Casting Update

We have made it through three days of auditions and we thank everyone who came out in support of the show.  

We are in the process of notifying everyone who has been cast and their roles.   Once that is completed (over the next day or so), we will post a full cast list.  

There are still some roles open for officers on the crew and we invite anyone interested to contact the director at tedsmith.patio@gmail.com to discuss joining the cast and crew.

Again, thank you all for auditioning.   Soon we sail.

AUDITIONS DAY TWO

Auditions continue tonight (SUN JAN 29) at 6pm, at the Barrow-Civic Little Theatre.   All are invited to attend, the show has a wide variety of roles, singing and non-singing.  

If you have ever thought about being in a show, now is your chance to do it and be part of history by performing in the 100th Anniversary commemoration of the maiden voyage of the TITANIC.

NO OTHER THEATRE IN WESTERN PA HAS THE RIGHT TO THIS SHOW.   Franklin Civic's production will be held on several dates coinciding with the original voyage and subsequent sinking.

From First Class to Third Class, officers and crew - we're calling you ON-BOARD for the kick-off show of the 2012 FCOA Season of Shows!

AUDITIONS DAY ONE

Auditions today at 1pm at the Barrow-Civic Theatre. Day one of two for auditions for the 100th anniversary production of TITANIC. All are welcome!

Auditions are closing in!

Auditions are coming this weekend for TITANIC. Saturday Jan 28 at 1pm and Sunday Jan 29 at 6pm. Little Theatre of the Barrow-Civic Theatre. All experiences are welcome. Whether you are a Theatre veteran or thinking of doing your first show, you are encouraged to audition. TITANIC has room for a large cast, approximately 45-60 people and there are roles for all abilities and experiences. Yes it is a musical but don't let your singing ability discourage you from auditioning. Non-signing roles are available for this show. Be part of a fantastic experience. Audition for a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is the 100th Anniversary of the maiden voyage and sinking of the world's greatest ocean liner. See you at auditions.

TITANIC TIMELINE PART SIX-FINAL

TITANIC Timeline: Part Six-Sinking to Recovery

TITANIC lifeboat approaching
CARPATHIA

    3:30 AM: The Carpathia's rockets sighted by lifeboats. Her normal speed is 14½ knots, but she has raced to the rescue at a shuddering 17½ knots.

    4:10 AM: First boat, No. 2, is picked up by the Carpathia. Ice float all about the disaster area amid debris from Titanic.

    5:30 AM: The Californian advised by the Frankfort of the loss of Titanic and makes for the disaster area.

Collapsible lifeboat approaching
CARPATHIA

    5:30 to 6:30 AM: Collapsible A survivors rescued by boat No. 14, and collapsible B by boats 4 and 12.

    8:30 AM: Last boat, No. 12, picked up by the Carpathia. Lightoller is the last survivor to come on board. The Californian arrives at side of the Carpathia, and then steams through disaster area to undertake final check for survivors.

    8:50 AM: The Carpathia leaves area bound for New York. She carries 705 survivors. An estimated 1,522 souls have been lost. Ismay wires White Star New York offices: "Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning after collision with iceberg, resulting in serious loss of life. Full particulars later."

April 17: Hired by White Star, the Mackay-Bennett leaves Halifax to search for bodies at disaster site.

April 18, 9:00 PM: Carpathia arrives New York. She outruns hordes of newspaper reporters in boats clamoring for news. As the Carpathia passes Statue of Liberty, 10,000 people are on hand to watch. Titanic's lifeboats hang at her sides. She passes the Cunard pier (no. 54) and steams on up-river to the White Star piers, there to lower Titanic's boats. The Carpathia then returns to the Cunard pier to finally unload the survivors.


Crowds awaiting CARPATHIA arrival

April 19 to May 25: Inquiry into the Titanic disaster undertaken by United States Senate Inquiry, headed by Senator William A. Smith. Eighty-two witnesses are called.

April 22: White Star sends the Minia out from Halifax to help overtaxed Mackay-Bennett, which has picked up 306 bodies. The Minia finds only another 17 after a week-long search.

April 24: As Titanic's sister ship Olympic is about to leave Southampton, her "black gang" (stokers) go out on strike. They will not work on a ship that does not carry enough lifeboats. 285 crew desert ship, and the Olympic's voyage is canceled.

