"Broadway Loves Celine Dion"

December 29, 2022 at 02:36 PM

Isn’t it about time “Titanique” got its own thread? :giggle:

January 5, 2023 at 02:53 AM

Really nice interview with w Marla Mindelle: https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/interviews/marla-mindelle-on-celebrating-celine-dion-in-titanique?fbclid=PAAaa0G0WkSMoleWXD0-gncJ57ju-tFGAGmLSotWX-bI2eG-NkLX8nPy5771Q

“The musical has always been a celebration of Dion and her music and became even more so when Dion announced her diagnosis with Stiff Person Syndrome, which hinders her ability to perform. (She recently postponed her tour due to this diagnosis.)

Performing a parody show centered on Dion might seem tricky in light of the news, but for Mindelle, continuing with the show is the best way to honor her.

"When I heard that news, I said to myself, this is no longer about you; this is about her," Mindelle said. "You need to do this for her because if she could, she would be performing eight times a week as well. So it's your responsibility to now channel her, be a refuge for her fans, and in some ways, make sure her legacy and her gift live on."

The cast must be doing something right. Theatregoers, including those who have seen Dion live or plan to, have come to the show for their "Celine fix." They've gotten it, thanks in large part to Mindelle.

"I'm not her, obviously," Mindelle said. "I don't sing as well as her. I don't have a 30-year Grammy Award-winning career. But if I can be a little vessel for her [while] she gets rest and she gets better, and people can come up to me and say this is just like seeing a Celine Dion concert, then I feel like I've done something right."

[…]

What does it mean to you to be singing Celine's songs, as her, right now?

It's incredibly meaningful. She is courageous for even opening up to the public about her diagnosis. It's a very scary thing. And she literally has an album called Courage. She's been such a strong person throughout her entire life, and I honestly feel very humbled that while she is getting the care she needs, while she's getting stronger to come back and perform — we can be a respite. We can be like a little Band-Aid, a little relief for the fans that have been trying to see her for the past couple years.

And that's already been happening. People from Ireland, from Germany, all over the world have stopped by to see the show and said, "It's been so wonderful in the meantime, while she has been getting rest and getting better, that we can come to see your show. The songs are incredible, and you remind me so much of her."

How long have you been a Celine Dion fan?

Since I was born. She really hit in my youth, so that '90s era of nostalgia — Whitney [Houston], Mariah [Carey], Celine Dion — that was my Father, Son, Holy Spirit. She taught me how to sing, you know? My voice is very musical theatre, but honestly, her songs are very theatrical, too.

Recently she's had her, what I like to call, "Celine-aissance" — re-releasing Courage, going back on tour. She was in so many pop culture memes, so many articles. She's really reinvented herself in the way of Madonna or Lady Gaga. She's always changing and she's also, at the same time, such an incredible spirit and full of joy, and it's just infectious. As I grow up and Celine grows, she's still just as popular as she used to be.

What's your favorite Celine Dion song to perform?

My favorite song in performance is actually the end of "My Heart Will Go On," which I can't believe I'm saying because it is literally one of the most vocally challenging things I've ever sung in my life. But it is such an impactful moment in the show the way that it's lit, us all singing together in the new staging. I feel like Jesus Christ. I feel like Evita because I'm at the top of this railing belting my face off.

When you're doing the show eight times a week, you think you're going to get sick of things. I'm not sick of anything. I friggin' love her songs. They're all so well-written. They work so well as musical theatre, weaving in and out of the story.

As a co-writer on Titanique, was there anything specific about her you wanted to make sure to include?

What distinguishes Celine Dion from so many celebrities and pop stars is that anyone you speak to says she's a genuinely wonderful, kind human being full of heart. That was paramount in creating this: making sure that it is in no way, shape, or form taking the piss out of her. It is a true love letter to how wonderful she is.

We wanted to make sure we are literally honoring her legacy and that it is so close to her and her intentions that if you come to see the show, you're almost blindsided because it's such a similarity. I wanted to be a doppelganger for her. I wanted to embody her joy, her spirit. Granted, she's a little kooky, and I wanted to embody that too.

We did a ton of research. When we built this, I was looking at videos every single day trying to see what she does. And I realized I could get away with all these things because she gets away with it too.

To your knowledge, does she know of the show? What would you want her to know about it?

I think she is aware of the show. Her publicist has come. [David] Foster, who wrote all of her iconic songs, has come. Her stylist has come. A backup dancer has come. One of her former agents [has come]. And every single person has been blown out of the water. If she saw this, she would get the biggest kick out of it and she would think it's the greatest thing. Everyone has given their little sign-off, so that's the greatest encouragement.

