Paul Szmal: And we're gonna open up today's show with a couple of guests in studio. I have Keith Childs here. Good morning.
Guest: Good morning.
Paul Szmal: And a friend of the show, Mary Cook, is here as well.
Guest: Hi.
Paul Szmal: And they're here today representing the Phelps Clifton Springs Community Theater and their upcoming production of Titanic the Musical. I didn't know that there was a musical version of Titanic.
Guest: Came out the same year as the movie. And it was a big winner in New York. It won the Best Musical Tony Award, Best Score, Best Lyrics. So I think it won five Tony Awards that year.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Is it based on the similar story to the movie?
Guest: Absolutely not. It's its own thing.
Paul Szmal: It's its own thing. Okay.
Guest: It looks more at the owner, the captain, and the builder, the designer. It's their relationship and their conflict and how that evolves through them. And all of it is absolutely true. And the other element of it is you get to really see, look at the three classes in the musical as well.
Paul Szmal: Right. Right. Because I remember that, you know, from stories that have been told that you had, you know, the upper class and then the middle class and then, you know, the lower class was in the steerage and, you know, in the bottom of the ship. So how many musical numbers are in this?
Guest: That's all it is. It's mostly music. Really, it's the score is magnificent. It's one of the best scores that's been written. You get chills.
Paul Szmal: How many people are in the cast for this? Because it sounds like, you know, you're telling a lot of stories. So that requires a lot of characters.
Guest: We had 65 people audition, which is the most we've ever had audition. Yeah. And I believe we currently have 62 in the cast.
Paul Szmal: That's amazing. I have to say, and I've mentioned it to several people that and I've been in community theater for too many years. This is probably the strongest male vocal cast. I've every one of them just to sit and hear them sing is incredible. Now, is there a point in the show where all 62 are on the stage at the same time?
Guest: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. How do you have room for them all?
Guest: Well, we're being creative.
Paul Szmal: Okay. I guess so. It's tricky because we're not on stage yet. And the space that we're in is not as large as the stage. So we're all crunched into the corners sometimes trying to get where we supposed to be. But that means when you actually get on the stage, it's going to be like, oh, breathing.
Guest: So how long has it taken to rehearse this?
Paul Szmal: We auditioned the weekend of Mother's Day and we go on July 23rd. We open. So what is it about 10 weeks? I think.
Guest: Yeah. Is that like the normal amount of time? I usually think 10 to 12. Yeah. And I mean, it is a normal amount of time, but depending on the show, the challenges are greater. This one is a period piece. So it's like all the costumes, et cetera, have to be very carefully honed in the characters all have several costumes. So 62 people times this many costumes, that's that alone is a big undertaking. Plus the set.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. You know, it's a ship. So it's those are things that are that are very big undertaking. That was actually going to be my next question was for set design and everything. I mean, does the set rotate?
Guest: We're doing a very simple set. We're kind of going off the West End production, which is levels, but they work extremely well. And so we wanted to do more. We wanted to be a little simpler and let the costumes and the characters speak.
Paul Szmal: I get that. I get that. And it sounds like this show just takes you on an emotional journey.
Guest: It does. And the voices are, I mean, I love it. I just I love to be part of I'm honored to be part of the singing, but it's to listen to. Like I said, there's a lot of strong male characters in this show. There's a lot of strong female characters as well. But it's I don't think you often see in community theater that many that talented men sing. And it's just so wonderful to listen to.
Paul Szmal: Well, Titanic isn't a show that you get to see a lot in community theater.
Guest: No, it's big. It's big. So the Phelps Clifton Springs Community Theater for people that are not familiar with it. Well, it's our 49th year. I founded it back with Margaret Facer and Betty Musick back in 1970s. 49 years ago.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. 49 years ago.
Guest: And it started out as part of the community education program at the school. And then we had a superintendent at the time who was very forward thinking and said, we need this in our community. You know, when I said I wanted to do it. And so we've been doing it ever since. And we've done all sorts of shows over the years. But our main show is in the summer, our summer musical every year. That's our big show. Cabarets, dinner theaters, different venues, all kind of big venues, small venues. I think it's important to note that especially like last year, we noticed that we have a lot of people. It's not just Phelps Clifton Springs people.
Paul Szmal: Right. The cast and the crew are made up from I'm sat next to somebody from Fairport. We got people from Henrietta, Romulus, Scottsville, Scottsville for the show to be part of the show and to, you know, rehearsals. I mean, that's just that's a big commitment.
Guest: Part of it's because it is this show is it's not done a lot.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Because it sounds like we have the Finger Lakes all star team here.
Guest: Oh, without a doubt. Without a doubt.
Paul Szmal: All right. We get we need to get the important stuff out. First off, where is the where is the musical?
Guest: Midlakes High School Auditorium.
Paul Szmal: Okay. July 23rd, 24th and 25th at 730 and then the 26th at two o'clock.
Guest: It is air conditioned in there. So that's nice in the summer.
Paul Szmal: Yes. Tickets are twelve dollars pre-sale and fifteen dollars at the door. You can go to our Facebook page or Instagram and we have a online ticketing or there will be ticket outlets in Geneva, Phelps, Clifton and Canandaigua. And the best part about doing Titanic the musical, you stay dry.
Guest: Spoiler alert. But we do need to say don't look for Jack and Rose in a pendant because it's not going to be there.
Paul Szmal: Right. Yeah. Different different take on the story that we all know.
Guest: Yeah. And it's such an intriguing story. And everything you talk to, you know, has something in their in their past where they talk about the Titanic and what it meant to them. Interesting little take, too, was one of the characters and her husband in the show are buried in Pittsburgh.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. They ended up in Rochester.
Guest: Okay. Okay. Everybody every now and then comes into rehearsal. Somebody goes, Did you know? Because we're all going home and Googling it. Did you know that this and this and this? And it's and that's fun. The characters are all real, which I love. I keep Googling the character I play. So it's it's fun. It's it's pretty cool.
Paul Szmal: And again, the show starts July 23rd. Midlakes High School Auditorium. Go to the Phelps Clifton Springs Community Theatre Facebook page and there's ticketing available there or there will be ticket outlets. And I'm sure you'll post that on Facebook page.
Guest: Absolutely. If people want to pick their tickets up. We'll be back.
Paul Szmal: Oh, yeah. Well, no, I know you're you're coming in Thursday, right? Becky is. Oh, with the Phelps Arts Center.
Guest: Yeah. That place is popping too. It is. It is. So yeah, there's all kinds of things going on. And, you know, it is great to have what I consider to be a vibrant community theater presence throughout the, you know, throughout the region and taking on a big production like this, taking a big swing is very, very cool for a community theater group to do so. Exciting to be part of.
Paul Szmal: Well, we kind of chose it around what we did last year. We did Sound of Music and it was we had 50 some people in that show. And I kind of went, OK, well, let's let's keep this going. So I will I will be appropriate and say break a leg.
Guest: Yes, absolutely.
Paul Szmal: And again, July 23rd is when the performances start for Titanic, the musical. And again, go to the Phelps Clifton Springs Community Theater Facebook page and you can find out more information. Thanks for being here. It is seven fifty nine. FLX morning continues here on Finger Lakes Newsradio.
