Review - Titanic at Royal & Derngate, Northampton

But actually all of the choices made for Titanic the Musical are very sound. Even the things you could criticise the show, there are very sound reasons for all of the decisions.

Telling the story of the voyage of the Titanic and eventually the ship hitting the iceberg and killing many of the people on board the ship.

Full kudos goes out to the range of singers and performers in the show. Portraying a cast of thousands is difficult enough on stage with lots of quick changes of costumes and different hats enabling the ensemble to seem even bigger than it is for many musicals.

Anyone expecting the film Titanic will be disappointed. There isn't the focus on one relationship in this musical, more a microcosm of Edwardian society at the time. Indeed when the iceberg hits, it's the passengers in first class who are rushed off to the lifeboats first and the woman and children who are saved.

And I'll spoil this now, there is no water used on the admittedly rather impressive ship set. There is one rather good set piece used to illustrate the sinking but I shall avoid spoiling.

The first half is rather long at 80 minutes but it does allow the different characters to make an impression on the watching audience. The singers are also a little operatic at any times but this suits the mood of this piece given the audience know what is coming. The ending is effective though and packed full of emotion.

This is a show which will certainly appeal to a lot of people. It's difficult to argue with any of the decisions the creatives took with making the show but I suspect that much like me, it won't be to everyone's tastes.

Titanic the Musical can be seen at Northampton's Royal & Derngate until Saturday June 30. Tickets for the show can be booked by visiting www.royalandderngate.co.uk or call the box office on 01604 624811.