I just want her to know how much joy she is bringing and her songs are bringing. This is not about me. This is her; she created this. She's the person who sang the songs. I just hope she knows this is such a love letter to her. There are people experiencing such joy from the show, and it is a credit to her.”

January 5, 2023 at 01:04 PM

More love for Céline & Titanique:

“ Instead, Mindelle says the singer’s courage in the face of this latest personal adversity has led her not to doubt Titanique – but to perform her version of Dion with greater purpose.

“Sometimes I could get in my own head about embodying her – but I realize that everything I do now, it’s not for myself anymore,” she says.

“I want this show to be a refuge and a vessel for all of her fans who had tickets for their concerts. … And I want her to know that her legacy and literally her heart lives on and on in this show.”

[…]

The main challenges of putting on Titanique professionally have had to do with rights. Not to Titanic, which it legally parodies, but to Dion’s songs.

Foster, who worked on many of her seminal albums including Let’s Talk About Love, showed up to a concert reading at Green Room 42 in New York with his lawyers – and left happy to voice his support and lend his tunes to the show. But other well-known songs with a long list of co-writers from the Céline catalogue were either not possible to license – The Power of Love is conspicuously absent – or were already being used in other jukebox musicals (Jim Steinman’s It’s All Coming Back to Me Now is in the Meat Loaf musical Bat Out of Hell).

[…]

Titanique’s voyage after its latest extension to May is to be determined – but not only are there are Broadway producers such as Price (and Dear Evan Hansen composer Benj Pasek) attached, Toronto’s Mirvish Productions has been down to check it out, and impresario-cum-musical-theatre-legend Andrew Lloyd Webber has been to see the show too, perhaps with an eye to producing it in London.

[…]

But the opinions of critics aren’t exactly what drove the success of either Titanic or for that matter Dion, whose widespread popularity has been a locus for discussion and dissection of taste, in part due to Canadian music writer Carl Wilson’s influential volume about Céline and kitsch called Let’s Talk About Love.

For me, while I didn’t find Mindelle’s version of Dion as exact as some of the icon’s (myriad) impersonators, the actress did capture what is spiritually central to the singer: a sense of spontaneity that springs from a love of life.”

January 15, 2023 at 09:41 PM

Another nice TV interview with Marla Mindelle. You can watch on her IG here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CncqzWng9kD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Apparently Celine’s physician was there last week.

January 24, 2023 at 02:26 AM

More Titanique TV coverage: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnxX6s4KVTR/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

January 25, 2023 at 03:40 AM

February 1, 2023 at 04:38 AM

Titanique on the radio! The creators & actors interviewed on:

All of It, on WNYC (New York’s NPR station):

https://www.wnyc.org/shows/all-of-it/segments

Or here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3d6oSdDVOlFhLbvC0Q8AMx?si=9raJjltDQy6NSjZjC7Cnjg

The Come Up podcast:

Lots of love for Celine here, as usual with this crew.

February 14, 2023 at 11:40 PM

This crew is such a Treat!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cop2-t1MEUH/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoqIEyPApLT/

February 15, 2023 at 05:09 AM

I don’t really get the premise of this but seems to be more Céline-inspired theater?

February 20, 2023 at 11:26 PM

Another interview with the cast of Titanique: https://www.them.us/story/titanique-musical-titanic-parody-rose-russell-daniels-extended-run

March 8, 2023 at 06:13 PM

Titanique is extending yet again, through Sept -

March 27, 2023 at 11:25 PM

Yet more Céline-inspired theatre -

Edited March 27, 2023 at 11:26 PM by scielle

March 28, 2023 at 11:09 AM

Finally listened to some interviews with the Marla aka Celine. Not to be that person, but it kind of bothers me she keeps saying "David Foster, a composer who wrote all of her iconic songs..."

She has said it multiple times and I'm like...yeah, no mega Celine fan would make that mistake. :doh: David barely wrote a lick for her! He produced.

March 28, 2023 at 02:03 PM

I looked at wiki to see what songs they actually use... and I gotta say, it's more interesting than the Courage setlist! :giggle:

Musical Numbers[edit]

Off-Broadway Production^[11]

March 28, 2023 at 06:01 PM

And it’s 100% live

March 30, 2023 at 04:46 PM

Cats acknowledging Céline glorious performance :cat:

March 31, 2023 at 07:05 PM

John Nelson was at Titanique last night: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqdklIwuIfx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

March 31, 2023 at 07:18 PM

That's one person in Celine's orbit whom I have never heard of before lol.

