‘Titanic: The Musical’ to set sail at McKeesport Area High School

The show, which focuses on actual people from the 1912 tragedy, will be staged today through Saturday.

Sisters Reagan and Riley Sheposh are shown during a rehearsal Tuesday at McKeesport Area High School. Michael Richter / MVI

This year’s McKeesport Area High School musical doesn’t take place in a faraway fictional land or feature talking animals, nor is it Disney intellectual property. It’s about the most famous sinking ship in history and the real people who experienced it, with quite a few complex musical pieces.

But the cast and crew have the talent to take on the challenge.

“The music is very challenging,” said choral director Beth Eger. “And it’s not something that they have heard before, so it’s not a Disney show like ‘Moana’ that they could just sing along to. But these kids are just a really great group of musicians, so it was a great year to pick the show.”

MAHS will present its production of “Titanic: The Musical” today through Saturday at 7 p.m. There’s also a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday.

“Titanic: The Musical,” which originally premiered on Broadway in 1997, brings audiences along for the ship’s fateful journey, sharing stories of the real-life people aboard the ocean liner that sank in 1912.

The musical differs significantly from the 1997 James Cameron film as it focuses on real-life passengers and crew members instead of a fictional romance.

The cast and crew have spent the last few months learning their lines and the musical numbers.

Senior Cooper Kuchma plays bandmaster Wallace Hartley, an Englishman who famously led the eight-member band as the Titanic sank, playing music until the very end.

“Wallace Hartley was actually the name of the real bandleader on the ship who played the violin and went down with the ship, so that’s what I like about this show. Every character is a real person with a real name,” Kuchma said. “I just think it’s cool to relate who I’m portraying on stage to someone’s life that actually happened.”

Kuchma described his character as charming and “put together.”

“But overall, he’s there to make everyone else on the ship have fun,” Kuchma said.

Kuchma, who has performed in three other musicals for MAHS, believes the “Titanic” is a bit more serious in tone compared to the shows in previous years because it’s based on a historical event.

“It hits you in the heart, like, pretty much right away, especially thinking about how it actually happened,” Kuchma said. “This is a real tragedy explaining people’s lives. The music is super well written, and it just tells a different type of story than the traditional musical.”

Connor McGrew, a senior who plays Harold Bride and Edgar Beane, said it’s been easier to portray characters in “Titanic” as opposed to musicals in the past because the characters are based on real people.

“So we’re actually able to do more research to get into the characters and get the emotions,” McGrew said.

When Kuchma heard the cast sing “Godspeed Titanic” for the first time, he recognized they have the talent to do the musical numbers justice.

“It was the first moment I knew this cast was actually going to be able to pull off this music,” he said. “That’s when I realized that we’re going to come out with a great product.”

Among the cast are quite a few graduating seniors, including Riley Sheposh who plays Alice Beane. They have spent the last few years working on school musicals together and building friendships.

Riley Sheposh said she’s going to miss being in musicals after graduation, but she and her sister, freshman Reagan Sheposh, are glad they’re getting the chance to perform together for the first time in a district show.

“It’s honestly been really fun,” Reagan Sheposh said. “(Riley) has helped me through a lot and guided me through so many things. I honestly would not have known what I was coming into. She told me how things work with the director, and she’s been one of my biggest supporters.”

Having her sister around and having prior experience working with some of the cast in middle school has eased the pressure for Reagan.

Many of the seniors said they will look back fondly on their days working on high school musicals.

“I just like coming to the musical every day and seeing my friends,” Riley Sheposh said. “I love theater, like this is what I love doing. I love being a different character. I love seeing people that love doing this as well. Especially it being my senior year … like I’m going to be sad.”

To purchase tickets, go to cur8.com/26133/project/ 127398.

Cast List: Antoine Smith (Thomas Andrews), Connor McGrew (Harold Bride/Edgar Beane), Riley Sheposh (Alice Beane), Brooklyn Donelson (Caroline Neville), Gianna Sotereanos (Kate McGowan), Reagan Sheposh (Kate Murphy), Lucas Sotereanos (Barrett), Michael Payne (Fleet/Jim Farrell), Michael Pfeffercorn (Captain E.J. Smith), JJ Wunderley (J. Bruce Ismay), Ameer Miller (Charles Clarke), Corry Sanders (Isidor Strauss), Devin VanRiper (Officer Hitchens), Liz Nemes (Kate Mullins), Ashley Slagle (Ida Strauss), Cooper Kuchma (Wallace Hartley), Charlee Dowling (Mrs. Thayer), Kaitlyn Brush (Charlotte Drake Cardeza), Cimone Scruggs (Mrs. Widener), Myasiah Rowland (Madeline Astor), Phoenix Funk (Henry Etches), Anya Bakaturski (First Officer Murdoch), Maggie Badstibner (Officer Lightoller), Bowie Koisor (Bellboy), Brody Seaberg (John B. Thayer) and Ben Seaberg (Jack Thayer).