What a see-saw battle it's been between The Life and Titanic for audiences and recognition!

When the shows first opened, Titanic battled mixed reviews and technical glitches and seemed like an early candidate for a watery grave. Meanwhile, The Life won the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical and seemed a more likely candidate for Tony consideration, especially for its bouncy Cy Coleman score.

But then the ship came in for Titanic, which pulled in most of the major new musical Tonys. Soon that show was posting new box office records nearly every week, while a backlash against The Life's sordid subject matter began taking its toll at the box office.

Ah, but never underestimate the power of the New York Times. Vincent Canby, in his Oct. 5, Sunday View column three weeks ago, penned a love letter to the show ("Why Whisper About It? The Life Is A Joy!"), which has further helped turn the show's buzz around. For the week ending Oct. 26, The Life broke the house record at the Barrymore, taking in $408,277 and filling 88 percent of capacity.

In other Life news, after a six month run, Tony-nominated actor Sam Harris gave his last performance as Jojo, Oct. 19. Harris moved on to support his singing career, which includes a number of upcoming concert dates. Brian Lane Green follows the Over-the-Rainbow-crooner into the musical. Also, sheet music from The Life is now available from Warner Bros/Notable Music. The company offers a $19.95 booklet containing music from 19 of the Cy Coleman & Ira Gasman songs. Four of the songs are also sold individually for $3.95 each.

Sold singly will be "My Friend," "He's No Good," "Easy Money" and "My Body."

The music book contains "The Oldest Profession," "Use What You Got," "A Lovely Day To Be Out of Jail," "A Piece of the Action," "Don't Take Much," "You Can't Get To Heaven," "Why Don't They Leave Us Alone," "I'm Leaving You," "The Hooker's Ball," "Mr. Greed," "My Way or the Highway," "People Magazine," "We Had a Dream," "'Someday' Is for Suckers," "We Gotta Go," "My Friend," "He's No Good," "Easy Money" and "My Body."

The sheet music is being sold at sheet music stores around the U.S. and via mail order at (800) 327-7643.