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The Unsinkable Molly Brown

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

The Unsinkable Molly Brown is a musical play which tells the fictionalized account of the life of Margaret Brown, whose husband made a fortune in the Colorado gold mines, and who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The music is by Meredith Willson and the book by Richard Morris. The Broadway production opened on November 3, 1960, and played 533 performances. The cast was headed by Tammy Grimes and Harve Presnell.

Movie adaptation

MGM released a film version in 1964; the screenplay was adapted by Helen Deutsch and the film was directed by Charles Walters. It starred Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley, Jack Kruschen, Hermione Baddeley and Harvey Lembeck. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Debbie Reynolds), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Costume Design, Color, Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment and Best Sound.

Songs

#"Overture" #"I Ain't Down Yet" #"Belly Up to the Bar, Boys" #"I've A'Ready Started In" #"I'll Never Say No" #"My Own Brass Bed" #"The Denver Police" #"Bea-u-tiful People Of Denver" #"Are You Sure?" #"I Ain't Down Yet" (Reprise) #"Happy Birthday, Mrs. J.J. Brown" #"Bon Jour" (The Language Song) #"If I Knew" #"Chick-A-Pen" #"Keep-A-Hoppin'" / "Leadville Johnny Brown" (Soliloquy) #"Up Where The People Are" #"Dolce Far Niente" / "I May Never Fall In Love With You" #"I Ain't Down Yet" (Finale)

External links

- Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The

Musical theatre

Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. It is closely related to opera, frequently being distinguished by the use of popular music of various forms (and thus usually different instrumentation), the use of unaccompanied dialogue (though some musicals are entirely accompanied, such as Les Misérables, and some operas have spoken dialogue, such as Carmen), and the avoidance of many operatic conventions. The musical components of a musical are generally referred to as the score, with sung lines considered the lyrics and the spoken lines the book, or occasionally the libretto (a term also frequently applied to text of an opera, it incorporates the words of both dialogue and lyric). Many familiar musical theater works have been the basis for successful musical films, or were adapted for television presentations. While some popular television programs have set one single episode in the style of a musical as a play on their usual format (examples include episodes of Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's episode Once More with Feeling, or Oz's Variety) -- or have suddenly begun singing and dancing in a musical-theater style during an episode (several episodes of The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy) -- the television series Cop Rock, which extensively used the musical format, was not a success. While musical theater works are performed around the world, they are perhaps most frequently produced on Broadway in New York and in the West End in London. A musical can be anywhere from a few minutes to several hours long; however, most musicals range from two hours to two hours and forty-five minutes. Musicals today are typically presented with one intermission ten to fifteen minutes in length. A musical will usually have around twenty to thirty songs of varying lengths (including reprises and underscoring) interspersed with book (dialogue) scenes. Some musicals, however, are "sung-through" and do not have any spoken dialogue. This can blur the line between musical theatre and opera. A musical's moments of greatest dramatic intensity are often performed in song. Proverbially, "when the emotion becomes too strong for speech, you sing; when it becomes too strong for song, you dance." A song must be crafted to suit the character (or characters) and their situation within the story. A show usually opens with a song that sets the tone of the musical, introduces some or all of the major characters, and shows the setting of the play. Within the compressed nature of the musical, the writers must develop the characters and the plot. Music provides an excellent way to express emotion. However, on average, fewer words are sung in a five-minute song than are spoken in a five-minute block of dialogue. Therefore there is less time to develop drama than in a straight play of equivalent length, since a musical may have an hour and a half or more of music in it.

Musical collaboration

Musical theater/theatre is a collaborative craft with a long history of traditional forms and structures, although new writing in musicals is constantly stretching and testing the enormous flexibility of the artform, taking it to previously unexplored places. Musicals are most commonly recognised to be a combination of sung lyric and spoken dialogue.

The authors

There are usually several authors of a musical. Very few musicals are written entirely by one person. A collaborative partnership of composer (music), lyricist (lyrics) and bookwriter (script) are generally involved, although one person may serve as composer/lyricist, lyricist/bookwriter (also called librettist) or bookwriter/composer. There can be multiple bookwriters, lyricists and/or composers on any one musical. There is no easy answer to the most frequently-asked question about musical theatre: "Which comes first, the music or the lyric?" Each collaboration works in a different way, and tends to be unique to the specific collaborators involved. Sometimes a melody inspires a lyric. Sometimes a lyric inspires a melody. However, the strongest inspiration for all the authors is the driving theme of the main story of the show. The initial idea for a new musical can come from the authors themselves, or they might be commissioned by a producer to write a musical on a specific subject. Musical theatre has a long tradition of adapting plays, books and other source material into this new genre.

History

In the beginning

The first theater piece that conforms to the modern conception of a musical is generally considered to be The Black Crook - with book by Charles M. Barras and musical adaptations by Giuseppe Operti - which premiered at Niblo's Gardens in New York on September 12, 1866. The production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length kept theatergoers mesmerized enough to run for 474 performances.

Operetta

Probably the best-known composers of operetta were W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, whose prolific output - including The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, and Princess Ida - remains popular to this day, and was frequently revived by London's recently defunct (2003) D'Oyly Carte Opera Company which was dedicated to presenting their work at the Savoy Theatre. Much of their legacy served as an inspiration for the likes of Victor Herbert (Babes in Toyland, 1903), Franz Lehár (The Merry Widow, 1907), and Oskar Straus (The Chocolate Soldier, 1910).

The Roaring Twenties

The musical developed from opera and operetta, but early musicals in the Roaring Twenties ignored plot in favor of emphasizing star actors and actresses, big dance routines, and popular songs (throughout the first half of the twentieth century, popular music was dominated by theater writers). Many shows were revues with little plot. Typical of the times were lighthearted productions like Lady Be Good, Sunny, Tip Toes, No, No, Nanette, Oh, Kay, and Funny Face. Their books may have been forgettable, but they produced enduring standards from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Vincent Youmans, and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, among others. The first production to most resemble the musical as we know it today - a complete integration of book and score - was Show Boat, which premiered on December 27, 1927 at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York. Up to this point, Florenz Ziegfeld had been known for his spectacular song-and-dance revues featuring extravagant sets and elaborate costumes, but there was no common theme tying the various numbers together. Show Boat, with a book and lyrics adapted from Edna Ferber's novel by Oscar Hammerstein II and P. G. Wodehouse and music by Jerome Kern, presented a new concept that was embraced by audiences immediately. Despite some of its startling themes - miscegenation among them - the original production ran a total of 572 performances.

