Booked & Scene

Ogunquit Playhouse’s Titanic, directed by Shaun Kerrison, takes one of the most well-known tragedies in history and turns it into something intimate and emotional. There’s no Jack and Rose here… just the dreamers, workers, and passengers who all stepped aboard the “Ship of Dreams” thinking their lives were about to begin. With Maury Yeston’s sweeping score and Peter Stone’s book, the show sails between ambition, arrogance, and awe, reminding us that every grand dream comes with a cost.

Ship Happens (and These Three Make It Count)

Let’s start with the three men steering this ship both literally and figuratively. Charles Shaughnessy makes a pitch-perfect Captain E.J. Smith. After years of watching him on The Nanny, it was such a treat to finally see him live, and he didn’t disappoint. He plays Smith with that perfect mix of confidence and quiet panic trying to keep both his passengers and his pride afloat.

Wesley Taylor is deliciously hateable as J. Bruce Ismay. He plays greed and self-interest like it’s a fine art form, giving us a character you love to despise. And Ben Jacoby, as the ship’s designer Thomas Andrews, is the emotional anchor. His final number, “Mr. Andrews’ Vision,” absolutely wrecked me. Together, the trio’s performance of “The Blame” is the show’s emotional earthquake: cruel, honest, powerful, and devastating.

All Hands on Deck

This cast? Unreal. Every voice. Every harmony. It’s the kind of sound that makes you sit back and whisper, “Oh wow.” Some of the best ensemble vocals I’ve heard all year, I’m not kidding.

DeLaney Westfall as Kate McGowan is an absolute joy she is magnetic, warm, and impossible not to watch. Shereen Pimentel and Daniel Kushner are adorable as Caroline Neville  and Charles Clarke, while Brian Ray Norris and Rashidra Scott portray Edgar and Alice Beane by hitting all the emotional notes, from tender humor to heartbreaking goodbyes.

Matías De La Flor as Frederick Barrett and Charlie Franklin as Harold Bride have this gorgeous, heartbreaking moment over the telegraph that gave me chills. Aaron Robinson’s calm determination as Hartley conducting until the end was stunning, and Greg Mills embodying Henry Etches was the definition of grace under pressure. And then there’s David Benoit and Debra Cardona as the Strauses, whose duet “Still” was so tender it made the entire audience reach for a tissue.

Few ensembles achieve this level of cohesion. Every performer was vocally in sync, deeply grounded in character, and dedicated to the collective story rather than individual spotlight making the production soar.

Smooth Sailing in Design

The design team came to work. Kevin Heard’s sound design is extraordinary—so visceral that when the iceberg hits at the end of Act I, it feels like the entire theater shudders. Roxanne De Luna’s wig, hair, and makeup design deserves its own standing ovation for the seamless transitions as actors move between classes and identities throughout the voyage.

Bryce Cutler’s projections, especially those detailing the voyage’s timeline and the morse code telegraph messages, enhance the piece, and Adam Koch’s scenic design, four stories of gleaming grandeur, made the Titanic feel every bit as massive and magnificent as legend promises. Shaun Kerrison’s direction ties it all together, making each corner of the ship feel alive and purposeful. This production demonstrates how mastery at every level makes it possible to tell a story of this scale with such precision and emotion.

A Few Leaks in the Hull

Now, it is a long show… like, nearly three hours long. And you feel it. The Act I montage before the iceberg stretches a bit too long, and while the score is gorgeous, it’s not exactly hummable once you leave the theater. Also, a few projection moments, like the star overlays during the deck scene or the passenger manifest at the end, cast shadows that distracted from the performances. None of these are dealbreakers, but they do keep the production from reaching total perfection. Small stuff, but noticeable. 

All Aboard That’s Going Aboard

At the end of the day, Titanic at Ogunquit Playhouse is beautifully done. It’s grand in scale and carried by a cast that sounds flawless from start to finish. It’s a show about human ambition and human cost, about the people who dreamed big and ended up paying the ultimate price. It’s a moving tribute to the lives lost and the dreams that went down with the ship, a production that proves the human spirit, even in tragedy, remains unsinkable. If you get the chance to see it before it sails away, don’t hesitate. This ship is absolutely worth boarding. Titanic runs through November 2, 2025.