The company of Titanique at Criterion Theatre. Photo credit Mark Senior.First off, let’s just confirm (as if there were any doubt about the matter) that TITANIQUE is an entirely corny and irreverent pastiche of the multi-Oscar winning movie in which Kate and Leonardo meet, flirt, get steamed-up in the back of an automobile, and quite literally jump overboard for one another. Here, woven into the fabric of the movie plot-line, is Celine Dion (famed for belting-out the original theme song), who convinces us that she was in fact aboard the liner for its fateful maiden transatlantic voyage when it struck and iceberg and sank.
Even 100+ years on, any production which attempts to use the incident as the basis for fun, runs the risk of being accused of poor taste and for disrespecting the loss of life which resulted from the tragedy but here, that obstacle is neatly overcome by dolloping the pastiche so thickly and imbuing every element with limitless camp that the audience quickly loses any sense that the event ever really occurred except as a Hollywood drama.
The resultant production is a comedy musical which rarely lets-up during the 90minute running time (without interval, so grab your cocktails beforehand) and leaves a broad grin on most faces. This is theatre purely for those who want to laugh and be entertained. It is colourful, brash, utterly silly, supremely sassy, slickly styled and delivered on one of the smallest and most charming West End stages by a troupe of performers who are universally well equipped to belt the belters and deliver the hammy, often groanworthy gags with pinpoint timing and comedy chops.
Directed by Tye Blue with choreography by Ellenore Scott, the show is littered with references to other shows/movies and is such an absolutely irreverent hoot that one almost wishes it would have been possible to be in the room when Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli joined Mr Blue to first thrash out the book.
As the intrepid seafarers steam ever closer to disaster, one thing is absolutely guaranteed — that the show they are delivering will sell-out every performance and bring joy to countless audiences wanting to clear the January blues. Even the iceberg gets an anthropomorphic makeover and listen out for the biggest belter of the night Tell Him delivered by Celine, this time with help from the unsinkable Molly Brown (taking Streisand’s place).
The entire cast will most assuredly be in the running for Best Ensemble awards:
Lauren Drew (Celine Dion), Kat Ronney (Rose), Rob Houchen (Jack), Charlotte Wakefield (Molly Brown), Layton Williams (Seaman/Iceberg), Jordan Luke Gage (Cal), Stephen Guarino (Ruth) and Darren Bennett (Victoria Garber/Luigi) with onstage backing vocals provided by Adrianne Langley, Rodney Vubya and Madison Swan.