The Thirties

Encouraged by the success of Show Boat, creative teams began following the "format" of that popular hit. Of Thee I Sing (1931), a political satire with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Morrie Ryskind, was the first musical to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The Band Wagon (1931), with a score by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, starred dancing partners Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. While it was primarily a revue, it served as the basis for two subsequent film versions that were "book" musicals in the truest sense. Porter's Anything Goes (1934) affirmed Ethel Merman's position as the First Lady of musical theater - a title she maintained for many years. Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1935) was closer to opera than it was to the typical musical, but in style and scope it foreshadowed such contemporary productions as Evita and Les Misérables. The Cradle Will Rock (1937), with a book and score by Marc Blitzstein and directed by Orson Welles, was a highly political piece that, despite the controversy surrounding it, managed to run for 108 performances. Kurt Weill's Knickerbocker Holiday brought to the musical stage New York City's early history, using as its source writings by Washington Irving. Clearly, musical theater was evolving into something beyond feathers and beads worn by statuesque showgirls.

The Golden Age (1940s/1950s/1960s)

The Golden Age of the Broadway musical is generally considered to have begun with Oklahoma! (1943) and to have ended with Hair (1968). Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! had a cohesive (if somewhat slim) plot, songs that furthered the action of the story, and featured dream ballets which advanced the plot and developed the characters, rather than using dance as an excuse to parade scantily-clad women across the stage. It defied musical conventions by raising its first act curtain not on a bevy of chorus girls, but rather on a woman churning butter, with an off-stage voice singing the opening lines of Oh, What a Beautiful Morning. It was the first "blockbuster" Broadway show, running a total of 2,212 performances, and remains one of the most frequently produced of the team's projects. The two created an extraordinary collection of some of musical theater's best loved and most enduring classics, including Carousel (1945), South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), and The Sound of Music (1959). Americana was the time during the "Golden Age" when the wartime cycle of shows were beginning to arrive. An example of this would be "On The Town" (1944), written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, composed by Leonard Bernstein and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. The musical is set during wartime, where a group of three sailors are on a 24 hour shore leave in New York. During their day, they each meet a wonderful woman. The women in this show have a specific power to them, as if to be saying, "Come here! I need a man!" The show also gives the impression of a country with an uncertain future, as the sailors also have with their women before leaving. Oklahoma! inspired others to continue the trend. Irving Berlin used sharpshooter Annie Oakley's career as a basis for his Annie Get Your Gun (1946, 1,147 performances); Burton Lane, E. Y. Harburg, and Fred Saidy combined political satire with Irish whimsy for their fantasy Finian's Rainbow (1947, 725 performances); Cole Porter found inspiration in William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew for Kiss Me, Kate (1948, 1,077 performances); Damon Runyan's eclectic characters were at the core of Frank Loesser's and Abe Burrows' Guys and Dolls, (1950, 1,200 performances); and the Gold Rush was the setting for Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's Paint Your Wagon (1951). 1951 The fairly brief run - 289 performances - of that show didn't discourage them from collaborating again, this time on an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion - My Fair Lady (1956), with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, which at 2,717 performances held the long-run record for many years. As in Oklahoma!, dance was an integral part of West Side Story (1957), which transported Romeo and Juliet to modern day New York City and converted the feuding Montague and Capulet families into warring gangs, the Sharks and the Jets. The book was adapted by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by newcomer Stephen Sondheim. It was embraced by the critics but failed to be a popular choice for the "blue-haired matinee ladies," who preferred the small town River City, Iowa of Meredith Willson's The Music Man to the alleys of Manhattan's Upper West Side. Apparently Tony Award voters were of a similar mind, since they favored the latter over the former. West Side Story had a respectable run of 732 performances (1,040 in the West End), while The Music Man ran nearly twice as long, with 1,375. Laurents and Sondheim teamed again for Gypsy (1959, 702 performances), with Jule Styne providing the music for a backstage story about the most driven stage mother of all-time, stripper Gypsy Rose Lee's mother Rose. The original production ran for 702 performances, but proved to be a bigger hit in its three subsequent revivals, with Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, and Bernadette Peters tackling the role made famous by Ethel Merman. Stephen Sondheim would be one of the most important composer/lyricists from 1960 on. His first project for which he wrote both music and lyrics was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962, 964 performances), with a book based on the works of Plautus by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, and starring Zero Mostel. Sondheim was not one to concentrate on the romantic plots typical of productions of the time; his work tended to be darker, exploring the grittier sides of life both present and past. Some of his earlier works are Anyone Can Whistle (1964, which - at a mere nine performances, despite having star power in Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury - is a legendary flop), Company (1970), Follies (1971), and A Little Night Music (1973), which featured the only standard ever to emerge from the extensive Sondheim catalogue, Send in the Clowns. He has found inspiration in the most unlikeliest of sources - the opening of Japan to Western trade for Pacific Overtures, a legendary murderous barber - Sweeney Todd - seeking revenge in the Industrial Age of London, the paintings of Georges Seurat for Sunday in the Park with George, and a collection of individuals intent on eliminating the American President in Assassins. His works are generally known for their lyrical sophistication and musical complexity, which many critics argue has led to his works receiving very little popularity among the general public. Jerry Herman, too, has played a significant role in American musical theater, beginning with his first Broadway production, Milk and Honey (1961, 563 performances), about the founding of the state of Israel, and continuing with the smash hits Hello, Dolly! (1964, 2,844 performances), Mame (1966, 1,508 performances), and La Cage aux Folles (1983, 1,761 performances). Even his less successful shows like Dear World (1969) and Mack & Mabel (1974) have had memorable scores (Mack & Mabel was later reworked into a London hit). Writing both words and music, many of Herman's showtunes have become popular standards, including "Hello, Dolly!", "If He Walked Into My Life", "We Need a Little Christmas", "I Am What I Am", "Mame", "Shalom", "The Best of Times", "Before the Parade Passes By", "Put On Your Sunday Clothes", "It Only Takes a Moment", "It's Today!", "Open a New Window", "Bosom Buddies", "I Won't Send Roses", and "Time Heals Everything", recorded by such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Eydie Gorme, Barbra Streisand, Petula Clark and Bernadette Peters. Herman's songbook has been the subject of two popular musical revues, Jerry's Girls (Broadway, 1985), and Showtune (off-Broadway, 2003). Jerry Herman is to traditional musical comedy what Stephen Sondheim is to the avant-garde. The musical started to diverge from the relatively narrow confines of the 1950s. Rock music would be used in several Broadway musicals, perhaps the most significant of which was Hair, which featured not only rock music but also nudity and controversial opinions about the Vietnam War. Other important rock musicals of the 1960s and 1970s included Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. The musical also went in other directions. Shows like Raisin, Dreamgirls, Purlie, and The Wiz brought a significant African-American influence to Broadway. More and more different musical genres were turned into musicals either on or off-Broadway. Automotive companies and other types of corporations hired Broadway talent to write corporate musicals, private shows which were only seen by their employees.

More recent eras

1976 brought one of the great contemporary musicals to the stage. A Chorus Line emerged from recorded group therapy-style sessions Michael Bennett conducted with gypsies - those who sing and dance in support of the leading players - from the Broadway community. From hundreds of hours of tapes, James Kirkwood and Nick Dante fashioned a book about an audition for a musical, incorporating into it many of the real-life stories of those who had sat in on the sessions - and some of whom eventually played variations of themselves or each other in the show. With music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, A Chorus Line first opened at Joseph Papp's Public Theater in lower Manhattan. Advance word-of-mouth - that something extraordinary was about to explode - boosted box office sales, and after critics ran out of superlatives to describe what they witnessed on opening night, what initially had been planned as a limited engagement eventually moved to the Shubert Theater uptown for a run that seemed to last forever. The show swept the Tony Awards and won the Pulitzer Prize, and its hit song, What I Did for Love, became an instant standard. Clearly, Broadway audiences were eager to welcome musicals that strayed from the usual style and substance. John Kander and Fred Ebb explored pre-World War II Nazi Germany in Cabaret and Prohibition-era Chicago, which relied on old vaudeville techniques to tell its tale of murder and the media. Pippin, by Stephen Schwartz, was set in the days of Charlemagne. Federico Fellini's autobiographical film 8½ became Maury Yeston's Nine. But old-fashioned values were embraced, as well, in such hits as Annie, 42nd Street, My One and Only, and popular revivals of No, No, Nanette and Irene. The 1980s and 1990s saw the influence of European "mega-musicals" or "pop operas," which typically featured a pop-influenced score and had large casts and sets and were identified as much by their notable effects - a falling chandelier, a helicopter landing on stage - as they were by anything else in the production. Many were based on novels or other works of literature. The most important writers of mega-musicals include the French team of Claude-Michel Schoenberg and Alain Boublil, responsible for Les Misérables and Miss Saigon (inspired by Madame Butterfly); and the British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote Evita, based on the life of Argentina's Eva Perón, Cats, derived from the poems of T. S. Eliot, The Phantom of the Opera, and Sunset Boulevard (from the classic film of the same name). These decades also saw the influence of large corporations that produced musicals. The most important has been Disney, which adapted some of their animated movie musicals - such as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King (which is said to have been responsible for the revitalization of 42nd Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, previously a strip of tourist trap souvenir shops, arcades, peep shows, and porn theaters) for the stage - and also created original stage productions like Aida with music by Elton John. Elton John The growing scale (and cost) of musicals led to some concern that musicals were eschewing substance in favor of style. The 1990s and 2000s have seen many writers create smaller musicals (Falsettoland, Passion); the topics vary widely and the music ranges from Sondheimesque to pop, but they generally are produced off-Broadway and feature much smaller casts (and thus much lower costs). There also had been the concern that the musical had lost touch with the tastes of the general public in America and that the musical was increasingly doomed to be something viewed by a smaller and smaller audience. One of the most important writers who attempted to increase the popularity of musicals among a younger audience was Jonathan Larson, whose musical Rent (based on the opera La Bohème) featured a cast of twentysomethings and whose score was heavily rock-influenced. The musical would be a smash success, but its composer died of an aortic aneurysm before he could ever see it reach Broadway. Other writers who have attempted to bring a taste of modern rock music to the stage include Jason Robert Brown. Another trend has been to create a plot to fit a collection of songs that have already been hits - thus Mamma Mia! (featuring songs by ABBA), Movin' Out (based on the tunes of Billy Joel), Good Vibrations (the Beach Boys), and All Shook Up (Elvis Presley). Familiarity may breed contempt - but it's also embraced by producers anxious to guarantee they recoup their very considerable investments, if not show a healthy profit. Some are willing to take chances on the new and unusual, such as Avenue Q (which utilizes puppets to tell its very adult-themed story) or Bombay Dreams (about the "Bollywood" musicals churned out by Indian cinema). But the majority prefer to hedge their bets by sticking with the familiar - revivals of family fare like Wonderful Town or Fiddler on the Roof or proven hits like La Cage aux Folles. Today's composers are finding their sources in already proven material - cult films like The Producers or Hairspray; classic literature such as Little Women and Dracula - hoping they'll have a built-in audience as a result. At the present time (late 2004), the musical is being pulled in a number of different directions. Gone are the days when a sole producer - a David Merrick or a Cameron Mackintosh - backs a production. Corporate sponsors dominate Broadway, and often alliances are formed to stage musicals which require an investment of $10 million or more. In 2002, the credits for Thoroughly Modern Millie listed ten producers, and among those names were entities comprised of several individuals. Typically, off-Broadway and regional theaters tend to produce smaller and therefore less expensive musicals, and in recent times more and more development of new musicals has taken place outside of New York. Wicked, for example, first opened in San Francisco, and its creative team relied on the mostly mediocre reviews to assist them in retooling the show before it reached Broadway, where it ultimately became a healthy hit.

Famous composers/writers

Lee Adams - Lynn Ahrens - Maxwell Anderson - Harold Arlen - Howard Ashman - Burt Bacharach - Lionel Bart - Irving Berlin - Leonard Bernstein - Marc Blitzstein - Jerry Bock - Alain Boublil - Leslie Bricusse - Mel Brooks - Jason Robert Brown - Sammy Cahn - Petula Clark - George M Cohan - Cy Coleman - Betty Comden - Marc Connelly - Noel Coward - Gretchen Cryer - Micki Grant - Fred Ebb - Ben Elton - Edna Ferber - Dorothy Fields - William Finn - Stephen Flaherty - George Forrest - Gary William Friedman - Noel Gay - George Gershwin - Ira Gershwin - Ricky Ian Gordon - Adolph Green - Adam Guettel - Marvin Hamlisch - Oscar Hammerstein II - Otto Harbach - E. Y. Harburg - Sheldon Harnick - Lorenz Hart - Moss Hart - Jerry Herman - Elton John - Tom Jones - John Kander - George S. Kaufman - Jerome Kern - Saxon Kling - Michael Kunze - Michael John LaChiusa - Burton Lane - Jonathan Larson - Carolyn Leigh - Mitch Leigh - Alan Jay Lerner - Andrew Lippa - Andrew Lloyd Webber - Frank Loesser - Frederic Loewe - Robert Lopez - Galt MacDermot - Jeff Marx - Johnny Mercer - Lionel Monckton - Anthony Newley - Ivor Novello - Richard O'Brien - Cole Porter - Tim Rice - Mary Rodgers - Richard Rodgers - Sigmund Romberg - Harold Rome - Willy Russell - Carole Bayer Sager - Claude-Michel Schönberg - Harvey Schmidt - Stephen Schwartz - Julian Slade - Stephen Sondheim - Charles Strouse - Leslie Stuart - Jule Styne - Harry Tierney - Kurt Weill - Frank Wildhorn - Meredith Willson - Sandy Wilson - P. G. Wodehouse - Robert Wright - Vincent Youmans

