A look inside “Titanic: The Exhibition,” which just opened at Westfield Old Orchard. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)
The most famous ship in history is being remembered at the most famous shopping mall in Skokie. “Titanic: The Exhibition” just opened at Westfield Old Orchard.
Maybe museum-style exhibits can help shopping centers stay afloat in choppy economic seas. Or perhaps the malls are just rearranging the deck chairs on the …
Curators and scholars may quibble about a show like this, if it’s on their radar at all. But the makers — Imagine Exhibitions of Atlanta — have a solid idea of what the public wants to experience, and the oft-told story of the doomed ocean liner remains dramatic.
Entering, visitors receive a boarding pass with the name of an actual passenger. Mine was a 21-year-old Portuguese farm worker traveling third class. Uh-oh. I correctly guessed that he had met an unfortunate end. Rest in peace, José Jardim.
The show navigates the timeline from the design and building of the ship to its sinking and rediscovery. A scale-model of the Titanic gives you a sense of its epic scale. A model of the iceberg is less convincing.
Highlights include Instagram-ready re-creations of the passenger experience on the Titanic for both the posh and the poor — the grand staircase, the hallways and the lower decks. There’s also a weird, dreamlike depiction of the seabed where the ship still rests after its first and last voyage.
A look inside “Titanic: The Exhibition,” which just opened at Westfield Old Orchard. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)
There’s vintage material, too, much of it framing the trip — from the pre-launch hype to the post-iceberg shock felt around the world. I appreciated the nods to the thousands of workers who built the nautical beast in Belfast, Ireland. There’s a wealth of material related to the White Star Line, props from the James Cameron film and even a look at the tragedy of the SS Eastland in Chicago.
This isn’t the fantastic exhibition that was at the Museum of Science and Industry in 2000, which had a large hunk of the actual hull and remnants salvaged from the Titanic’s gravesite. That show was first class all the way, if a bit ghoulish.
There is plenty to see here, but this exhibition is more of a cabin berth than a stateroom. It will refresh your memory of who’s who in the drama, and it should excite the imagination of younger visitors with an interest in the subject. Hardcore history buffs would do better at their local library.
One small but significant complaint — I noticed a grammatical error on an information card inside a case in the first gallery. Then I found another mistake. And others. Apostrophes were misused, “then” was used for “than” — that sort of thing. Apparently, the proofreader went down with the ship.
“Titanic: The Exhibition” is located on the north side of the mall, around the corner from the Cheesecake Factory. Just turn right at Forever 21, and there it is next to Nando’s. You’ll never get directions like these at the Field Museum, but then you can’t stop at Pottery Barn after you visit Sue the T. Rex.
And if you seek more on the tragedy, there are currently FIVE Titanic museums in the United States. Next time you go to Dollywood, visit the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. And if you’re feeling lucky in Las Vegas, embark on the Titanic exhibition at the Luxor. Both locations contain pieces of the ship that the world refuses to let rest in peace.
A look inside “Titanic: The Exhibition,” which just opened at Westfield Old Orchard. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)
