Titanic: The Musical, the Maury Yeston/Peter Stone show about the ill-fated shipwreck, has settled on a new opening date: April 23, which is still in time for the 1997 Tony Awards.

According to spokesperson Susanne Tighe, the musical start previews March 27. The start of previews and opening were originally scheduled for March 12 and April 10, respectively. The new date intensifies the rush of openings that will take place -- as they did in 1996 -- just before the deadline for the Tonys. This year, the deadline is April 30 -- unusually early.

Here is the new late-April booking lineup, as of Jan. 16: Titanic: The Musical on April 23, Steel Pier April 24, The Little Foxes April 27, Jekyll & Hyde April 28, Candide April 29 and London Assurance April 30.

As for the production delay, Tighe would not cite a reason, merely stating that the $10 million musical is not experiencing any production problems, and adding that the show hasn't even commenced rehearsals.

The Titanic delay follows on the heels of the announcement Jan. 9 that another $10 million musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind, will delay its New York debut by 2 months and consequently miss the cutoff for this year's Tony Awards.