How Rosie O’Donnell threw a life raft to ‘Titanic: The Musical’ & its new resurfacing
Titanic: The Musical.The knives were out, and jokes about a singing version of the century’s most famous maritime catastrophe — “Don’t give away the ending,” “The story left me cold,” and ”Are there enough lifeboats for the audience?” — pretty much wrote themselves.
Although few reviewers gave the show an out-and-out pan, critical reception to Titanic: The Musical was largely lukewarm. New York Times chief critic Ben Brantley wrote that the musical “never seems to leave port.” Enter Rosie O’Donnell.
TV’s reigning “queen of nice” loved the show and used her then-top-rated daytime variety talk program as a megaphone to champion the musical.
The production took home five Tony Awards, including nods for composer Maury Yeston’s score, Peter Stone’s book, and the coveted Best Musical prize for 1997.