Famous choreographers

George Balanchine - Michael Bennett - Gower Champion - Agnes de Mille - Ron Field - Bob Fosse - Peter Gennaro - Michael Kidd - Jerry Mitchell - Susan Stroman - Tommy Tune - Jerome Robbins - Onna White

Famous performers

Julie Andrews - Beatrice Arthur - Lucie Arnaz - Fred and Adele Astaire - Lauren Bacall - Pearl Bailey - Lucille Ball - Michael Ball - John Barrowman - Gene Barry - Steve Barton - Gary Beach - Herschel Bernardi - Theodore Bikel - Kelly Bishop - Vivian Blaine - Ray Bolger - Sarah Brightman - Matthew Broderick - Yul Brynner - Jack Buchanan - Carol Burnett - Betty Buckley - Richard Burton - Kerry Butler - Norbert Leo Butz - Liz Callaway - Len Cariou - Carolee Carmello - Nell Carter - Richard Chamberlain - Carol Channing - Kristin Chenoweth - Petula Clark - Glenn Close - George M. Cohan - Barbara Cook - Michael Crawford - John Cullum - Jim Dale - Yvonne DeCarlo - Tyne Daly - Alfred Drake - Linda Eder - Hunter Foster - Sutton Foster - Helen Gallagher - Malcolm Gets - Robert Goulet - Joel Grey - Barbara Harris - Rex Harrison - Heather Headley - George Hearn - Ruthie Henshall - Jennifer Holliday - Linda Hopkins - Dee Hoty - Ken Howard - Madeline Kahn - Lainie Kazan - Ruby Keeler - Gene Kelly - Larry Kert - KJ - Robert Klein - Kevin Kline - Jane Krakowski - Judy Kuhn - Nathan Lane - Angela Lansbury - Carol Lawrence - Gertrude Lawrence - Michelle Lee - Norm Lewis - Priscilla Lopez - Brenden J. Lovett - Patti LuPone - Robert LuPone - Mary Martin - Millicent Martin - Jessie Matthews - Marin Mazzie - Andrea McArdle - Audra McDonald - Howard McGillin - Donna McKechnie - Idina Menzel - Ethel Merman - Liza Minnelli - Brian Stokes Mitchell - Melba Moore - Robert Morse - Zero Mostel - Donna Murphy - Bebe Neuwirth - Christiane Noll - Jill O'Hara - Jerry Orbach - Elaine Paige - Sarah Jessica Parker - Adam Pascal - Bernadette Peters - Robert Preston - Faith Prince - Jonathan Pryce - John Raitt - Sheryl Lee Ralph - Anthony Rapp - Charles Nelson Reilly - Debbie Reynolds - Alice Ripley - Chita Rivera - Patricia Routledge - Daphne Rubin-Vega - Lea Salonga - Phil Silvers - Emily Skinner - Barbra Streisand - Elaine Stritch - Tommy Tune - Leslie Uggams - Gwen Verdon - Ben Vereen - Anthony Warlow - Colm Wilkinson

References

External links

- [http://www.ibdb.com/ Internet Broadway Database (ibdb.com)]
- [http://www.castalbumdb.com/ Musical Cast Album Database (castalbumdb.com)]
- [http://www.geocities.com/joecable1996/ Musical Cyberspace] ko:뮤지컬 ja:ミュージカル

Margaret Brown

Margaret Tobin Brown (July 18, 1867 - October 26, 1932), also known as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," (although she was never known as "Molly" in her lifetime) was an American socialite, philanthropist and activist who became famous as one of the survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

Humble beginnings

Margaret was born in Hannibal, Missouri, one of six children of Irish immigrants. At 18, she moved to Leadville, Colorado, with her sister, obtaining a job in a department store. It was here she met and married James Joseph Brown (J.J.) in 1886. It was also in Leadville that she first became involved in women's rights, helping to establish the Colorado chapter of the National American Women's Suffrage Association, and worked in soup kitchens to assist miners' families. The family came into great wealth when J.J's engineering efforts proved instrumental in the production of a substantial gold and copper seam at the Little Jonny [sic] mine of his employers, Ibex, and he was awarded 12,500 shares of stock and a seat on the board. In 1894 they moved to Denver, Colorado, which gave the family more social opportunities and Margaret became a charter member of the Denver Woman's Club, whose mission was the improvement of women's lives through continuing education and philanthropy. In 1901 she was one of the first students to enroll at the Carnegie Institute in New York. Adjusting to the trappings of a society lady, she became well-immersed in the arts and fluent in French, German and Russian. In 1909 and 1914 she ran for Congress, and she also assisted in the fundraising for Denver's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception that was completed in 1912. Margaret also worked with Judge Ben Lindsey to help destitute children and establish the United States' first juvenile court which helped form the basis of the modern U.S. juvenile courts system. Her lifelong career as a human and labor rights advocate earned her prominence in the aftermath of the Ludlow Massacre in Trinidad, Colorado in 1914. In 1909, Margaret and J.J. privately separated, but remained close until his death in 1922.

RMS Titanic survivor

Margaret was on a European tour with her daughter Helen when she learned that her first grandson, Lawrence, was ill. She immediately booked first class passage back to the U.S. on the first ship that was available, the Titanic. When the ship collided with the iceberg and began to sink, she helped many others to lifeboats before being forced into one herself. Once in the water, she and the other women in the lifeboat worked together to row and keep spirits up, despite the alleged panic and gloom of Quartermaster Robert Hichens. When the RMS Carpathia arrived to rescue the survivors, Margaret assisted with the rescue efforts; her proficiency in languages was an asset, she helped prepare survivor lists for outside communication and raised funds with other rich survivors to help those less fortunate among surviving passengers and crew, collecting $10,000 by the time the ship made port in New York City. For her calm action in the disaster, the media acclaimed her as one of the heroines of the hour. She was quoted as saying that her survival was attributable to "typical Brown luck...we're unsinkable". She became known as the Unsinkable Mrs. Brown for the rest of her life.

Later fame

She went on to head the Titanic Survivors' Committee, participated in fundraising for victims of the sinking and helped to get a memorial to the Titanic erected in Washington, D.C. Margaret also published her account of the sinking in newspapers. Her fame helped her promote the issues she felt deeply about - the rights of workers and women, education and literacy for children, and historic preservation. During World War I in France she worked with the American Committee for Devastated France to rebuild areas behind the front line, and helped wounded French and American soldiers. Shortly before her death in 1932 from a brain tumor, she was awarded the French Legion of Honour for her "overall good citizenship" including her relief work in France, her efforts for Titanic survivors and her other activism and philanthropy at home in America. A Broadway musical and film, The Unsinkable Molly Brown were based on fictionalized accounts of her life published in newspapers and magazines in the 1930s and 1940s, where the moniker Molly was acquired. Kathy Bates played the character of Margaret Brown in the 1997 film Titanic. The Gemini 3 spacecraft was named Molly Brown by commander Gus Grissom in reference to his previous spaceflight on Liberty Bell 7 which ended with the Mercury spacecraft sinking during recovery in the Atlantic.

External links

- [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/titanic/p2.htm List of passengers and crew of RMS Titanic] Brown, Margaret Brown, Margaret Brown, Margaret

Colorado

Colorado is a western state in the central part of the country. Colorado is best known as the home of the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, which dominate the western half of the state; eastern Colorado is mostly High Plains (prairie) and sparsely populated. The state capital and largest city is Denver, Colorado; the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area contains over half of the state's population (2.5 million out of 4.3 million). The state was named after the Spanish word "Colorado" which means "reddish colored" that presumably refers to the red sandstone formations in the area or reddish brown color of the Colorado River. The U.S. Postal abbreviation for the state is CO. The USS Colorado was named in honor of this state.

History of Colorado

The territory which ultimately became Colorado was added to the United States by the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and the 1848 Mexican Cession. The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 (see also Fifty-Niner) brought large numbers of settlers to the Denver area, although the population collapsed following an initial mining boom. The Colorado Territory was organized as a United States territory on February 28, 1861 and Colorado attained statehood in 1876 (earning it the moniker the "Centennial State"). Colorado women were granted the right to vote starting on November 7, 1893.

Law and government

1893 Like the majority of the states, Colorado's current constitution provides for three branches of government: the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The legislative body is the General Assembly made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives has 65 members and the Senate has 35. Currently, Democrats are in control of both chambers of the General Assembly. The 2005 Colorado General Assembly is the first to be controlled by the Democrats in forty years. Colorado is considered a very independent state politically, with 17 of the governors Democrat and 12 of them Republican in the last 100 years. The state supported Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, and the Republican presidential nominees in 1996 and 2000. Recently, the state appears to be going more towards the center. George W. Bush won the state's 9 electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 5 percentage points with 51.7% of the vote, considerably less than the 9% margin Bush won by in 2000 [http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/showdown/CO/]. Democrats also gained in every open seat race in the state, picking up a seat in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Democrats are strongest in metropolitan Denver, Boulder, southern Colorado, and a few western ski resort counties, while Republicans are strongest in the rural plains region, Colorado Springs, the Western Slope, and some of the Denver suburbs. The two Senators from Colorado are Wayne Allard (R), and Ken Salazar (D). The governor heads the state's executive branch. The current governor of Colorado is Bill Owens (R). See: List of Colorado Governors

Geography

Colorado is one of only three states (the others are Wyoming and Utah) that has only lines of latitude and longitude for borders. It stretches exactly from 37°N to 41°N, and 102°W to 109°W. The Four Corners Monument at its southwestern-most point is at 37°N and 109°W. East of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Colorado at elevations ranging from 3500 to 7000 ft (1,000 to 2,000 m). Kansas and Nebraska border Colorado to the east. The plains are sparsely settled with most population along the South Platte and the Arkansas rivers and the I-70 corridor. Rainfall is meager, averaging about 15 in/year (380 mm/year). There is some irrigated farming, but much of the land is used for dryland farming or ranching. Winter wheat is a typical crop and most small towns in the region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. The major cities and towns lie just east of the Front Range, in the I-25 corridor. The majority of the population of Colorado lives in this densely urbanized strip. To the west lies the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains with notable peaks such as Long's Peak, Mount Evans, Pike's Peak, and the Spanish Peaks near Walsenburg in the south. This area drains to the east, is forested, and partially urbanized. With urbanization, utilization of the forest for timbering and grazing was retarded which resulted in accumulation of fuel. During the drought of 2002 devastating forest fires swept this area. To the west of the Front Range lies the continental divide. To the west of the continental divide is the Western Slope. Water west of the continental divide drains into the Pacific Ocean via the Colorado River. Colorado River Within the interior of the Rocky Mountains there are several large parks or high broad basins. In the north, on the east side of the continental divide is North Park. North Park is drained by the North Platte River which flows north into Wyoming. Just south, but on the west side of the continental divide is Middle Park, drained by the Colorado River. South Park is the headwaters of the South Platte River. To the south lies the San Luis Valley, the headwaters of the Rio Grande which drains into New Mexico. Across the Sangre de Cristo Range to the east of the San Luis Valley lies the Wet Mountain Valley. These basins, particularly the San Luis Valley, lie along the Rio Grande Rift, a major geological formation, and its branches. See Great Rift Valley. Great Rift Valley The Rocky Mountains within Colorado contain 54 peaks over 14,000 ft (4,270 m), known as fourteeners. The mountains are timbered with conifers and aspen to the tree-line, at an elevation of about 12,000 ft (4,000 m) in southern Colorado to about 10,500 ft (3,200 m) in northern Colorado; above this only alpine vegetation grows. The Rockies are snow-covered only in the winter; most snow melts by mid August with the exception of a few small glaciers. The Colorado Mineral Belt, stretching from the San Juan Mountains in the southwest to Boulder and Central City on the front range, contains most of the historic gold and silver mining districts of Colorado. The Western Slope is generally drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Notable to the south are the San Juan Mountains, an extremely rugged mountain range, and to the west of the San Juans, the Colorado Plateau, a high desert bordering Southern Utah. Grand Junction is the largest city on the Western Slope. Grand Junction is served by Interstate Highway I-70. To the southeast of Grand Junction is Grand Mesa, a large flat-topped mountain. Further east lie the ski resorts of Aspen, Vail, Crested Butte, and Steamboat Springs. The northwestern corner of Colorado bordering Northern Utah and Western Wyoming is mostly sparsely populated rangeland. From west to east, the state consists of desert-like basins, turning into plateaus, then alpine mountains, and then the grasslands of the Great Plains. Mount Elbert is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains within the continental United States. The famous Pike's Peak is just west of Colorado Springs. Its lone peak is visible from near the Kansas border on clear days.

