"Titanique" est Magnifique. Casi.

The company of Titaníque (Evan Zimmerman) (Photo from Playbill.com)

I didn't know much about what I was getting myself into with Titanique but I knew enough not to expect the expected.  My friend Tony is a staunch fan and ally for the show but he is so hugely gay that he can be trusted to err on the side of enthusiasm if a show so much as sticks a pinkie toe into the rainbow pond. Suffice it to say: this show wallows in the rainbow trough.

The setup: Celine Dion projects her mega-ego onto a show that premises that she didn't just sing the hit theme to the show; she was actually ON the Titanic. Not the real one but the movie one. With Jack and Rose And the score is all Celine all the time. This show is essentially James Cameron has a fever dream at Studio 54 before retiring to the Eagle. And a charming but arrogant Celine interjects herself into as many scenes and songs as possible. For example: humor ensures when Deborah Cox (as Molly Brown) has to step out of character to lecture Celine on why it is appropriate that she needs to sing "All By Myself" all by herself without Celine's attempted duet.

The show certainly has pedigree with a cast that includes Deborah Cox, Jim Parsons and Frankie Grande. And camp out the wazoo. Jim Parson is in drag as Rose's mother. Frankie Grande is a seaman (Get it? Semen? SEMEN!???!) The Ice Berg Bitch is hysterical.

The show was a delight from open to close, but it is having too much fun to interject so much as a moment of heart and it IS a jukebox musical. And I find that jukebox musicals tend to have a structural defect: namely that they purport to give you a greatest hits package but, honestly, is anyone able to deliver a Celine Dion song like Celine? For me, the same criticism is true of the shows like Beautiful, Jagged Little Pill, Tina, & Juliet; etc. etc. The originals are unbeatable.

At only ninety minutes sans intermission, this is a feather boa and glitter aperitif and cannot be confused with a full course or sustaining meal. But fun? That it is; in spades! And delicious besides.