How the Titanique Creators Brought Their Céline Dion Fever Dream to Broadway

Returning to Sunlight Studios brought back memories for Titanique creators Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue. Sitting in the same rehearsal room where the show took shape during its off-Broadway run at the Daryl Roth Theatre, the trio met with Broadway.com Managing Editor Beth Stevens to reflect on the unlikely journey that led them to Broadway’s St. James Theatre.

Titanique had humble beginnings. The musical comedy reimagines James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster movie Titanic through the eyes of Canadian superstar Céline Dion. Mindelle, Rousouli and Blue co-wrote the show. Mindelle stars as Dion, while Rousouli plays Jack Dawson. The production first ran in the basement of a Gristedes grocery store before transferring off-Broadway to the Daryl Roth Theatre.

Blue remembers the rehearsal studio feeling “huge, luxurious and like we had arrived.” After almost two months on Broadway, Rousouli and Mindelle laugh at how much smaller the room now feels. The studio became a creative sanctuary and the birthplace of the phrase, “What Would Céline Do?” That spirit helped sustain Titanique through a three-year off-Broadway run. But the show, like Dion’s heart, went on.

The production expanded internationally before making its Broadway debut over a decade after the idea was born. “For the longest time, I thought maybe this is just our path,” Mindelle says. “Maybe we will be like the little show that could, and we’ll go all over the world.” Though she dreamed of Broadway, Mindelle had started to let go of the possibility that Titanique would make it there. Now that the show is nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Mindelle says the Broadway production feels like “this incredible victory lap for the three of us after working so hard.”

The idea for Titanique first emerged while the creators were living in Los Angeles and pursuing careers in film and television. Rousouli said the concept came to him during a drunken night with friends and it immediately clicked. “It just was a brilliant idea that happened in the moment,” he says. “I went off the feeling of, ‘This feels really good.’” Blue’s reaction was simple: “'Ding, that’s brilliant!'" But it took time before the trio fully committed to developing the idea. In 2016, Blue felt a renewed urgency. "Now’s the time," he thought. "We’re not sitting around anymore waiting to laugh. We’re going to curate the joy ourselves with the show.”

The formula for Titanique combines three key ingredients: a beloved movie, iconic music and the larger-than-life persona of Dion, whom Blue affectionately describes as an "angel alien diva baby," adding, "I felt early on that the only way to make a show work when we're borrowing that much information is to really come at it from up here with a high vibration." That approach helped the creators stay aligned with what felt true to Dion's spirit. Blue even created a Céline-inspired collage to hang in the rehearsal studio during the show's development.

As the show evolved through productions around the world, Blue says the team worked to preserve its core identity while making it accessible to wider audiences. “The DNA of the show is universal,” he says. “If we approach it in a way that holds onto us and our voice, but also opens the door for the rest of the world to come in and enjoy our authenticity, that’s the formula.” The creators also credit the development process for helping them maintain its distinct point of view. “No one told us no,” Rousouli says. Mindelle adds that without that freedom, they “would not be here today.”

Now performing at the St. James, the trio says the experience still feels surreal. “It’s an absolute dream come true,” Rousouli says. “We cry all the time.” He says that each night, after saying, “I’m the king of the world,” he finds himself overwhelmed by the moment. Even now, the whole experience feels a little "kooky crazy."

Watch the video below.

Get tickets to Titanique!