Western Courier

Issue date: 4/23/04 Section: The Edge

Media Credit: Darren S. Dale High-class society takes a cruise in University Theatre´s "Titanic."

A sudden hush fell over Hainline Theatre April 15 as the orchestra began playing. The soft, melancholy music was accompanied by a huge blueprint backdrop of the R.M.S Titanic. Before the first actor appeared on stage, the audience understood the sadness of what could have been for the unfortunate passengers.

Opening night of Western Illinois University Theatre's "Titanic" was an intermingling of well-executed music and pure emotion.

The 63-person cast poured all of its feelings into singing idealistically about new lives in America. Instead of showing the great amount of physical destruction that occurred during the 1912 tragedy, the play portrayed the tragic loss of human spirit.

All performers acted as though they had transformed into the character they were playing. Theatre professor Gene Kozlowski, who played Captain E.J. Smith, personified the legendary figure with grace and dignity. All of the performers were shown impressively as figures from the past.

The brilliant costumes allowed the audience to get a genuine feel for the characters. First-class passengers were clad in vibrant, glitzy gowns and hats that looked authentic to what the elite wore in the early 1900s. Poorer male characters looked like haunting figures in their third-class rags and sailor uniforms that even had antique buttons encrusted with anchors.

The orchestra added final exquisite touches as it complemented the high-charged chorus of actors singing about life and tragedy. Audience members could easily detect the highly tuned altos and sopranos who sung so powerfully that their voices took over Hainline Theatre.

The opening night of "Titanic" was a touching experience. In the final scene - when the cast reunited and sang together to symbolize the reunion of broken families - the actors grew misty-eyed and their voices quivered with emotion as if all involved in the production understood the story of these passengers' lost hopes and dreams.

University Theatre will perform "Titanic" tonight and Saturday in the Hainline Theatre at 7:30 p.m.

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