CARPATHIA arrives in New York with
TITANIC survivors and lifeboats

May 6: White Star sends out the Montmagny from Sorel, Quebec, to help search for bodies. Recovers four.

May 15: White Star sends out the Algerina from St. John's, Newfoundland. Recovers only one body. Altogether the White Star-commissioned ships find a total of 328 bodies.

May 2 to July 3: British Board of Trade Inquiry is conducted. 25,622 questions are asked of 96 witnesses, including such expert witnesses as the inventor of radio, Marconi, and the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton regarding ice and icebergs. The only passenger witnesses are Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon and J. Bruce Ismay. Other witnesses include Captain Lord of the Californian, Lightoller who endures 1,600 questions alone, members of the crew, the ship's owners, and the members of the British Board of Trade. The final judgment recommends "more watertight compartments in ocean-going ships, the provision of lifeboats for all on board, as well as a better lookout."

TITANIC TIMELINE PART FIVE

TITANIC TIMELINE PART FIVE:  Collision to Sinking

Photos of TITANIC sinking in this post are from the film, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, based on the book by Walter Lord.

11:50 PM: During first ten minutes after impact, water rises 14 feet above the keel, forward. First five compartments begin to take on water. Boiler room No. 6, five feet above keel, is flooded in eight feet of water.

Harold Bride in Radio Room.

    12:00 AM: Mail room, 24 feet above keel, begins taking enough water to float mail bags. Following reports to Captain Smith, now on the bridge, of water pouring into number 1, 2, and 3 holds, and boiler room No. 6, and his own rapid tour to inspect damage with Thomas Andrews, Smith asks Andrews for his assessment. Andrews calculates the ship can stay afloat from one to two-and-a-half hours only. This is based on the mathematical certainty that if more than four holds are flooded, once a compartment fills with water, the water will spill into the next compartment and so on. Titanic's bow begins to sink. The ship is doomed. Captain Smith orders CQD distress call for assistance sent out over ship's wireless. Titanic's estimated position: 41º 46' N, 50º 14' W. Boilers shut down and relief pipes against funnels blow off huge noisy clouds of steam.

April 15, Monday: 12:05 AM: Squash court, 32 feet above keel is awash. Orders are given to uncover the lifeboats and to get the passengers and crew ready on deck. Only enough room in the lifeboats for 1,178 of the estimated 2,227 on board if every boat is filled.

    12:10 to 1:50 AM: Several crew members on the Californian, some 10 to 19 miles away, see lights of a steamer. A number of attempts to make contact with the ship with Morse lamp fail. Rockets are observed, but as they appear so low over the ship's deck, and make no sound, they do not seem like distress rockets, and no great concern is taken. Distance between ships seems to increase until they are out of sight of each other.

    12:15 to 2:17 AM: Numerous ships hear Titanic's distress signals, including her sister ship the Olympic, some 500 miles away. Several ships, including Mount Temple (49 miles away), Frankfort (153 miles), Birma (70 miles), Baltic (253 miles), Virginian (170), and Carpathia (58 miles) prepare at various times to come to assist.

    12:15 AM: Band begins to play lively ragtime tunes in first-class lounge on A Deck, later moving up to Boat Deck near port entrance to Grand Staircase.

    12:20 AM: Order given to start loading lifeboats with women and children.

    12:25 AM: Order given to start loading the lifeboats with women and children first. The Carpathia, southeast some 58 miles, receives distress call and immediately heads full speed to rescue.

    12:45 AM: The first lifeboat, starboard No. 7, is safely lowered away. It can carry 65 people, but leaves with 28 aboard. First distress rocket fired. Eight rockets will be fired altogether. Fourth Officer Boxhall observes vessel approach Titanic and then disappear despite attempts to contact her with Morse lamp. Boat No. 4 begins loading between 12:30 and 12:45.

    12:55 AM: First port-side boat No. 6 lowered with only 28 aboard, including Molly Brown and Major Peuchen. Starboard No. 5 is lowered. Ismay is chastised by Fifth Officer Lowe for interfering with his command. (41 aboard - room for another 24.)

    1:00 AM: Starboard boat No. 3 is lowered with only 32 aboard including 11 crew.

    1:10 AM: Starboard No. 5 is lowered (capacity 40) with only 12 aboard, including Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon, and seven crew. Port-side No. 8 loaded and lowered carrying only 39 people. It is steered in the water by the Countess of Rothes.

    1:15 AM: Water reaches Titanic's name on the bow and she now lists to port. The tilt of the deck grows steeper. Boats now begin to be more fully loaded.

    1:20 AM: Starboard No. 9 leaves with some 56 people aboard. Titanic has now developed a noticeable list to starboard.

    1:25 AM: Port-side boat No. 12 is lowered with 40 women and children on board. Two seamen are put in charge of boat. After Titanic sinks, this boat is tied together with boats 4, 10, 14 and collapsible D. Later on survivors are moved from boat 14 to the other boats by Fifth Officer Lowe so he can return to pick up swimming passengers. Boat 12 is subsequently overloaded with 70 passengers, many rescued from collapsible D.

    1:30 AM: Signs of panic begin to appear among some passengers on the ship. As port-side boat 14 is lowered with 60 people, including Fifth Officer Lowe, a group of passengers appears ready to jump in the already full boat, and Lowe fires shots into the air to warn them away. Titanic's distress calls now near desperation. "We are sinking fast" and "Women and children in boats. Cannot last much longer"

    1:35 AM: Port-side No. 16 is lowered with over 50 people. Starboard boat No. 13 leaves with 64 people, mostly second and third-class women and children. Starboard boat No. 15 is lowered 30 seconds later with 70 aboard and barely avoids collision with boat 13 as it is lowered on top of No. 13. The latter pulls away in the water in the nick of time.

    1:40 AM: Most of the forward boats have now away, and passengers begin to move to the stern area. Ismay leaves on collapsible C (39 aboard), the last starboard-side boat launched. The forward Well Deck is awash.  

  1:45 AM: Last words heard from Titanic by the Carpathia on her way to the rescue - "...Engine room full up to boilers..." Port-side boat No. 3 is lowered and leaves with only 25 people. She can carry 40.

    1:55 AM: John Jacob Astor, refused entry to port-side boat No. 4 by Lightoller, sees his wife off safely as boat is lowered with 40 women and children and some crew aboard. In the rush, 20 places in the boat are left empty.

    2:00 AM: Water now only ten feet below Promenade Deck.

    2:05 AM: There are now still over 1,500 people left on the sinking ship. Collapsible D is one of the last boats left. It has room for 47 people. To prevent a rush on the boat, Lightoller waves (and possible fires) his pistol into the air and crew members form a circle around it, with arms locked together, and allow only women and children aboard. The boat is lowered with 44 aboard. Titanic's forecastle head sinks under water, the tilt of her decks growing steeper.

    2:10 AM: Captain Smith releases wireless operators from their duties.

    2:17 AM: Philips continues to send last radio message. Captain Smith tells crew members, "It's every man for himself," and is seen returning to the bridge, possibly to await the end. Thomas Andrews, the ship's builder, is seen alone in the first-class smoking room staring into space. Titanic's bow plunges under, enabling the ensnared collapsible B to float clear upside down. Father Thomas Byles hears confession and gives absolution to over one hundred second and third-class passengers gathered at the aft end of the Boat Deck. The ship's band stops playing. Many passengers and crew jump overboard. Titanic's forward funnel collapses, crushing a number of swimming passengers. Collapsible A now floats free and about two dozen people in the water grab hold of it. It clears right side up, but is swamped and dangerously overloaded. Lowe, in boat No. 14, saves them just before dawn. Probably as many as half, however, have died.

    2:18 AM: A huge roar is heard as all moveable objects inside Titanic crash toward the submerged bow. The ship's lights blink once and then go out. Many survivors witness the ship break in two. The bow half sinks.

    2:20 AM: Titanic's broken-off stern section settles back into the water, righting itself for a few moments. Slowly it fills with water and again tilts its stern high into the air before slowly sinking into the sea. Over 1,500 souls are lost in the "greatest maritime disaster in history."

TITANIC TIMELINE: Part Four

Promenade Deck

TITANIC Timeline: Voyage to Collision


April 11 to 12: Titanic covers 386 miles in fine, calm, clear weather.


April 12 and 13: Titanic covers 519 miles. Fine weather continues. Various ice warnings received, which is not uncommon for April crossings.


April 13, 10:30 PM: Heavy ice pack warning signaled by passing Rappahannock, which has sustained damage coming through the ice field.

Gymnasium Windows

April 14, Sunday: 9:00 AM: Titanic picks up wireless message from Caronia warning of field ice and icebergs in 42ºN, from 49º to 51ºW.


    10:30 AM: Divine service held in first-class dining saloon.


    11:40 AM: Dutch liner Noordam reports "much ice" in about the same position as the Caronia.


    Noon: As usual, the ship's officers gather on the wing of the navigating bridge to calculate daily position with sextants: "Since noon Saturday, 546 miles."

Grand Staircase Dome

    1:42 PM: Iceberg warning received via the Baltic and "large quantities of field ice" in latitude 41º 51'N, longitude 49º 52' W about 250 miles ahead of Titanic. Message delivered to Captain Smith. Smith later gives it to J. Bruce Ismay, who puts it in his pocket.


    1:45 PM: "Large iceberg" warning received via German liner Amerika (41º 27' N, 50º 8' W). Message not sent to the bridge.


    5:30 to 7:30 PM: Air temperature drops ten degrees to 33ºF.

First Class Dining Saloon

    5:50 PM: Captain Smith alters ship's course slightly south and west of normal course - possibly as a precaution to avoid ice.


    6:00 PM: Second Officer Lightoller relieves Chief Officer Wilde on the bridge.


    7:15 PM: First Officer Murdoch orders forward forecastle hatch closed to stop the glow from inside interfering with crow's nest watch above.


    7:30 PM: Three warning messages concerning large icebergs intercepted from the Californian (42º 3' N, 49º 9' W). Message delivered to bridge. Captain attending dinner party below. Ice now only 50 miles ahead.

Harold Bride, Marconi Wireless Rm

    8:40 PM: Lightoller gives order to look after ship's fresh water supply, as outside seawater is now close to freezing.


    8:55 PM: Captain Smith excuses himself from dinner party, goes directly to bridge, and discusses calm and clear weather conditions with Lightoller, as well as visibility of icebergs at night.


    9:20 PM: Captain Smith retires for the night with the order to rouse him "if it becomes at all doubtful..."


    9:30 PM: Lightoller sends message to crow's nest to watch carefully for icebergs until morning.


    9:40 PM: Heavy ice pack and iceberg warning received from the Mesaba (lat. 42º N to 41º 25' N, long. 49º W to 50º 30' W). Message overlooked. Wireless operators busy with passenger traffic. Altogether the day's six ice warnings show a huge field of ice some 78 miles long directly ahead.


    10:00 PM: Lightoller relieved on bridge by First Officer Murdoch. Lookouts in crow's nest relieved. Warning to watch for icebergs passed between the watches. Temperature is 32º F, sky cloudless, air clear.


    10:30 PM: Sea temperature down to 31º F.


    10:55 PM: Some 10 to 19 miles north of Titanic, the Californian is stopped in ice field, and sends out warnings to all ships in area. When the Californian's wireless operator calls up Titanic, his ice warning is interrupted by a blunt "Keep out! Shut up! You're jamming my signal. I'm working Cape Race." The Californian's sole operator listens in to Titanic's wireless traffic and then at 11:30 turns off his set and retires for the night, as is the custom.


    11:30 PM: Lookouts Fleet and Lee in crow's nest note slight haze appearing directly ahead of Titanic.

Iceberg seen near sinking.  Had strip
of red paint near water.  Commonly
believed to be berg which TITANIC
collided with.

    11:40 PM: Titanic moving at 20½ knots. Suddenly, lookouts see iceberg dead ahead about 500 yards away towering some 55-60 feet above the water. They immediately sound the warning bell with three sharp rings and telephone down to the bridge: "Iceberg right ahead." Sixth Officer Moody on bridge acknowledges warning, relays message to Murdoch who instinctively calls "hard-a-starboard" to helmsman and orders engine room to stop engines and then full astern. Murdoch then activates lever to close watertight doors below the waterline. Helmsman spins wheel as far as it will go. After several seconds Titanic begins to veer to port, but the iceberg strikes starboard bow side and brushes along the side of the ship and passes by into the night. The impact, although jarring to the crew down in the forward area, is not noticed by many of the passengers. Thirty-seven seconds have elapsed from sighting to collision.

