Bobby Smith
Now playing at Signature Theatre through January 29, 2017, “Titanic” is set on the ocean liner RMS Titanic. More than 1500 individuals lost their lives when the luxury ship sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912.
With music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone, “Titanic” opened on Broadway in 1997 — winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
The show focuses on the hopes and aspirations of numerous actual characters aboard the great ship, the tragedy playing out against the backdrop of the era’s rigid class distinctions.
In the production staged by Signature artistic director Eric Schaeffer, Bobby Smith stars as engineer Thomas Andrews, architect of the ill-fated ship.
As the show was about to open, Bobby Smith spoke with MD Theatre Guide.
MD Theatre Guide: Is Thomas Andrews the main character in the musical?
Bobby Smith: The musical is not like the James Cameron movie, which picked a story line. No one here is the main character. The musical presents a cross-section of people and their lives and dreams, what they were looking forward to. Clearly, these got squashed. The third-class passengers, for example, dreamed of going to America. Depending on their research, people come up with different ides of what the sinking of the Titanic represents. But as an actor in this production, I have to go with the people – and what could happen any day of the week. Like 9/11. When so many people lost everything.
Bobby Smith as Thomas Andrews. Photo courtesy of Signature Theatre.
MDTG: Tell us more about Thomas Andrews.
BS: An architect, Andrews was asked to take over the jewel of the White Star line and make it a floating city. He would have been a famous man had the ship arrived [safely]. In the musical he has this quote, to the effect that the Titanic was as good a ship as any human brain could construct. He spends most of his time on the ship checking everything — that the cigar holder was next to the toilet, that there was enough heat. He was about comfort, not speed. Andrews went down with the ship. He spent the last few hours saving people, urging women and children to get on the lifeboats.
MDTG: What makes “Titanic” the musical special?
BS: We get to know people’s lives. And the music is glorious. It sounds like gliding on water. It has arias, recitative. It’s close to opera and ends with a tribute, “Sail On Titanic.” I love how the music for Andrews is written numerically; he was a numbers- crunching architect who made lists. “Titanic” is Old School musical theatre, yet resonates and is very modern. We hope audiences will listen and hum.
MDTG: You’ve enjoyed a very diverse career, including the other three shows you’re doing at Signature this season: “Freaky Friday,” “La Cage Aux Folles,” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Are there still roles you’d like to play you haven’t?
BS: There are actually so many. I don’t like to talk about it. Maybe it’s a jinx thing. But more because I’m afraid if people read this, they’ll say, “Oh, he could never do that.” Some aren’t [career-]expanding, just roles I’d like to do. There’s “Bye, Bye Birdie,” though I may be getting long in the tooth for that. There’s “Man of La Mancha,” and John Adams in “1776.”
