Titanique

By: Taylor Gates

What do Kathy Bates, Tina Turner, and Luigi from the Mario Bros. video games all have in common? They’re all characters in Titanique, an outrageously funny new musical that combines history, parody, and pop culture. Think “Drunk History” meets “Saturday Night Live” meets Mamma Mia! but with Céline Dion instead of ABBA.

The setup is simple and familiar enough: A bored and emotionally unstable museum guide (Kat Tokarz) tells a tour group about various artifacts from the Titanic. However, things quickly get drastically less factual and more absurd once Céline Dion (Marla Mindelle) appears in an aggressively sparkly gown, claiming that she was actually aboard the ship and can tell everyone the real stories of what happened there.

As Céline begins to tell her tale, the museum-goers transform into people from her imagination…or is it recollection? Of course, there’s Rose (Alex Ellis) and Jack (Constantine Rousouli), but there’s also Kathy Bates (Kathy Deitch) and Victor Garber (Sebastian La Cause)—referred to by their real names and treated as if they were the actors instead of their characters from the 1997 Oscar-winning film for the majority of the show.

Mindelle anchors the production with an affectionately exaggerated Céline impression. In terms of sound, Mindelle’s Céline impersonation is pretty spot-on. When it does occasionally veer more Southern, Canadian or French (there are a lot of dialects in there), it actually serves to add more hilarity rather than detract from it. Smatterings of the word “girlfriend” and more of the icon’s popular catchphrases come at the perfect moments and with the perfect frequency, never going overboard or feeling grating. It’s clear that Mindelle studied more than just Céline’s speech patterns, as she has her body language and mannerisms down to a T—every fist-pumping, finger-pointing one of them. This takes her performance to the next level and makes it feel like a loving tribute rather than a mean-spirited roast.

Very few people are equally talented at comedy and singing, but Mindelle is a rare exception. She can belt a note seemingly as easy as she can evoke a laugh—sometimes at the same time. Her renditions of “I’m Your Lady” and the famous “My Heart Will Go On” would impress Diva Dion herself. But Mindelle isn’t the only shining star of the production. Drew Droege’s delightfully wicked turn as Rose’s mother Ruth leaves the audience (and even some of the performers) in stitches practically every time he opens his mouth. Never one to not fully commit to the role, his flawless comedic timing and deadpan, over-dramatic deliveries are a highlight of the show.

Ellis and Rousouli do an excellent job playing a bastardized version of everyone’s favorite star-crossed, door-debating lovers. Rousouli’s boundless optimism as Jack is irresistibly charming, whether he’s talking about his all-rat diet or drawing “beautiful” works of art. Ellis plays Rose with a winning balance of lovable naivety and bold self-assuredness, easily making her mark and holding her own onstage.

Deitch’s brilliant and jolly Molly Brown and Adam Zelsko’s douche-tastic portrayal of Rose’s awful fiancé Cal also leave an impression. Mikhail Thompson makes the most of every millisecond of his time in the spotlight as Tina Turner/The Iceberg (yes, you read that right) and the consistently solid and hysterical Kat Tokarz adds a special pizzaz to the production in her revolving-door of parts.

Titanique never tries to just be one thing and that works in its favor. You truly never know what’s going to come next, the element of surprise heightening the humor. One moment Ellis and Rousouli are performing a gorgeous duet version of “Taking Chances” and the next minute someone’s singing a few bars of the “Full House” theme song. There are Dirty Dancing references, allusions to Misery and even some niche jokes about Jessica Alba and overstock.com. There’s an entire sequence where Titanic passengers must lip sync for their lives in order to secure a spot on a lifeboat a la “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

In the hands of a lesser director, these tonally opposite elements would make for a jumbled mess of a show, but under Tye Blue’s creative and experienced direction (he’s been the man behind many of Rockwell Table and Stage’s smash-hit parodies in Los Angeles), Titanique is a bona fide hit. It doesn’t just float—it flies.

You can catch Titanique in New York at The Green Room 42 on August 25th at 9:30pm, August 26th at 7pm and 9:30pm and August 27th at 7pm and 9:30pm. Tickets range from $20-60 and are available now!