Broadway Reviews Theatre Review by Howard Miller - April 12, 2026 Titaníque. Book by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue. Music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by Nicholas James Connell. Directed by Tye Blue. Choreography by Ellenore Scott. Music director Geoffrey Ko. Scenic design by Gabriel Hainer Evansohn and Grace Laubacher for Iron Bloom Creative Production. Costume design by Alejo Vietti. Lighting design by Paige Seber. Sound design by Lawrence Schober. Hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe. Associate director Billie Aken-Tyers. Associate choreographer Jeffrey Gugliotti.
Titaníque is essentially an intentionally silly jukebox musical that builds on familiar moments from the movie. The silliness is all thanks to the show's creators. The songs are drawn from the hits of Céline Dion, whose "My Heart Will Go On" serves as the Oscar-winning love theme for the motion picture. But, mirabile dictu, it is the only song of hers we ever hear her singing in the film, and it comes during the closing credits. What's more, the Oscar itself went to (gasp!) the songwriters, and not to the singer. This "snub" to the superstar Québécoise chanteuse was an unconscionable affront in the eyes of L.A. theatre pals Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue, who set about rectifying things with the creation of Titaníque. Fans of the show's previous incarnations will likely be the first to board the gangplank for this Broadway voyage. For everyone else, a little explanation is in order. Titaníque signifies its raison d'être right off the bat by having Céline Dion herself (Mindelle) burst in on a Titanic museum tour group. With mic in hand and dressed in a gold sequined gown, she commandeers the event and, indeed, the rest of the evening, by serving as upstager-in-residence and narrating her own kooky version. "I will never forget the day I got on board Titaníque," she says. "It was July 4th, 1776." That's probably the last cogent idea that springs forth over the course of the 100-minute goofball festival, which includes an "intermission" that lasts all of two seconds, a joke that is possibly the only nod to traditional Broadway audiences. Otherwise, it is hard to put a label on the show in terms of where it fits in the realm of theatrical entertainment. Baggy pants? Burlesque? Slapstick? The vaudeville acts highlighted in Gypsy?
Rounding out the cast are Frankie Grande as "Victor Garber," named for the actor who played the shipbuilder in the movie; Deborah Cox as Molly Brown; Layton Williams, wonderfully over-the-top as the Tina Turner-inspired "iceberg"; and a terrific trio of background vocalists (Sara Gallo, Polanco Jones Jr., and Kristina Leopold). While you'd probably not peg Parsons as a great song-and-dance man, the rest of the cast handles those requirements with aplomb. The set design (by Gabriel Hainer Evansohn and Grace Laubacher) is suggestive of both the deck of the ship and of a nightclub (also of a set that might have been created for an Encores! performance at City Center). Alejo Vietti's costumes and the fine on-stage band all contribute nicely to the overall production. Titaníque is too purposefully inoffensive to place it alongside the raunchy Oh, Mary!, and it lacks the broad fan base that is attached to the forthcoming revival of The Rocky Horror Show. Instead, the whole thing plays out like a stretched-to-the-breaking-point piece of sketch comedy from the old "Carol Burnett Show" or "Saturday Night Live." None of this is meant to suggest the degree of success it might achieve. After all, fans of SNL have remained loyal for over 50 years, through good skits and bad. And I'd be remiss if I did not reiterate that the cast, as well as the design elements, definitely rises above the low-brow material. For the right audience (like the wildly enthusiastic crowd at the performance I attended), this Titaníque may very well stay afloat.
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