Take a Chance on Titanique: 5 Reasons to See the Splashy Broadway Musical

All aboard! Titanique has docked on Broadway at at the St. James Theatre, reworking James Cameron’s beloved film into a song-and-dance campfest. Marla Mindelle leads the cast as none other than Céline Dion, who hijacks a Titanic museum tour to tell her own version of how Jack and Rose found romance on the high seas. What started out in the basement of a grocery story has become a global phenomenon, with productions in the West End, Australia, France, Brazil, and now on the Great White Way. So, what do you say to taking chances? Here are our top reasons to get onboard with the splashy musical.

1. Dionathon
Titanique is jam-packed with Céline Dion’s greatest hits, including “Taking Chances,” “Beauty and the Beast" and, of course, “My Heart Will Go On.” These songs are incorporated into the story to hilarious effect—you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Frankie Grande work himself into a frenzy while singing “I Drove All Night” as the S.S. Titanic's ill-equipped captain. And let’s be clear, this is not glorified Céline karaoke. Titanique boasts a 19-piece orchestra with rousing arrangements by Nicholas Connell that give Dion’s catalog some musical theater pizazz.

2. Pop Culture Catnip
For those of us who worship at the altar of pop culture, Titanique is a holy grail of references, sight gags and quips. Dionheads will love the deep cut in-jokes (“Who Let the Dogs Out,” anyone?) but rest assured there is something for everyone, even if you do not have a PhD in Célineology. RuPaul’s Drag Race, Julia Fox, Nicole Scherzinger, Super Mario Bros. and The Real Housewives of New York are just a handful of the pop culture landmarks sprinkled throughout the proceedings. It's like the best of Mad TV and Saturday Night Live, all rolled into one big musical spectacular.

3. Divas for Days
Titanique celebrates one of the great divas and, as such, does not skimp on the diva front. R&B queen Deborah Cox, who began her career as a backup singer for Dion, returns to Broadway as the Unsinkable Molly Brown. The octave-swooping songstress brings the house down with her rendition of “All By Myself.” To hear her sing this ballad live—replete with chill-inducing riffs, “And I Am Telling You”-style ad-libs and a belt that blows the roof off the St. James—is to experience a motherquake of epic proportions. And, as it happens, she’s really freaking funny. Just wait until you see what she does with an eggplant. As for Mindelle, she rises to the occasion of embodying Dion with soaring vocals and a kooky-crazy demeanor that reminds us why we love the global icon in the first place. Dion’s quirks are amped up to the nth degree and, as you may have seen on social media, Mindelle has a moment to flex her improv chops (at a recent performance, there was an impromptu allusion to Elphaba’s broom being used as a... oh, nevermind). It’s comic divadom at its finest.

4. Everything’s Coming Up Parsons
What is Jim Parsons doing in pearls and an avian-encrusted headpiece? He’s portraying Rose’s maniacal mother Ruth Dewitt Bukater and having the time of his life, thank you very much. Whether he’s terrorizing his daughter, slinging insults at the orchestra or having a “Rose’s Turn” moment, Parsons chews the scenery in every scene that he’s in. There are traces of Charles Busch, Agnes Moorehead and Amy Sedaris in his performance, but it all amounts to something singularly Parsons. The Emmy-winning actor told Broadway.com how performing in drag brings him back to his days of doing theater in college, when he was coming into his own and finding avenues to express himself. Safe to say, this is a happy homecoming for all involved. If you want a masterclass in acerbic wit and finely-tuned camp, look no further than Parsons in Titanique.

5. A Star Is Berg
It cannot be stressed the degree to which Layton Williams is a STAR. Though he’s been performing professionally in London since he was a child, this marks Williams’ Broadway debut, reprising his role as the Iceberg (yes, that Iceberg) from an Olivier-winning turn in Titanique’s West End staging. From the moment he appears as a museum tour guide in the show’s first scene, Williams garners laughs, preening around the stage with a deliciously thick Bury accent. Later on, he takes the form of the fatal block of ice that sinks the ship of dreams. Sporting a Tina Turner wig, Williams proceeds to deliver an electric performance of “River Deep, Mountain High,” wreaking havoc and high-kicking up a storm. The U.K.-based megawatt is a triple-threat of the highest order that must be seen to be believed. Seriously.

Get tickets to Titanique!