Annotated Glossary
Conducted a thorough analysis of the Titanic libretto and compiled a list of terms for which the cast and creative team might seek extra clarification. Created an interactive, digital, multimedia Glossary accessible via the School of Drama production site and our dramaturgy resource site.
Designer Meeting & Rehearsal Presentations
Facilitated collaborative discussions regarding production themes throughout the design and rehearsal processes. Provided support through presence in rehearsal room. Led a first rehearsal activity with the cast to illustrate class separation and perception using values on a deck of cards.
Program Note
Revised program note written by dramaturg Lillian McDermott for inclusion in audience programs.
Lobby Experience in Collaboration with the CMU Entertainment Technology Center
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Collaborated with the ETC Encore team to conceive and build a lobby experience for Titanic audiences.
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Provided historical consultation throughout the iterative design process, serving as an intermediary between ETC goals and School of Drama production goals.
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Edited scripts to be recorded by cast members and featured in luggage sets, which provided exposition to character dynamics and the items a member of each class would have brought onboard. Assisted with recording sessions.
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Helped with lobby load-in, setup, and material sourcing.
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The experience featured interactive luggage complete with motion-sensing audio playback, a telegraphy station at which audiences could deliver messages to be displayed on-screen, evolving lighting/sound design, and a projected list of victims' names at each performance's conclusion.
Project Press Release
"The ETC-Dramaturgy collaboration is a model for how we can use immersive entertainment to supplement theatrical environments. The blend of arts and technology is very Carnegie Mellon, and very 2025.
As dramaturgs, our goal with a lobby experience is to prepare audiences for the first moments of a show. In Titanic: The Musical, we see the passengers board the ship and the crew prepare to set sail, while also learning of the class structures that fueled individual aspirations and eventually, onboard dynamics. With class being such a major theme of the musical, it was important to our team for audiences to gain insight into what a member of each class might have brought onboard, both physically (as contained in the suitcases) and ideologically (as expressed in recorded dialogue). The interactive telegraphy station, which mirrors the one found on the real ship and onstage, prompts audiences to connect to the isolation and emotion experienced by passengers. The display’s evolution throughout the musical culminates in a projected list of victims’ names during the audience’s exit from the theater, serving as a reminder that the dramatized characters and story we witnessed were once real.
The characters boast in the musical that the Titanic was born during a remarkable age of technological advancement, and so using technology to extend our story beyond the walls of the Philip Chosky Theater was only natural. By meeting weekly to provide historical consultation and connect the developing lobby experience vision to the musical’s production concept, our Dramaturgy team served as the client to the ETC Encore team. The result is a lobby experience that is engaging, educational, and impactful."
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- Madelyn Streisfeld, Assistant Dramaturg
Media Features
"ETC-Drama Collaboration Brings Titanic to Life"
By Hannah Kinney-Kobre
Article featured in Carnegie Mellon University
ETC News
Student Takeover
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Instagram
Shared insight into student life, Titanic rehearsal process, CMU dramaturgy program details for prospective students, lobby experience set-up and final product