TITANIC TIMELINE: Southampton to Queenstown

TITANIC TIMELINE PART THREE: Arriving in Southampton through final departure from Queenstown

April 2:
8:00 PM: Leaves Belfast (under Captain Bartlett) for overnight trip to Southampton, her port of  embarkation (about 570 miles).


Dressed in flags at Southampton



April 3: Arrives port of Southampton just after midnight to begin provisioning and staffing for maiden voyage.

April 5: Good Friday: Titanic is "dressed" in panoply of flags and pennants for a salute to the people of Southampton. Only occasion she is ever "dressed."

April 6: Recruitment day for remainder, and majority, of crew. General cargo begins to arrive. The final total cargo includes 559 tons and 11,524 separate pieces. As well, 5892 tons of coal are loaded on board.

April 8: Fresh food supplies taken on board. All final preparations overseen by ship's builder Thomas Andrews down to the tiniest detail.

John Jacob Astor arrives on Boat Train

April 10, Wednesday - Sailing Day:
7:30 AM: Captain Edward J. Smith boards Titanic with full crew. Officers have spent the night on board. Smith receives sailing report from Chief Officer Wilde.

8:00 AM: Entire crew mustered, followed by brief lifeboat drill using only two starboard boats,   No's 11 and 15.

9:30 to 11:30 AM: Second-and-third-class boat-trains arrive and passengers board ship.


Near collision with liner NEW YORK

 11:30 AM: Arrival of first-class boat-train from London at dockside. First-class passengers board and are escorted to cabins.

Noon: Titanic casts off and is towed from dock by tugs.  


Steaming down River Test

During downstream passage into River Test under her own steam, the water displaced by Titanic's movement causes all six mooring ropes on the New York to break and her stern to swing toward Titanic. Quick action narrowly averts a collision by only four feet. Departure delayed for an hour. This incident (along with the Olympic-Hawke collision) indicates unfamiliarity with ships of this size by those handling them. 

1:00 PM: Titanic resumes 24-mile trip downstream to English Channel en route to Cherbourg,  France.

  
4:00 PM: Boat-train from Paris arrives Cherbourg. Late arrival announced.
 5:30 PM: Cherbourg - passengers finally board tenders and wait to be ferried out to Titanic.


TITANIC at Cherbourg, France



6:30 PM: Titanic rides at anchor in Cherbourg harbor, all lights ablaze. Twenty-two cross-Channel passengers disembark, and some cargo is unloaded.

8:00 PM: 274 Cherbourg passengers are all aboard and tenders return to shore.

8:10 PM: Anchor raised and Titanic leaves for Queenstown, Ireland, taking her through the English Channel and around England's south coast.

Passengers & baggage at Queenstown

April 11, Thursday morning:
Captain Smith takes Titanic through some additional practice turns en route to Queenstown to test maneuverability.

11:30 AM: Titanic rides at anchor in Queenstown harbor, about two miles from land. 113 third-class and seven second-class passengers board from tenders with 1385 bags of mail. Seven passengers disembark.

  

Last known picture taken of TITANIC
as she steams away from land.



1:30 PM: The starboard anchor is raised for the last time and Titanic departs on her first Trans-Atlantic crossing for New York. Estimated total number of passengers on board: 2227. (Exact total unknown due to discrepancies in passenger/crew lists.)

NEXT:  Voyage to Impact with Iceberg

TITANIC TIMELINE Part Two

TITANIC TIMELINE: CONSTRUCTION TO SEA TRIALS



TITANIC (l) and OLYMPIC (r)

1910 October 20: Olympic hull successfully launched. 

TITANIC after launching



1911
May 31: Titanic hull successfully launched, witnessed by more than 100,000 people. At the time, (together with Olympic) she is the largest man-made object ever moved. Twenty-two tons of tallow, soap, and train oil are used to grease the slipway bed to coat and protect against the enormous three-tons-per-square-inch pressure of the freshly painted hull. Titanic towed by tugs to fitting-out basin. Outfitting begins.



June: Olympic leaves on her maiden voyage.

July: First projected date agreed on by White Star and Harland & Wolff for Titanic's maiden voyage - March 20, 1912.

September 20: Olympic (with Captain Edward J. Smith who would later captain Titanic) has her hull badly damaged in collision with Royal Navy cruiser Hawke. Titanic's maiden voyage delayed due to necessary diversion of workers and materials to repair Olympic.


TITANIC in dry dock

 October 11: White Star officially announces new date for Titanic's maiden voyage in the London Times - April 10, 1912.

1912 

Work crews at Harland & Wolff

January: Sixteen wooden lifeboats are installed on Titanic under Welin davits (designed to handle two or three boats). The original designer, Alexander Carlisle (who was no longer in the employ of Harland & Wolff) had suggested davits capable of carrying more boats, but presented it as an economy measure, and not in the interests of increased safety. Outdated British Board of Trade regulations mean that Titanic's 20 lifeboats (including four "collapsible" canvas-sided lifeboats) actually exceed requirements by ten percent capacity.



February 3: Titanic successfully dry-docked at Belfast's Thompson Graving Dock.

March: Engineering crew begins to assemble in Belfast, some actually living on board ship.



OLYPMIC & TITANIC in dock



March 25: Lifeboats are tested; swung out, lowered, and hoisted back into position under davits.

 

TITANIC's sea trials begin



March 31: Except for a few minor details in some passenger staterooms, the outfitting of Titanic is complete. Her capacity includes a size of 46,328 gross tons, with approximately 52,250 tons of displacement, 46,000 horsepower with 29 boilers, 159 furnaces, and funnels 73 feet above Boat Deck. She has three propellers and is estimated to be able to make some 24 knots full speed (although this is never put to the test). Although Titanic and her sister ship Olympic are identical in dimensions, more staterooms and suites were added to Titanic (plus structural additions) making her the heavier of the two. Titanic is now the largest ship in the world.



April 1: Sea trials delayed due to high winds.

April 2 - 6:00 AM: Sea trials begin. Titanic assisted by two tugs through Victoria Channel to Belfast Lough. All equipment tested, including wireless. Speed and handling trials undertaken, including various turning and stop-start maneuvers. Major stopping test conducted: runs full ahead at 20 knots and then stops full astern.

April 2 - 2:00 PM: Running test conducted. She travels for about two hours (about 40 miles) out into the open Irish Sea at an average speed of 18 knots, and then returns in two hours to Belfast. All tests meet Board of Trade standards. Trials have lasted less than a day.

Next: TITANIC's Maiden Voyage: arrival in Southampton to departure from Queenstown, Ireland

TITANIC TIMELINE - PART ONE

Presenting background information on the TITANIC, from the inspiration to the sinking and more.   

Part One - Pre-Construction History

1867

Thomas Henry Ismay purchases the White Star Line, a line of sailing vessels, originally founded about 1850 and mainly engaged in trade centered on Australian goldfields.

1869

Ismay forms the Oceanic Stream Navigation Company in order to establish White Star as a high-class steamship service in the Atlantic passenger trade.



1869-1870

First ships built for White Star by Belfast shipbuilders Harland & Wolff.

1891



Lord W.J. Pierre

J. Bruce Ismay admitted to partnership of the White Star Line. He takes over after his father's death in 1899.

1894

William J. Pirrie becomes chairman of Harland & Wolff.

1898

 American author Morgan Robertson publishes the novel Futility in which a British passenger liner called the Titan hits an iceberg and sinks on her maiden voyage without enough lifeboats in the month of April in the North Atlantic. The fictional ship is eerily similar to the yet-to-be conceived Titanic in size, speed, equipment, numbers of passengers (both rich and poor), and those lost.

1902

The White Star Line purchased by the International Mercantile Marine Company, a shipping trust headed by U.S. financier J. Pierpont Morgan. While White Star ships will still fly the British flag and carry British crews, the company is essentially controlled by American interests.

1904   

J. Bruce Ismay

J. Bruce Ismay, age 41, with Morgan's full support, becomes president and managing director of International Mercantile Marine with complete control. As well, Harland & Wolff chairman William J. Pirrie becomes a director of Mercantile Marine.

1907

At a dinner party in William J. Pirrie's London mansion, Ismay discusses the construction of two huge ships (with a third to be added later) to compete with the luxury, size, and speed of rival lines. These ships are to be known as the Olympic class of liners, and are intended specifically to beat out the Cunard Line for the Atlantic luxury passenger trade.

1908

July 29: White Star owners, including Ismay, approve in principle the design plan for the Olympic class ships prepared by builders Harland & Wolff under direct supervision of Lord Pirrie, with the assistance of his nephew Thomas Andrews.
 

Harland & Wolff Drafting Room



July 31: A contract letter is signed for construction in the Belfast shipyards of Olympic, Titanic, and a third sister ship (Britannic) to follow. Ultimate decisions of design, equipment, and decoration are to be made by J. Bruce Ismay. The size of Titanic will be 882 feet 9 inches long, 94 feet wide, and 100 feet high to the bridge level. Final cost: £1,500,000 or approx. $7,500,000. New docks have to accommodate the size of these ships. Harland & Wolff build specially strengthened slips to take their weight, and a new gantry under which the will be built.

December 16: Keel laid down for Harland & Wolff yard number 400 - Olympic construction begins.



1909

March 31: Keel laid down for Harland & Wolff yard number 401 - Titanic construction begins.

 Part Two: Titanic Construction to Launch & Final Outfitting

Inspiration for Auditions

Intro to the movie RAISE THE TITANIC released in 1980 and starring Jason Robardsand Robert Jordan.   Movie was released five years before the TITANIC was discovered.   Opening sequence is inspiration for upcoming auditions and production at the Barrow-Civic.

TITANIC Character Breakdown

Listed below is a list of major characters in the production of TITANIC.  In addition, there is a large ensemble chorus of characters supporting this show.   From the opening boarding and launch, to the Third Class Dining Room to the lifeboat scenes, a large cast is needed to fill the stage and portray the scene.

Titled charater parts include:

Thomas Andrews: Titanic’s Designer/Builder (sings In Every Age, Andrew’s Vision, The Blame)

J. Bruce Ismay: The Owner. Formidable. (sings The Blame)

Captain E. J. Smith: Titanic’s Captain, making his last voyage for White Star. (sings The Blame)

Third-Class Passengers:

The Three Kates:

Kate McGowan: Young, Irish. Brazen. Pursues Jim Farrell. (sings Lady’s Maid)

Kate Mullins: Irish. A little older and wiser than McGowan. (sings Lady’s Maid)

Kate Murphy: Irish. The youngest of the three. (sings Lady’s Maid)

Jim Farrell: Irishman seeking a new life in America. Falls for Kate McGowan. (selected solos)

Second-Class Passengers:

Alice Beane: Longs to rub elbows with the rich. (sings First-Class Roster, I Have Danced)

Edgar Beane: Alice’s No-nonsense husband. (sings I Have Danced)

Charles Clark: Young British Journalist, in love with Caroline. (selected solos)

Caroline Neville: Young British Aristocrat, in love with Charles. (selected solos)

First-Class Passengers:

Isador Straus: The owner of Macy’s Department Store. (Sings Still)

Ida Straus: Isador’s Wife. Devoted. (Sings Still)

John J. Astor & Medeleine Astor: An American Millionaire and his young wife.

Benjamin Guggenheim & Mme. Aubert: An American Millionaire and his mistress.

John B. Thayer, Marion Thayer & Jack Thayer: Prominent Pennsylvania Family

George Widener & Eleanor Widener: The Richest Man in Philadelphia and his wife

Charlotte Cardoza: a mysterious millionaire widow.

Others: Edith Corse Evans, J.H. Rogers, The Major

Officers, Crew and Serving Staff:

First Officer Murdoch: A Scottsman. Overwhelmed by his duties. (sings To Be Captain)

Harold Bride: Radioman. Soft-spoken, good-natured. (sings The Night was Alive)

Frederick Barrett: Stoker. Young, headstrong. (sings Barrett’s Song, The Proposal)

Frederick Fleet: Lookout. Young, eager. (sings No Moon)

Henry Etches: Senior First Class Steward. Stuffy. (sings What A Remarkable Age)

Wallace Hartley: Bandmaster. Violin/Piano playing preferable. (sings Autumn, The Latest Rag)

Bandsmen Taylor and Bricoux: Cello/string players preferable. (sing The Latest Rag)

Stewardess Hutchinson & Stewardess Robinson: First Class Staff. (sing Dressed in Your Pyjamas)

Others: Second Officer Lightoller, Third Officer Pittman, Quartermaster Hitchens, Bellboy, Stevadore, Joseph Bell, etc.