Composer and lyricist of “Titanic,” Maury Yeston, joined the MSMT cast on stage on June 22. Jared Morneau photos

For the closing weekend of “Titanic” at Maine State Music Theatre, the cast and crew were joined by the show’s Tony-award-winning composer and lyricist for a special dedication Thursday evening.

Composer Maury Yeston wrote the 1997 Broadway musical with Peter Stone as a snapshot of the lives lost on the RMS Titanic in 1912 after it hit an iceberg and sank.

Just hours before curtain, news broke about the Titan submersible implosion that killed all five people on board the vessel. All four passengers — Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Hamish Hardinghad — supposedly paid up to $250,000 each to explore the Titanic wreckage, according to The New York Times; the fifth person was the pilot of the Titan and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.

“We dedicate this performance to the memory of those sad souls who lost their lives, tragically, on the site of the Titanic,” said Yeston in a press release. “We mourn with great sadness those people. We strive. Sometimes we fail. We have to applaud the striving and regret the failure. We continue to adventure.”

Yeston applauded the talented cast of “Titanic” and congratulated them on a job well done. He said Maine State Music Theatre is “one of the most continuously and consistently brilliant theater companies in the United States.”

MSMT will open its second show of the season, “The Buddy Holly Story,” Wednesday, June 28.

For more information, visit msmt.org.

Maury Yeston (center) with the cast and crew of “Titanic” at Maine State Music Theatre on June 22.