Economy

Kansas The state's economy broadened from its mid 19th century roots in mining when irrigated agriculture developed, and by the late 19th century, raising livestock had become important. Early industry was based on the extraction and processing of minerals and agricultural products. Current agricultural products are cattle, wheat, dairy products, corn, and hay. The federal government is also a major economic force in the state with many important federal facilities including NORAD and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, NOAA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, U.S. Geological Survey and other government agencies at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, the Denver Mint, and 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, and a federal Supermax Prison and other federal prisons near Cañon City. There are of course various other federal agencies and federally owned lands in the state, especially with Colorado's abundant National Forests and four National Parks. There are also numerous private companies that have operations in Colorado that deal with the governmental agencies in the state. In the second half of the 20th century the industrial and service sectors have expanded greatly. The state's economy is diversified and is notable for its concentration of scientific research and high-technology industries. Other industries include food processing, transportation equipment, machinery, chemical products, minerals such as gold and molybdenum, and tourism. Denver is an important financial center. [http://www.bea.gov/ The Bureau of Economic Analysis] estimates that the total state product in 2003 was $187 billion. Per capital personal income in 2003 was $34,561, putting Colorado 8^th in the nation. To see a 2004 per capital personal income comparison table on a state basis: [http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/spi_highlights.pdf]

Demographics

Population

The 2000 Census reported Colorado's population as 4,301,261 [http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2004-01.pdf], and the state's 2004 population is estimated to be 4,601,403 [http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2004-01.pdf]. Between 1990 and 2004, Colorado's population grew by 39.7%, a growth rate outpaced only by Nevada and Arizona's. According to estimates made in 2004, Colorado's population will increase to 7,150,000 by 2030 [http://cwcb.state.co.us/SWSI/Report/AppendixA.pdf]. The largest increases are expected along the Front Range, especially in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area. As of 2004, 441,000 foreign-born persons (9.7% of the population) live in the state, including an estimated 144,000 illegal aliens (3.1% of the state population).

Race and ancestry

The racial makeup of the state and comparison to the prior census: (Estimates for the year 2003 are available at: [http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/tables/SC-EST2003-03/SC-EST2003-03-28.pdf PDF].) Colorado's Hispanic presence is one of the USA's largest—only five states have more Hispanics (per capita). Denver and some other areas have significant Mexican populations, while southern Colorado has a large number of Hispanos, the descendants of early New Mexican settlers of colonial Spanish origin. According to the 2000 Census, the largest ancestry groups in Colorado are German (22%), Irish (12.2%), and English (12%). Persons reporting German ancestry are the largest group in the state and are especially strong in the Front Range and eastern Plains. People of British extraction are the largest group in the western Rocky Mountains.

Religion

- Christian – 75%
- Protestant – 48%
- Baptist – 9%
- Methodist – 5%
- Lutheran – 5%
- Episcopal – 3%
- Presbyterian – 3%
- Other Protestant or general Protestant – 23%
- Roman Catholic – 24%
- Latter-Day Saint (Mormon) – 2%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Jewish – 2%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious/Agnostic – 22% Compared to the nation at large, Colorado—like many other Western states—has a high percentage of non-religious people. In addition, although quite small in number overall, Colorado has one of the highest concentrations of Tibetan Buddhists in North America, located primarily in Boulder and Crestone. Nonetheless, the state—specifically the city of Colorado Springs—is home to numerous Christian groups. Focus on the Family is among the most prominent of these.

More information

For detailed social information on Colorado, see [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=n&_lang=en&qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP2&ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&geo_id=04000US08 here]; for economic information, see [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=n&_lang=en&qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP3&ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&geo_id=04000US08 here]; and for housing information, see [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=n&_lang=en&qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP4&ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&geo_id=04000US08 here].

Important cities and towns

Each grouping represents a U.S. Census metropolitan or micropolitan area, headed by its principal city (or cities). Each city named in bold has a population greater than 100,000. Other notable cities (population under 10,000)
- Alamosa
- Aspen
- Glenwood Springs
- Leadville
- Trinidad
- Vail
- Walsenburg

25 Richest Places in Colorado

Ranked by per capita income 1 Cherry Hills Village $99,996
2 Genessee CDP $79,180
3 Columbine Valley $71,758
4 Castle Pines CDP $70,456
5 Greenwood Village $69,189
6 Bonanza $66,857
7 Bow Mar $53,558
8 Heritage Hills CDP $50,041
9 Perry Park CDP $47,574
10 Lone Tree $46,287
11 Meridian CDP $46,031
12 The Pinery CDP $43,065
13 Eldorado Springs CDP $42,908
14 Vail $42,390
15 Foxfield $40,970
16 Aspen $40,680
17 Niwot $39,943
18 Mountain Village $39,920
19 Edwards CDP $39,784
20 Pitkin $39,182
21 Telluride $38,832
22 Woodmoor CDP $38,758
23 Castlewood CDP $37,891 (now a part of Centennial)
24 Vona $37,802
25 Eagle-Vail CDP $37,260

Colorado tourism and recreation

Eagle-Vail CDP

National historic sites

- Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site 1833-1849 trading fort in Colorado
- Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Nov. 29, 1864 US massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Innocents

Education

Colleges and universities

Professional sports teams

As of 2005, Colorado is least populous state with a franchise in each of the major professional sports leagues. In fact, as of the 2000 census Colorado was also the least populous state to have more than one major league team, let alone four. The state is able to support the teams because it contains a large metropolitan area, with a much higher population than any other city in over 500 miles. Therefore, many of the residents in the surrounding states support the teams in Denver, as show by the reach of the Bronco's radio network[http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=1637]. Colorado has since surpassed Louisiana in population, although the effects of Hurricane Katrina have made the futures of that state's teams uncertain. The Canadian province of Alberta is the only less populous jurisdiction in North America besides the District of Columbia to have more than one major league team.

