Review: ‘Titanique' at Broadway Playhouse avoids the icebergs and showcases a rising star

Chicago Tribune

03-04-2025

There's no time limit on the global fascination with the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic.
James Cameron's epic 1997 movie 'Titanic' scooped up 11 Academy Awards before drifting into camp in the popular consciousness, even as it steamed into the fiscal record books. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, has a popular Titanic museum, and the North Atlantic wreck itself has been a magnet for adventurers.
So when I say that 'Titanique,' the new spoof musical at the Broadway Playhouse, plays that disaster strictly for laughs, it might sound like a jarring idea. But it's a matter of time passed, of course, and of tone. This silliest of shows, created as a laugh by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue, is an insouciant parody not so much of the disaster itself but of the movie about the disaster with those steamy class warriors Rose and Jack, as played on screen by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. And of the Canadian vocal diva Céline Dion, the immortal pride of the Quebeçois.
What was Dion's actual connection to the movie? She performed the song 'My Heart Must Go On.' She did not get wet.
But it's the combination of making affectionate fun of both Dion and the movie that makes up the secret sauce of the romp 'Titanique,' which I first saw in New York's East Village, where it attracted mostly a young and party-minded audience before moving on to London and, now, Chicago with a new version. That's what makes it different from its peers. Well, that and a notable perky script well-stacked with gags, retro power ballads and bejeweled shtick of all kinds.
Fans of Dion get to hear some of her boutique catalog and enjoy a loving tribute to her distinctive vowel sounds and sparkly clad frame. Fans of the movie get to see parodies of their favorite scenes, including that sexy loss of judgment over the ship's bow, the floating doors and the angst of the handsome road-not-traveled for Rose. None of that would work, though, unless the script were as funny as this one. And it surely helped that one of the writers, Blue, also has directed every 'Titanique' production, including this quick-fire Chicago premiere presented by Broadway in Chicago in cooperation with Porchlight Music Theatre, employing an all-Chicago cast.
The cast of locals includes such familiar names as Adrian Aguilar (as Cal), Rob Lindley (Ruth), Adam Fane (Jack) and Jackson Evans (Victor Garber/Luigi), all having a blast. But the real standout here is Maya Rowe as Rose, a young Chicago performer oozing with talent who has been killing it around town over the last year or so, not just here but in 'Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812' at Writers Theatre in Glencoe. Here's a star in the making, folks.
Rowe's vocals — she has a deep and, when she wants, deeply funny sound — are as fabulous as her aptly guileless physical comedy. She's the anchor of this production, even though she's playing a role that in the hands of lesser talent would be a kind of romantic throwaway. She's a total blast, as is Abby C.Smith, who plays (the unsinkable) Molly Brown and gets to belt 'All By Myself,' which in my book is worth the price of admission just for its percussive elements, hilariously drummed out here. And then there's Eric Lewis, who (at the show I saw) played a kind of Kirkland-brand able seaman, as well as Peabo Bryson and Tina Turner, just 'cause. He's hilarious as all of the above.
As 'Titanique' opens in Chicago, talking to the actress who plays Céline Dion
Clare Kennedy McLaughlin does well as storyteller Céline but she has left herself a lot of room to build that performance vocally and comedically. She should let go and have more fun. When she does hit up the audience, you get some of that signature Céline sparkle, but while it's unusual for me to write that the lead performance in a camp parody should get yet campier, that's actually the case here. It's well-rooted but insufficiently expansive.
I don't doubt for a second that 'Titanique' will do well as we move into tourist season downtown. A PG-13 show ideal for girls' nights out, bachelorettes and so on will be an asset for the still-struggling Magnificent Mile, especially once the gay audience finds this show and word of mouth builds. I laughed my trunks off, and I'd seen it before, too. Most first-time cruisers, especially those who bought the drink package, won't want to return to the dock.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
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Review: 'Titanique' (3.5 stars)
When: Through July 13
Where: Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St.
Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes