The cast of “Titanique”
Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
After an unusually strong stretch of theater, including three standout revivals — a galvanizing “Death of a Salesman,” Second Stage’s sharp “Becky Shaw,” and the deliriously inventive “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” — it was perhaps inevitable that something would break the momentum. Unfortunately, that something is “Titanique,” which has improbably washed ashore on Broadway.
The show, which previously ran Off-Broadway and developed a niche following, is a jukebox parody built around the songs of Céline Dion, reimagining the 1997 film “Titanic” as if Dion — who, of course, was not in the movie but merely sang its hit single “My Heart Will Go On” — were not only present for its events but responsible for narrating and reshaping them.
The Broadway version is the same — except now with a larger budget, a bigger stage, and several high-profile new cast members, including Jim Parsons, Melissa Barrera, and Deborah Cox. Its arrival on Broadway is itself surprising, the result of a post-pandemic stretch in which numerous new musicals have flopped, leaving the current season seriously short on new productions and allowing “Titanique” to take over the St. James for a limited run after the early closure of “The Queen of Versailles.”
The musical embraces a loose, anything-goes style built around audience interaction and meta humor. Dion hijacks the story with frequent commentary and a stream of songs dropped into the action.
Like the ship it parodies, “Titanique” begins with a splashy premise but ultimately struggles to stay afloat. Occasionally, a joke lands. But more often, “Titanique” simply isn’t funny, inventive, or especially interesting. At 100 minutes, the show plays less like a fully developed musical than an extended sketch, with scenes frequently interrupted by asides and non sequiturs.
Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli, who co-wrote the book with director Tye Blue, lead the cast as Dion and Jack Dawson (the Leonardo DiCaprio role), respectively. Mindelle is technically impressive in her vocal parody of Dion, even if the act itself wears thin over time, while Rousouli remains energetic and likable, leaning into the role’s buoyant absurdity. Melissa Barrera, who broke out in the film adaptation of “In the Heights” and makes her Broadway debut, plays 17-year-old Rose (the Kate Winslet role) largely straight and feels underutilized.
Parsons plays Rose’s disapproving mother Ruth in drag, with clipped line readings and well-timed asides that briefly sharpen the show’s comic rhythm. In one ad-lib, he notes that both he and Mindelle were nominated in 2023 for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical — which she won — for her work in “Titanique,” while he was recognized for the superb Off-Broadway revival of the musical “A Man of No Importance.” One wishes Parsons were bringing that performance to Broadway instead, or simply allowed to improvise as Ruth for the full 100 minutes.
The move to Broadway works against the show. What once felt scrappy and self-aware in a smaller setting now looks oddly exposed on a larger stage, its thin material fully laid bare. The trajectory recalls “Dames at Sea,” the affectionate parody of 1930s Busby Berkeley musicals that began at Caffè Cino in 1966 and later made its way to Broadway in 2015 — with similarly mixed results when scaled up beyond its intimate origins.
For audiences in a celebratory mood — or those deeply invested in Dion’s music or the original film — “Titanique” may provide a breezy diversion. But its appeal is narrow, and its comic returns diminish quickly.
More telling is what its Broadway presence suggests about the current state of new musicals. In a season so thin that “Titanique” could plausibly contend for major awards, the industry may need to take a hard look at whether this is a temporary lull or the new normal for original musicals on Broadway.
St. James Theatre, 246 W. 44th St., titaniquebroadway.com. Through July 12.
