On the evening of April 14, 1912, at 1140 pm, an iceberg struck the side of the largest and grandest ocean liner ever to sail the sea- _Titanic_. Two hours and forty minutes later, the last of the great ship any human would see for almost 80 years sunk beneath the waves.

In that time, the band continued to play until they were unable to. They kept up the cheery ragtime music, in direct contrast to the tragedy that was occurring.

All the first class passengers- Astor, Strauss, Guggenheim, et al, were all lost. Some of the richest most successful men in the world, all dead. They were survived by their wives and children, who were on the lifeboats, all except for Mrs Ida Strauss, wife of Isador Strauss, who refused to leave her husband's side after 40 years of marriage.

_Titanic_ would lay on the ocean floor, for nearly 80 years, before being rediscovered by a man named Robert Ballard, and a submersible robot named ALVN.

The disaster was caused by an iceberg, but it would never have happened if not for three basic human failings- arrogance, complacency, and over-confidence.

The owner of the ship, and of the White Star Line who built the ship, Mr Bruce J. Ismay, wanted to set a record for fasted transatlantic travel, and urged the captain, Captain Edward J. Smith to travel as fast as he could make her go.

Captain Smith, unwilling to be so risky, but pulled out of retirement just for command of the _Titanic_ complied, because he didn't want to fight the younger man.

Thomas Andrews, who designed and built the great ship, was supremely confident that nothing could sink the ship.

All three factors, along with other smaller things (there was no moon shining that night, and Fleet and Lee, the two lookouts on duty couldn't see anything, as well as the fact that the binoculars usually located in the Crow's Nest had vanished; warnings about ice on the ocean, received by Phillips and Bride, the telegraphers, were either ignored by bridge crew or not sent at all; and there were less than half the number of lifeboats needed for all the passengers) combined together to create the single most tragic marittime disaster in history. Of the 2227 passengers on board, 715 survived to tell about it. That's one third.

A third of the passengers on board were lost, because of human failing, and because of panic. In the rush to the lifeboats, the first two were lowered almost empty, and all the others were sent down only half full.

When _Titanic_ went down, Captain Smith went down with it- he was in the bridge. Mr Andrews was sitting in one of the first class drawing rooms, staring into space, completely unable to accept that this had happened, and on the maiden voyage of his ship, no less.

I do not know what happened to Mr Ismay.

Fleet and Lee were lost at sea, Phillips was thrown overboard, and lost. Bride was also thrown overboard, but was later found by a crew of men sitting on top of a capsized collapsible lifeboat. His feet were crushed, and dangling in the subfreezing water, where frostbite would later set in, but he survived.

In all, every 2 out of 3 people onboard the great ship died.

This is especially interesting to note, because of _Titanic the musical_. In it, at the very beginning, you meet three young hopeful men- "Barrett, stoker off the Baltic." "Fleet, lookout off the majestic." "I'm Harold Bride, wireless operator, Marconi Telegraph Company." Two out of the three would not survive the week.

You meet three third class passengers- Kate McGowan, Kate Murphy, and Kate Mullins (three Kates- it must be fate. "It's not fate, it's Irish.") Two out of the three will not survive the week.

I thought you all would find that interesting, because of this:

"Michael-
Thank you so much for your patience. We would like to offer you the role of Harold Bride in our production of TITANIC. In case you're not familiar with that role, Bride was the telgraph operator on the ship. The song you sight-read at your audition was Bride's song. I assure you, it's one of the plum male roles in the show. From a historical viewpoint--Bride was a survivor and his testimony at the Senate investigation of the disaster was a major componet in documenting what happened aboard the Titanic.

Please acknowledge your acceptance of the role by responding to this message. Also, if you do accept, please remind us of the schedule you're following for "Father of the Bride". Perhaps it will be possible for you and Dennis to work together on music to help catch you up to where the others are. It won't be difficult.

Also, we want to confirm that you did receive a copy of the rehearsal /performance schedule--and that you don't forsee any major problems with that--particularly the two-location set-up.

Thanks, again, for your patience with us and for your very fine audition.

Dennis Lewallen and Bill Mahlandt "

_Fare thee well my darling- I'll be back before a fortnight has passed._

_Fare thee well. May the Lord who watches all watch over thee.
May God's heaven be your blanket as you softly sleep.
Softly sleep._

_The night was alive with a thousand voices, fighting to be heard.
And each and every one of them connected to me.
So alive with a thousand voices, tapping out each word.
Like a thousand people joined with a single heartbeat._

•••---•••

-Rifty