Titanique creators are here to change theatre forever
As the Celine Dion-powered musical reimagining of James Cameron’s blockbuster docks in Sydney, its creators say the future of theatre no longer belongs to ‘old crotchety men’.
You don’t need context going into Titanique — a giddy musical parody of James Cameron’s Titanic — to appreciate its madness, but it certainly helps.
The Australian is in New York, at a ritzy 45th Street brasserie to meet Tye Blue and Constantine Rousouli (Wicked, Hairspray), two exceptionally groomed thirds of the creative team behind Titanique, alongside writer Marla Mindelle. Over a loathsome American latte, the pair reminisce about their time in Los Angeles in 2016, when they had left the Broadway grind with the vague ambition of making it in Hollywood.
“We ended up working in a shitty little dinner theatre, doing theatre at night to survive,” Blue confides. “Not that we were surviving,” Rousouli says.
Back then, they were staging parody shows riffing on films like The Devil Wears Prada, pocketing $75 a night, and subsisting almost entirely on complimentary truffle fries and nasty sauvignon blanc. “We were so poor, but we were having fun doing crazy things in a weird space with crazy people.”
Then came a moment of inspiration, or perhaps inebriation is more fitting. One evening, after a production of Scream, and a few too many martinis (“I was wasted!), Rousouli had an idea that would prove life-changing. “I was like … ‘You guys, the next show we should do is Titanic, with all Celine Dion music,’” he says, affecting a drunken Valley Girl drawl. “Everyone was like … ok girl, take several seats, it’s not going to happen.” But Blue, a seasoned director, saw potential in the idea.
The trio — Blue, Mindelle, and Rousouli — soon found themselves huddled over laptops, martini in one hand, blunt in the other, piecing together the script for what would become Titanique. “We would banter and edit and re-edit. It was a democratic process; we were able to balance each other out,” Blue explains. “We all have our strengths. And when we come together, we are Captain Planet,” grins Rousouli.
Financing? Not so much an afterthought as a non-thought. A credit card here, borrowed cash from a “rich friend” there, and before they knew it, a bare-bones production was staged in a basement beneath a Chelsea grocery store — the gay hub of Manhattan. “People went ape-shit,” Rousouli says. “They were so loud you couldn’t hear.”
Titanique quickly became a word-of-mouth sensation, and before long, the production graduated to the off-Broadway Daryl Roth Theatre, where it has played for the past two years.
Now, Titanique has berthed in Sydney, making its international debut at The Grand Electric in Redfern, before launching in London and Toronto. “A global rollout was not on the bingo card,” Blue confesses with a smile. “We were just doing this to make each other laugh.”
Titanique is a camp-as-Christmas Céline Dion jukebox musical that gleefully warps the romance of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster. This reimagining tells Jack and Rose’s fabled love story through the lens of Dion herself, who claims to have survived the doomed ship and lived to recount the tale. With its sly nods to RuPaul’s Drag Race and an Italian sidekick dressed like Luigi, the production won’t be for everyone (Rousouli dubs it “The Gay Super Bowl”). But for those with a taste for kitsch, its ridiculousness is divine. It is the kind of show that begs the question: How on earth did they get away with this?
According to Blue, the show worked because it was made for fun, not with an eye toward traditional success. “We never had a theatre we needed to fill. We never had a producer overlord telling us things weren’t right. We just did it for fun and to make each other laugh” he says, matter-of-factly. “That’s why it’s so distinct.”
As Rousouli puts it: this is a musical for crazy weirdos, by crazy weirdos. A freshness he says is needed in the “dated” theatre industry. “Theatre is changing. All these old crotchety men are not writing these books anymore. I don’t want to see another production of, whatever, Ragtime.”
Blue nods. “If you want to get someone away from their TV, you have to produce things that are actually engaging in a room. You have to speak like we speak. A lot of theatre productions aren’t doing that, they’re giving you a period piece or something so heavy it weighs you down.”
The pair have no doubt that Titanique will resonate with Australian audiences. “I have decided that Australians are basically like Southern Americans,” explains Blue. “There’s something to the jovial nature to Australians — in my mind, they’re fun-loving, love to have a drink and a laugh.”
The Sydney production boasts a local cast, and Blue speaks with a casual confidence about finding the right Dion. First, they looked for the voice: “It’s got to be glorious and honour the song catalogue and honour Celine. We can’t get up there and half-ass these vocals.” He pauses. “But they also have to be spiritually open. The show is an ensemble piece; there can be no room for ego.”
Rousouli chimes in, “It’s hard to find people who can both sing down and be funny.”
They are confident that they’ve found their star in comedian and actor Marney McQueen. McQueen herself is up for the challenge. “I’m not afraid of a big sing,” she tells the Australian, in a subsequent interview.
Rousouli puts it plainly: Australia has insane talent. All I can say is buckle up mama.”
Titanique is now showing at The Grand Electric in Sydney’s Redfern.
Geordie Gray flew to New York to interview the creatives behind Titanique as a guest of Michael Cassel Group.
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