‘Titanique’ Broadway overview — a fair larger boatload of campy enjoyable

Read our overview of Titanique on Broadway, the Titanic parody musical enjoying on the St. James Theatre after an award-winning three-year run off Broadway.

In the transfer from Off-Broadway’s Daryl Roth Theatre to Broadway’s St. James Theatre, the parody musical Titanique clearly obtained a lift to its design price range. You can inform instantly by trying on the Heart of the Ocean, that deep blue jewel that greets audiences as they enter, which I described in my 2022 Off-Broadway overview as trying like a Party City ornament. Now, it seems to be like an costly Party City ornament. It dangles from the rafters beneath a heart-shaped gap outlined in tinsel, like a jewel that is fallen off its chain, as a refined reminder that Titanique is nonetheless nonetheless the off-kilter affair it is at all times been.

If the Broadway manufacturing is your first encounter with Titanique, you may not guess its NYC voyage started, as a now-cut joke as soon as put it, “in the basement of a Gristedes” (i.e. the below-ground former location of the comedy venue Asylum NYC). The Broadway set (by Gabriel Hainer Evansohn and Grace Laubacher for Iron Bloom Creative Production), sound (Lawrence Schober), and lighting (Paige Seber) have all been amped as much as, effectively, titanic ranges to befit the largest venue Titanique has ever docked in. Alejo Vietti’s costumes, too, are extra detailed, however these stay probably the most cheerfully cheesy visuals on stage.

That’s not a dig, as Titanique delights in being kooky and irreverent, maybe extra so now that it is infiltrated that stolid previous establishment of Broadway. (Heck, tonight’s opening is barely three days earlier than the anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking.) Much of the primary 20 minutes really feel just like the Céline Dion Stand-Up Comedy Hour, the place Marla Mindelle, a no-holds-barred comedic powerhouse coming back from off Broadway because the French Canadian singer, riffs with the viewers and prepares to inform us how the sinking of the Titanic actually went down, as a result of she was there. Get it, as a result of Dion sang the theme tune to the film?

This intro admittedly drags a bit, however just like the notorious ship, Titanique instantly picks up velocity and stays at an exhilarating tempo from there because the solid flings out mile-a-minute one-liners and popular culture jokes. Unlike the ship, the doorway of the iceberg does not deliver the present to a halt — narratively, anyway. The late-stage showcase of Layton Williams as a rollicking, rubber-limbed Iceberg accounted for one in every of 5 mid-show standing ovations on my night time. To say any extra about Williams’s Olivier Award-winning efficiency, reprised from Titanique in London, would spoil one of many present’s greatest reveals; I do not need to rob you of the slack-jawed awe my fully unaware +1 on the present had when it occurred.

The 90 minutes in between are full of equally pleasant zaniness as Céline recounts a wild refashioning of the Titanic film plot as if it have been historic reality. Actually, she does not narrate the proceedings a lot as aggressively insert herself and her songs in them, to the best chagrin of Rose (a sweet-voiced Melissa Barrera) as she’s attempting to get issues going with Jack (a beefy Constantine Rousouli, who originated the position off Broadway). But Mindelle-as-Dion isn’t the one one who wrests management of the highlight: there’s Williams; former Dion backup singer Deborah Cox with a hovering “All By Myself”; and Jim Parsons as Rose’s acid-tongued mom, Ruth, sporting a raspberry costume and feathered headpiece that resembles a knockoff Dolly Levi outfit. I solely realized this when, throughout an prolonged mood tantrum that completely stops the present, Ruth takes her anger out on, amongst different issues, a cardboard cutout of Carol Channing-as-Dolly.

My private favourite half, although, has at all times been “Tell Him,” by which I discovered myself genuinely moved by Barrera, Cox, and Mindelle’s attractive voices even because the quantity was an innuendo involving an eggplant (now additionally larger than off Broadway). Because that is the factor about Titanique: To name it a mere parody musical is to hit solely the tip of the iceberg. It’s at all times been greater than that: a shining comedy showcase, a bonafide enviornment live performance, and a well-built musical that does not require a lot Titanic data to get pleasure from. (If something, it advantages extra from RuPaul’s Drag Race data, which might be a primary for a Broadway present.)