Major league teams

- Colorado Rockies, Major League Baseball
- Denver Nuggets, National Basketball Association
- Denver Broncos, National Football League
- Colorado Avalanche, National Hockey League

Other teams

- Colorado Rapids, Major League Soccer
- Colorado Crush, Arena Football League
- Colorado Mammoth, National Lacrosse League
- Denver Outlaws, Major League Lacrosse
- Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Minor League Baseball (AAA)
- Colorado Eagles, Central Hockey League
- Colorado Chill, National Women's Basketball League

Major highways

References

- U.S. Census Bureau.
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08000.html Colorado QuickFacts]. Geographic and demographic information.
- [http://www.census.gov/population/documentation/twps0056/tab20.pdf Colorado - Race and Hispanic Origin: 1860 to 1990] (PDF)

External links

- [http://www.colorado.gov/ The Official Colorado State Website]
- [http://www.colorado.com/ Official tourism Website]
- [http://www.terragalleria.com/america/south-west/colorado/ Photos of Colorado - Terra Galleria]
- [http://www.rootsweb.com/~coyuma/city/index.html Colorado place names]
- [http://www.usnewspapers.org/state/colorado Colorado Newspapers] Category:States of the American West
- Category:States of the United States category: 1876 establishments ko:콜로라도 주 ja:コロラド州

RMS Titanic

RMS Titanic (also SS Titanic) was the second of a trio of superliners intended to dominate the transatlantic travel business. Owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time of its launching. During Titanics maiden voyage, it struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM (ship's time) on Sunday evening April 14 1912, and sank two hours and forty minutes later at 2:20 AM Monday morning. The sinking resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, ranking it as one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history and by far the most famous. Titanic used some of the most advanced technology available at the time and was popularly believed to be "unsinkable". The sinking came as a great shock to many people that despite the advanced technology and experienced crew, Titanic still sank with a great loss of life. The media frenzy about Titanics famous victims, the legends about what happened on board the ship, the resulting changes to maritime law, and the discovery of the wreck in 1985 by a team led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel have made Titanic persistently famous in the years since.

