By Luke Tarnosky
On October 17th, the Pensacola State College Performing Arts Department kicked off the autumn season with a bang with the opening night show of their newest comedy/romance musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Running for two weekends in a row and a total of six full-length shows, the show was a massive success; a masterful balance of outlandish, cartoony humor, heart-wrenching drama, and an over-the-top, extravagant feel to the whole production that matches the flashy decadence of the 1910s and Roaring Twenties that the play is set in.
First debuting in 1960, the musical weaves a layered narrative based on the real life of Margaret “Molly” Brown; an American philanthropist, actress, and human-rights activist. She earned the title “Unsinkable” when she famously survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic, using her multilingual skills and years of experience in public speaking to help command the lifeboat she was on and save the lives of many passengers. After running on Broadway for over 500 shows before being shut down in 1962, the musical sailed back into the spotlight after a revised version of the play came out in 2020, now for a modern audience to enjoy.
The production begins in a small mining town with the rags-to-riches story of a young Molly who, despite her poverty, takes it upon herself to care for the pregnant widow of a miner. Through this act of charity, she gets close to the mine manager, James Joseph “J.J.” Brown, and the two eventually marry and start a family. As silver mining falls out of favor, Molly convinces J.J. and the mine owner to pivot to gold mining, a risky move that slingshots Molly out of her poverty and into a new life as a rich and powerful socialite.
The second act of the musical unfolds with Molly and J.J. settling down in Molly’s dream city of Denver. Though she struggles to fit in among the other socialites of the area and her relationship with her husband begins to crumble, Molly refuses to give up and devotes her time and wealth to “looking out for the underdog” through various social reform movements: joining the fight for women’s suffrage, petitioning for a juvenile court for underage offenders, and supporting the miners on strike while they protest for a mining union. And when she boards the Titanic on a return trip from Europe to reunite with her family, Molly’s journey culminates as she fights to help the struggling survivors and get back to her own family to make amends.
Though the production is almost 65 years old, the timeless, inspiring message of Molly Brown still rings true in the hearts of Americans today. Through its layered writing and powerful song lyricism, the show emphasizes the importance of “sharing the luck” and appreciates all those in history who chose to do exactly that. The Unsinkable Molly Brown is a tribute to all the suffragettes, labor activists, and immigration reformers who dared to speak out for matters they believed in and have since inspired change that has moved our society further towards the American ideal of “liberty and justice for all.”
According to the people who worked on it, getting Molly Brown to the Ashmore stage was truly a feat. With so many different sets, props, and characters, the behind-the-scenes set creators, costume designers, and tech team had to pour all of their blood, sweat, and tears into making the show run smoothly. The actors themselves practiced nearly every day for hours at a time from late August all the way to right before the opening night show.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but I’ve made a lot of really good friends…” one actor, Ashley Crawford, commented. “It’s like hanging out…we’re working, obviously, and we’re working hard, but…we’re having fun while doing it…You can really tell how much the cast likes each other by our performance.”
If you missed this spectacular show by the Performing Arts department, don’t fret! Visit the Calendar/Events page on the PSC website to view all future theater and campus-wide events. And if you see a performance that catches your eye, you can go ahead and purchase the tickets at the in-person ticket booth in Building 8 (Ashmore Auditorium) on the Pensacola campus or online through the PSC Performing Arts website (performingarts.pensacolastate.edu).