MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The parody musical "Titanique" opened on Broadway last night. The spoof of the James Cameron film "Titanic" was first staged in a tiny basement theater. Jeff Lunden spoke with the creators to learn how it stayed afloat.
JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: The idea for "Titanique" came over some drinks Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli were sharing while they were performing movie-to-musical parodies at a dinner theater in Los Angeles.
CONSTANTINE ROUSOULI: One drunken night after a couple martinis, I turned to this one. And I was like, the next show we should do is "Titanic," and all Celine Dion music. And you'll be Celine. I'll be Jack. And she was like, go to sleep.
MARLA MINDELLE: I was like, absolutely not. Not because I hated her, but because I revered her.
LUNDEN: Co-author and star Marla Mindelle.
MINDELLE: And I was like, how on Earth could I ever imitate the greatest singer in the world? You know what I mean?
(SOUNDBITE OF BROADWAY SHOW, "TITANIQUE")
MINDELLE: (As Celine Dion, singing) Every night in my dreams, I see you. I feel you.
LUNDEN: With director and co-author Tye Blue, the pair began doing pop-up concerts in LA to try out the material. Mindelle says it turns out that Celine Dion's songs can work in a dramatic, if completely cheeky context.
MINDELLE: So Connie (ph) was like, OK. Well, when everyone's getting on the ship, it's "Taking Chances." When the ship hits the iceberg, "River Deep Mountain High."
LUNDEN: They were all broke. Director Tye Blue says he maxed out his credit cards and stored the sets and props in the trunk of his car.
TYE BLUE: I mean, I would literally sit down and be like, what can we make happen with $1,000 to put a show on? And it always paid for itself because it had to.
(SOUNDBITE OF BROADWAY SHOW, "TITANIQUE")
MINDELLE: (As Celine Dion, singing) What do you say to taking chances? What do you say to jumping off the edge? Never...
LUNDEN: Luckily, a producer in New York decided to take a chance. And the first full staging was in a small basement theater below a supermarket that was being condemned, says Marla Mindelle.
MINDELLE: Then all the rats are coming down to the basement.
ROUSOULI: Yeah.
MINDELLE: And I'm singing "My Heart Will Go On," and there's trash juice leaking on my face. It still was the most magical chapter. And to me, it was the most glorious time because I realized in that moment, oh, my God. Like, I think we've actually done something really, really special.
LUNDEN: It turns out the rats weren't leaving a sinking ship because "Titanique" became a hit. It moved to another, much nicer off-Broadway theater where the scrappy parody played for three years, won a bunch of awards, and production sprouted up in London, Australia, Finland. People have returned again and again to see it. They even have a name, Constantine Rousouli says.
ROUSOULI: We're Ti-stan-iques (ph).
MINDELLE: Yeah.
ROUSOULI: We have Ti-stan-iques. Like, they...
MINDELLE: Yeah.
ROUSOULI: ...Stan for the show.
MINDELLE: Like, they stan us.
(SOUNDBITE OF BROADWAY SHOW, "TITANIQUE")
ROUSOULI: (As Jack Dawson, singing) Touch me once again, and remember when there was no one that you wanted more.
LUNDEN: On Broadway, "Titanique" has a budget much larger than $1,000 and a cast that includes "The Big Bang Theory's" Jim Parsons in a dress as Rose's mom and singer Deborah Cox, who once sang backup for Celine Dion, as Molly Brown. But it still retains its loose, kitschy flavor, with references to "Ru Paul's Drag Race" and risque nightly improvisations from Marla Mindelle.
MINDELLE: It's very interesting 'cause a lot of people say, you know, this show is so campy. It is so queer. Was that intentional? And the answer is, absolutely not. We are just three queer people that wanted to make each other laugh.
LUNDEN: But now the laughs come from 1,300 people a night on Broadway. Still, Mindelle says...
MINDELLE: I cry every night...
ROUSOULI: Yeah.
MINDELLE: ...At the end of the show. We do a little sing-along of "My Heart Will Go On," and I stand on stage. And I just - I'm emotional because I - this is the greatest moment of our lives, and I don't want to let it pass me by.
ROUSOULI: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF BROADWAY SHOW, "TITANIQUE")
MINDELLE: (As Celine Dion, singing) My heart will go on and on.
LUNDEN: While Celine Dion hasn't seen the show yet, its authors hope she comes to see it on Broadway.
For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF BROADWAY SHOW, "TITANIQUE")
UNIDENTIFIED ENSEMBLE: (As characters, singing) You're here. There's... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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