Construction

Robert Ballard.]] The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, and was designed to compete with rival company Cunard Line's Lusitania and Mauretania. Titanic, along with its Olympic class sisters, Olympic and the soon to be built Britannic (originally named Gigantic ), were intended to be the largest, most luxurious ships ever to operate. Titanic was designed by Harland and Wolff chairman Lord Pirrie, head of Harland and Wolff's design department Thomas Andrews and general manager Alexander Carlisle, with the plans regularly sent to White Star Line's managing director J. Bruce Ismay for suggestions and approval. Construction of the RMS Titanic, funded by the American J.P. Morgan and his International Mercantile Marine Co., began on March 31 1909. Titanics hull, No. 401, was launched two years and two months later on May 31 1911, the same day that the Olympic (hull No. 400) would begin its maiden voyage. Titanics outfitting was completed March 31 the following year. Titanic was 882 ft 9 in (269 m) long and 92 ft 6 in (28 m) at its beam, it had a gross tonnage of 46,328 tons, and a height from the water line to the boat deck of 60 ft (18 m). Although it enclosed more space and therefore had a larger gross tonnage, the hull was exactly the same length as Titanics sister ship Olympic. Titanic contained two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple expansion, inverted steam engines and one low pressure Parsons turbine which powered three propellers. There were 29 boilers fired by 159 coal burning furnaces that made possible a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h). Only three of the four 63 feet (19 m) tall funnels were functional; the fourth funnel, which only served as a vent, was added to make the ship look more impressive. The ship could hold a total of 3,547 passengers and crew and, because it carried mail, its name was given the prefix RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) as well as SS (Steam Ship). RMS]] For its time, the ship was unsurpassed in its luxury and opulence. The ship offered an onboard swimming pool, gymnasium, a Turkish bath, library and squash court. First-class common rooms were ornately decorated with elaborate wood panelling, expensive furniture and other elegant decorations. Second-class and even third-class accommodations and common rooms were likewise considered as opulent as first class on many other ships of the day. The ship offered three lifts for use of first-class passengers and, as an innovation, offered one lift for second-class passengers. The crown jewel of the ship's interiors was undoubtedly its forward first-class grand staircase, between the forward and second funnels. Extending down to E deck and decorated with oak paneling and gilded balustrades, it was topped by an ornate wrought-iron and glass dome which brought in natural light. On the uppermost landing was a large panel containing a clock flanked by the allegorical figures of Honor and Glory crowning Time. A similar, less ornate staircase, complete with matching dome, was located aft between the third and fourth funnels. Titanic was considered a pinnacle of naval architecture and technological achievement. It was thought by The Shipbuilder magazine to be "practically unsinkable". Titanic was divided into 16 watertight compartments with doors that were held by a magnetic latch and would fall by moving a switch on the bridge; however, the bulkheads did not traverse the entire height of the decks (only going as far as E-Deck). The Titanic could stay afloat with any two of the middle compartments flooded or the first four compartments flooded; any more and the ship would sink.
Maiden voyage
decks The ship began its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, bound for New York City, New York, on Wednesday, April 10 1912, with Captain Edward J. Smith in command. As the Titanic left its berth, the powerful suction created by the ship's propellers caused the liner New York, which was docked nearby, to break away from its moorings and was drawn dangerously close (about 4 feet) to Titanic before a tugboat towed New York away. The near accident delayed the departure for one hour. After crossing the English Channel, Titanic stopped at Cherbourg, France, to disembark and board additional passengers, and stopped again the next day at Queenstown (known today as Cobh), Ireland, before continuing towards New York with 2,223 people aboard. Titanic had three class sections segregating the passengers. Third class, also known as steerage, comprising small cabins on the lower decks, was occupied mostly by immigrants hoping for a better life in America. Second-class cabins and common rooms, located towards the stern, were equal to first-class accommodations on other ships. Many second-class passengers were originally booked first class on other ships but, because of a coal strike, transferred to Titanic. Some of the most prominent people in the world were travelling in first class. These included millionaire John Jacob Astor and his wife Madeleine; industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim; Macy's department store owner Isidor Straus and his wife Ida; Denver millionairess Margaret "Molly" Brown; Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon and his wife, couturiere Lady Duff-Gordon; streetcar magnate George Dunton Widener, his wife Eleanor, and their 27-year-old son, Harry Elkins Widener; Pennsylvania Railroad executive John Borland Thayer, his wife Marion and their seventeen-year-old son, Jack; journalist William Thomas Stead; the Countess of Rothes; United States presidential aide Archibald Butt; author and socialite Helen Churchill Candee; author Jacques Futrelle, his wife May, and their friends, Broadway producers Henry and Irene Harris; silent film actress Dorothy Gibson; and others. Both J.P. Morgan and Milton Hershey had plans to travel on the Titanic but canceled their reservations before the voyage. Also travelling in first class were White Star Line's managing director J. Bruce Ismay and the ship's builder Thomas Andrews, who was on board to observe any problems and assess the general performance of the new ship.
Disaster
Milton Hershey On the night of Sunday, April 14, the temperature had dropped to near freezing and the ocean was completely calm. There was no moon out and the sky was clear. Captain Smith, in response to iceberg warnings received via wireless over the last few days, had altered Titanics course around 10 miles (20 km) south of the normal shipping route. That Sunday at 1:45 PM, a message from the steamer Amerika warned that large icebergs lay in Titanics path, but inexplicably, the warning was never relayed to the bridge. Later that evening, another report of numerous, large icebergs in Titanics path, this time from the Mesaba, also failed to reach the bridge. At 11:40 PM while sailing south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, lookouts Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship. Fleet sounded the ship's bell three times and telephoned the bridge exclaiming, "Iceberg, right ahead!" First Officer Murdoch ordered an abrupt turn to port (left) and full speed astern, which stopped and then reversed the ship's engines. A collision turned out to be inevitable, and the iceberg brushed the ship's starboard (right) side, buckling the hull in several places and popping out rivets below the waterline over a length of 300 ft (90 m). The watertight doors were shut as water started filling the first five watertight compartments, one more than Titanic could stay afloat with. The weight of five watertight compartments filling with water weighed the ship down past the top of the watertight bulkheads, allowing water to flow into the other compartments. Captain Smith, alerted by the jolt of the impact, arrived on the bridge and ordered a full stop. Following an inspection by the ship's officers and Thomas Andrews, it was apparent that the Titanic would sink, and shortly after midnight on April 15, lifeboats were ordered to be readied and a distress signal sent out. The first lifeboat launched, boat 7, was lowered shortly after 12:40 AM on the starboard side with only 28 people on board out of a maximum capacity of 65. The Titanic carried 20 lifeboats with a total capacity of 1,178 persons. Sixteen lifeboats, indicated by number, were in the davits; and four canvas-sided collapsibles, indicated by letter, stowed on the roof of the officers' quarters or on the forward Boat Deck to be launched in empty davits. While only enough space for a little more than half the passengers and crew, Titanic carried more boats than required by the British Board of Trade. At the time, the number of lifeboats required was determined by a ship's gross tonnage, rather than its human capacity. The regulations concerning lifeboat capacity had last been updated in 1894, when the largest ships afloat weighed approximately 10,000 tons, compared to Titanics 46,328 tons. First and second-class passengers had easy access to the lifeboats with staircases that led right up to the boat deck, but third-class passengers found it much harder. Many found the corridors leading from the lower sections of the ship difficult to navigate and had trouble making their way up to the lifeboats. Contrary to popular belief, only a few gates separating the third-class section of the ship from the other areas, like the one leading from the aft well deck to the second-class section, remained locked. However, large steerage families refused to be separated and it seems unlikely that stewards thoroughly searched the third-class sections of the ship for people left behind. While all first- and second-class children save one survived the sinking, more third-class women and children were lost than saved. 1894 Wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were busy sending out distress signals. Several ships responded, including Mount Temple, Frankfurt and Titanics sister ship, Olympic, but none were close enough to make it in time. The closest ship to respond was Cunard Line's RMS Carpathia, and at 58 miles (93 km) away it would arrive in about four hours, still too late to get to Titanic in time. The only land–based location that received the distress call from Titanic was the wireless station at Cape Race, Newfoundland. From the bridge, the lights of a nearby ship could be seen off the port side. Not responding to wireless, Fourth Officer Boxhall and Quartermaster Rowe attempted signalling the ship with a Morse lamp and later with distress rockets, but the ship never appeared to respond. SS Californian, which was nearby and stopped for the night because of ice, also saw lights of a ship in the distance. Californians wireless was turned off, and the wireless operator had gone to bed for the night. Just before he went to bed at around 11:00 PM Californians radio operator attempted to warn Titanic that there was ice ahead, but he was cut off by an exhausted Jack Phillips, who sent back, "Shut up, shut up! I am busy, I am working Cape Race.". When Californians officers first saw the ship, they tried signalling it with their Morse lamp, but also never appeared to receive a response. Later, they noticed Titanics distress signals over the lights and informed Captain Stanley Lord. Even though there was much discussion about the mysterious ship, which to the officers on duty appeared to be moving away before disappearing, Californian did not wake its wireless operator until morning. At first, passengers were reluctant to leave the ostensibly safe Titanic, which showed no outward signs of being in imminent danger, and board small lifeboats. As a result, most of the boats launched partially empty; one boat, boat number one, meant to hold 40 people, left the Titanic with only 12 people on board. With "Women and children first" the imperative (see origin of phrase) for loading lifeboats, Second Officer Lightoller, who was loading boats on the port side, allowed men on only if oarsmen were needed and for no other reason, even if there was room. First Officer Murdoch, who was loading boats on the starboard side, let men on board if women were absent. As the ship's tilt became more apparent, people started to become nervous, and some lifeboats began leaving fully loaded. Shortly after 2:00 AM the waterline had reached the forward boat deck, and all the lifeboats, save for Collapsibles A and B, had been lowered. Collapsible D was the last lifeboat to be lowered from the davits. Around 2:10 AM, the stern rose out of the water exposing the propellers and the forward boat deck was flooding. Events began to transpire rapidly as the last two lifeboats floated right off the deck, collapsible lifeboat B upside down, and collapsible lifeboat A half-filled with water. Shortly afterwards the forwardmost funnel collapsed, crushing part of the bridge and many of those struggling in the water. On deck, people were scrambling towards the stern or jumping over

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Movie adaptation

Songs

External links

Musical theatre

Musical collaboration

The authors

History

In the beginning

Operetta

The Roaring Twenties

The Thirties

The Golden Age (1940s/1950s/1960s)

More recent eras

Famous composers/writers

Famous choreographers

Famous performers

See also

References

External links

Margaret Brown

Humble beginnings

RMS Titanic survivor

Later fame

See also

Further reading

External links

Colorado

History of Colorado

Law and government

Geography

Economy

Demographics

Population

Race and ancestry

Religion

More information

Important cities and towns

25 Richest Places in Colorado

Colorado tourism and recreation

National parks

National monuments

National recreational areas

National forests

National grasslands

Wilderness areas

National historic sites

Education

Colleges and universities

Professional sports teams

Major league teams

Other teams

Major highways

References

See also

Further reading

External links

RMS Titanic

Construction

Maiden voyage

Disaster