Acclaimed although Titanique was for extra than simply silliness, the present’s expansiveness maybe wasn’t as obvious in its smaller properties. Now, director Tye Blue’s manufacturing has a venue sufficiently big to unfold to its full wingspan. Like Rose “flying” on the ship’s bow, it appears it has been ready to do this all alongside.

Titanique abstract

What if Céline Dion, who sang “My Heart Will Go On” for James Cameron’s 1997 Titanic film, was there when the actual Titanic sank? In Titanique, Dion hijacks a Titanic museum tour and spins a traditionally irreverent story of what actually occurred aboard the ship, together with to the movie’s doomed lovers, Jack and Rose.

Creators Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle, and Constantine Rousouli first got here up with Titanique over drinks in L.A. Their thought grew into two live performance shows; an award-winning, three-year Off-Broadway run; and greater than six different productions worldwide earlier than coming to Broadway.

What to count on at Titanique

There is a sure cozy smallness from Titanique‘s Off-Broadway runs that I miss, nevertheless it’s nonetheless felt in some moments of the Broadway model, like when the solid enters via the aisles of the orchestra or Mindelle interacts with a pair fortunate entrance row-ers. Admittedly, I used to be seated within the third row, so individuals additional again or within the mezzanine would possibly really feel extra of a way of take away.

But regardless, you will be amongst — if my viewers was any indication — a considerably livelier group of theatregoers than at your typical Broadway present, the sort who cheer extra wildly and loudly whereas nonetheless, after all, respecting the actors. Those extra intangible senses of intimacy, collective abandon, and play are absolutely intact from off Broadway.

What audiences are saying about Titanique

Titanique on Broadway has a 93% viewers approval ranking on the overview aggregator Show-Score, with most theatregoers describing the musical as a laugh-filled good time.

• “If you need some joy and humor in your life, get thee to see Titanique. I laughed so hard I cried.” – Show-Score person Don Okay
• “Ironically, ironically, the best thing about this voyage was the iceberg.” – Show-Score person andrew s
• “Unhinged in the best way; had a smile on my face the entire time. So creative, original, hilarious. They lure you in with comedy and keep you locked in with so many powerhouse performances. We’ve seen it twice now- would go again with a group that hadn’t seen it yet.” – Show-Score person dm
• “Funny hilarious camp insane talent from the cast but my controversial opinion is that some shows should stay in smaller off broadway theatres and this is one of them.” – Mezzanine person Emma Valerio
• “I have now seen Titanique three (3) times and Titanic zero (0) times.” – Mezzanine person Andrew Ontiveros

Read more audience reviews of Titanique on Show-Score.

Who ought to see Titanique

• If you watch RuPaul’s Drag Race, you will enjoyment of all of the verbal and visible nods to that present in Titanique. The creators usually replace the musical with new jokes from the popular culture zeitgeist, so there’s even a reference to the present season.
• Fans of Oh, Mary! and Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway will discover that Titanique is in nice firm with these raucous, queer romps. That Jellicle Ball performs proper throughout the road from Titanique is much more scrumptious.
• If you’re keen on the music of Céline Dion, you are going to hear genuinely attractive renditions of her songs amid the hijinks. Unfortunately, a number of large hits, like “That’s The Way It Is” and “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” aren’t included, however Titanique makes up for it with some deep cuts for die-hard Dion followers.
• Titanique is a present made by theatre youngsters, for theatre youngsters. Eagle-eyed viewers will spot Easter eggs from a number of latest exhibits on the St. James (trace: look carefully on the trash-covered cloak within the first scene).

Learn extra about Titanique on Broadway

In transferring to Broadway, Titanique proves anew that it isn’t solely a foolish good time, but additionally anchored by true comedic know-how and highly effective musical performances. I imply, simply wait till you hear Marla Mindelle play the violin!

Learn extra and get Titanique tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Titanique is on the St. James Theatre via July 12.

Photo credit score: Titanique on Broadway. (Photos by Evan Zimmerman)