Review: No joke floaties required for Titanique if you missed that Leo and Kate shipwreck flick

The confession I have never seen Titanic drew gasps of amused shock from the crew behind Titanique. But I didn’t need to watch the film to get the raft of jokes, writes Kathy McCabe.

In a moment of panic at the premiere of the uproarious musical parody Titanique last week, I braced for Celine Dion to theatrically point directly at me, a spotlight shining on my reddening face as she commanded: “Get out! No jokes for you!”

At the tiny Grand Electric theatre in Sydney, a couple of rows back from the stage in the tightly packed cabaret space, I was certain Dion could see the whites of my shameful eyes.

She had gleaned my secret; I have never seen Titanic. The 1997 movie, starring Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio, which this side-splitting, relentless laughathon riffs off so brilliantly.

I have this weird allergy to over-hyped Hollywood blockbusters or the Oscar movies with all of the nominations which everyone says you just must see.

Films like The Lord of The Things or Harry Potter or Jurassic Park or Avatar or anything Batman, Spider-Man or Superman. Or Titanic. I feel like I’ve already seen them because of their pop culture ubiquity.

Seen the scene, heard the song on and on and on but never watched Titanic. Picture: Supplied.

I’d seen the famous image of Leo holding Kate, I mean Jack holding Rose, at the ship’s bow against a dramatic sunset. And the other one of her lying on the door and him treading water even though there was room for two on that floating plank of wood.

And I’d heard Dion’s My Heart Will Go On … on and on and on. Chart-topping movie power ballads also give me the ick.

Ahead of the premiere at a lovely soiree hosted by the Michael Cassel Group, the producers of Titanique in Australia, after a couple of glasses of rosé I confessed I’d never seen Titanic to the acclaimed show’s director and co-author Tye Blue.

Titanique is an uproarious parody of Titanic through the songs of Celine Dion. Picture: Daniel Boud / Supplied.

A few people in the circle were shocked and amused. Blue suggested I might not pick up some of the “nuances”. What about I see a preview, watch the movie and then see the premiere and gauge whether the show works if you’re a Titanic virgin.

I skipped watching three hours of the film to just enjoy the musical twice.

The powerhouse revelation that is Marney McQueen, in her Vegas sequined dress, with her exaggerated points and chest thumps, French Canadian accent and powerful pipes, made me fall in love with Celine Dion.

The divine ensemble cast singing Dion’s songbook and delivering a relentless succession of riffs, pop culture references and gags, particularly Steven Anderson as Rose’s ruthless mother Ruth in half-drag with a seagull fascinator and pearls, made me miss some of the jokes because I was so laughing so hard.

Was Celine Dion aboard the Titanic? You have to see Titanique to find out. Picture: ANGELA WEISS / AFP.

This rare show also seizes the zeitgeist with some timely improv gags – in the productions I saw, jokes referencing the controversial casting of the Australian production of Sunset Boulevard and Donald Trump’s allegations of the consumption of cats and dogs in Ohio got huge oh-that’s-so-naughty laughs.

Just as anyone outside of the US who has seen that musical theatre phenomenon Hamilton didn’t need to know about early American history to love it, not having watched Titanique does not make it any less hysterically wonderful.

But after Celine gave shout outs to Cody Simpson and Sonia Kruger in the premiere audience, now I’m just a little wishful the Titanic diva had a crack at this blockbuster avoider for the laughs.