The story of the ill-fated maiden journey of the Titanic is a tragic one: the allegedly unsinkable ship did sink, quickly, killing more than 1500 passengers and crew. There weren't enough life boats because they didn't want to take away deck space from the first class passengers, and those boats weren't even completely filled once they were deployed, because there had never been an emergency drill and chaos ruled the day. "Titanic: The Musical" introduces us to some of those passengers, the wealthy and the poor ones, the people who survived and those who didn't, and the battle among the owner of the ship, the builder, and its captain, all of whom bore some responsibility in the tragedy.

The score of this musical is largely beautiful, and the voices of The Muny's cast made it all the more spectacular. I got goosebumps more than once listening to Tom Hewitt as the ship builder and Ben Crawford as the ship's coal stoker and Telly Leung as the telegraph operator, among others. Michele Ragusa as a second class passenger desperate to mingle with the first class was a delight from start to finish. And William Youmans as the owner who's pressure to cross in record time may have contributed greatly to the horrific events of that night in 1912 is wonderful as well.

Be ready, though. This is a show about singing, so beautiful voices take precedence over beautiful pictures, and I found some of the staging clunky and static, although the costumes were gorgeous as usual. If you're looking for those rousing Muny fill-the-stage dance numbers, you should wait for "Damn Yankees," "Cats" and "Footloose," coming up later in the Muny's season. But if singing is what you want, singing is what you'll get.

I also found myself thinking about the oil disaster in the Gulf, about the folly of believing that accidents can't occur. It's a lesson I guess humans will have to learn over and over and over, that corner-cutting to be cheaper or faster can be catastrophic, that a little humility and a lot of precautionary measures are warranted when you're facing Mother Nature. Okay, I'm stepping off my soapbox now...

But Mother Nature did a good thing for the production on opening night. Every time a scene took place on the deck of the ship, the wind whipped up and even got worse as the climax approached. It was one time when the Muny performers were helped and not hindered by the unpredictable St. Louis weather!

If you're a fan of stunning voices, enjoy!