one another, the film overshadowed the Broadway production even though the latter won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and was nominated for Drama Desk and League Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards and a Grammy.

The musical ran on Broadway for 804 performances and has since enjoyed national tours and regional productions.

It traveled to Naples in 2000 and was recently produced at the University of Miami’s Jerry Herman Theater.

Composer/lyricist Maury Yeston (“Nine,” “Phantom,” “Death Takes a Holiday,” “The Royal Family”) got the idea to do the musical following the discovery of Titanic’s wreckage in 12,000 feet of water in 1985.

Musical explores disparities in the fates of the rich and the poor

Characters seen in the show are based on real passengers from the voyage, such as Captain Edward Smith, lead stoker Frederick Barrett, bandmaster Wallace Hartley and elderly couple Isidor and Ida Straus.

They occupied three classes.

The first-class passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world – iron magnates, railroad magnates, shipbuilding magnates including John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim. Their dream was that their influence and control would last forever.

Second-class passengers were members of the emerging middle class, made possible by the industrial revolution, which for the first time in history gave people enough income and leisure time to take a trip and rub elbows with the rich and famous.

The third class comprised the poorest passengers on Titanic, people who had scrimped and saved in order to migrate from Europe to America in pursuit of a better life for themselves and their children.

Cast member Cameron Rogers stated, “I think it’s a great reminder of what the American Dream is supposed to look like. The idea that anybody can come from anywhere and build a better life for themselves in America is so prevalent in the plot.”

Songs such as “I Must Get on That Ship,” and “Lady’s Maid,” have performers singing about the hopes and dreams of their characters. They capture the emotional depth of the story surrounding Titanic.

But Maury Yeston has a more expansive view.

“When the ship went down, all of those dreams crashed at the same time,” Yeston said in an interview. “It was extraordinary to think that what you wore determined whether you would live or die. The first-class women all survived except for one, namely Mrs. Straus who elected to stay with her husband, but so many third-class passengers died. The world had to change after that.”

But has it, really?

“We still have to learn lessons about class structure, enabling people to rise above their conditions and making the opportunities in society more equal,” said Yeston.

Musical lets audience in on a secret the characters don’t know

Yeston was also attracted to the story for another reason.

“One of my favorite things in the theatre is when the audience knows a secret that the people on stage don't know themselves,” Yeston explained. “What I found when I started developing the show with Peter Stone [who wrote the book] was that until the ship hit the iceberg the passengers were having the time of their lives. The audience comes into the theatre already knowing the ending, but when you have a character kissing his girlfriend goodbye and saying, 'I'll be back in a fortnight' the audience goes 'Oh my God, I know what's going to happen, but he doesn't.'”

Grammy-nominated score will sweep away audiences

Jones says that another reason audiences will be swept away by “Titanic” is its Grammy-nominated score.

“I feel musicals have to work like radio plays,” Yeston explained. “You should be able to hear a musical on the radio and magically see what's going on in your mind's eye. In theatre you collaborate with the imagination of the audience to create the illusion of what's on stage. I always feel that the music should in some way reflect the mindset of the people in the story. Only the British Empire, in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, could imagine creating a ship that could never sink. In order to understand that mindset I went to the great English symphonists of the early-20th century like Elgar and Vaughan Williams. That symphonic dimension to reflect that worldview is very important in communicating to the audience the nature of the civilization who had the daring to conceive of such an extraordinary dream.”

‘Titanic’ testament to nobility of the human spirit

Although not everyone aboard Titanic comported themselves with dignity and honor, many did.

“When we see the examples of self-sacrifice that occur on board the ship, with some people willingly not getting into the lifeboat because they feel others should, there's inspiration in that,” Yeston said. “There's also the theme of hoping against hope that things will somehow be OK. Even when Mr. and Mrs. Straus are on the deck and they know they're not going to survive, they sing a song to each other which basically says 'I love you now as much as I did on the day we were married.' Even when all the women and children are off the ship and everyone left knows they're not going to survive, they sing to each other 'Across the chasm we'll meet tomorrow,' that somehow some of them will survive and see each other again. That's the human spirit hoping even in the face of hopelessness.”

When Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, over 1,500 men, women and children died.

Play dates and times

Play dates and times are:

• Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m.;
• Saturday, April 18 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.;
• Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m.;
• Thursday, April 23 at 7 p.m.;
• Friday, April 24 at 7 p.m.;
• Saturday, April 25 at 7 p.m.; and
• Sunday, April 26 at 2 p.m.

All performances are in the Hinman Auditorium, 10150 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs.

Tickets are available for purchase online or at the box office. For more information and ticket reservations, visit ArtsBonita.org or call (239) 495-8989.

No relation to ‘Titanique’ musical comedy

Not only does “Titanic the Musical” bear no relationship to the film “Titanic,” it is in no way connected to “Titanique,” which opens on Broadway for a 16-week limited engagement March 26. Written by Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli, “Titanique” reimagines the events of Titanic through the perspective of Celine Dion, weaving the pop star’s songs into a comedic retelling of the story of Jack and Rose. Musical numbers include “My Heart Will Go On,” “All By Myself,” and “To Love You More,” performed with a live band.

About Director Kody C. Jones and Arts Bonita

Kody C. Jones doesn’t shy away from challenging musicals. Since October 2024, he’s produced “Hadestown Teen Edition,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Hair” and Carrie” with casts of middle and high school students.

Arts Bonita is a vibrant cultural hub dedicated to enriching the lives of Southwest Florida residents through the arts. Offering a wide range of performances, educational programs, and exhibitions, Arts Bonita supports the region's cultural vitality while fostering the growth and development of local talent. Through community outreach initiatives, the organization provides arts education to underserved populations and grants college scholarships to emerging artists. Arts Bonita’s mission is to make the arts accessible to all and to inspire creativity and connection within the community.

Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.