April 6, 2023 at 03:30 AM

Titanique has been nominated for 5 Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Musical + Marla for her role as Céline (it’s like the Tonys, but for off-Broadway).

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqq1iMJOjeB/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

April 20, 2023 at 12:16 AM

Google clearly knows I spend a lot on Broadway and Céline because I keep getting served with this ad 😏https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmCzDD6OvX_/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

(That’s the Way It Is, from & Juliet on Broadway)

April 24, 2023 at 12:17 PM

Saw Titanique again over the weekend (second time, first was in its old venue last June).

It was sold out (as I think it usually is, though it's a small venue) and the crowd was very into it. Mostly a millennial audience and there were definitely people there who have seen it multiple times.

It really is a different show every night, it seems. There's one scene that's always completely improvised, and the jokes throughout change based on what's currently going on in pop culture. And yeah, Marla is over the top, but so is everyone. So is Celine. That's the schtick.

Anyway, I hadn't noticed this the first time I went but this time around read the producers section in the program. I knew about Eva Price, since she's the main producer attached to this in all the press, but thought it was interesting that among other producers are James Nederlander (of the Nederlander theatre dynasty; they've owned and operated theaters all over Broadway, London's West End, Chicago, and throughout the US for over 100 years), Dimond Dog Entertainment (Joan Grande along with Frankie), and Benj Pasek (Oscar, Grammy & Tony-winning songwriter behind Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, The Greatest Showman, A Strange Loop, among others).

I wish they had POL in the show instead of say, You and I, but that's one of those songs nobody every seems to be able to get the rights to (Valerie Lemercier tried for Aline and failed, too).

Edited April 24, 2023 at 12:30 PM by scielle

April 25, 2023 at 05:26 PM

Drama Desk Award nominations were announced (like the Tonys, except including off-Broadway), and Marla and Titanique are both nominated, as is &Juliet (the Max Martin jukebox musical that includes That's the Way It Is).

Marla Mindele is in the same category as Jessica Chastain & Jodie Comer (saw both in their respective plays and both were excellent, Jodie especially), and Josh Groban, and 50+ other people...(Seriously, look at this list! Laura Linney, Sara Bareilles, Ben Platt, Philippa Soo... who's not on there? LOL)

Titanique and &Juliet are up for best musical (new production, not a revival), along with 7 other productions).

https://awardswatch....arn-first-nods/

Titanique and its cast & crew are also up for 5 Lucille Lortel Awards (which are specifically for off-Broadway productions). - https://lortelaward.com/2023-nominees/

Edited April 25, 2023 at 05:34 PM by scielle

April 27, 2023 at 11:12 PM

It's been announced today that co-creators Marla Mindelle (Celine) and Constantine Rousouli (Jack Dawson) will do their final performance of Titanique on June 4: https://playbill.com...titanique-exits

But, show is continuing through Sept, so they're auditioning for a new Celine.

Marla also posted this:

https://www.instagra.../p/CrjfzcMPemC/

"So girlfriends the time has come! I will be departing the ship of dreams June 4th. After doing Titanique for a year, it is time to take a little break. This is not goodbye forever, just goodbye for now. There are so many exciting things happening with Titanique I hope to share soon! Thank you everyone for making this show possible, for coming 15 times, for screaming and snapping and spreading love. I love u Seaux much!"

So, it seems there's more to come. Perhaps they're taking the show on a mini-tour?

Edited April 27, 2023 at 11:13 PM by scielle

April 28, 2023 at 01:47 AM

I hope they do - because (with the right cast) that show would be a hit anywhere with a theater scene! Perhaps they might even set up satellite “residencies” in a few major cities?

April 28, 2023 at 02:13 PM

At minimum, I need a cast recording and/or a pro shot recording of the show. If they go on tour and can come around my area (Ohio) then even better!

May 2, 2023 at 11:26 PM

Tony nominations were announced today and while Titanique wasn’t eligible (as it’s an off-Broadway production), they took all the nominated posters and Célinefied them 😆

Love the last one in particular (the poster is for New York, New York).

May 3, 2023 at 11:44 AM

Don't know how credible, but there's a rumour out there that it's transferring to London early next year.

May 3, 2023 at 12:12 PM

(The account is followed by Eva Price - Titanique and & Juliet producer - so I would think reasonably credible.)

May 8, 2023 at 01:16 AM

Marla Mindelle list won the Lucille Lortel award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical for her Céline role. Looks like, among others. She beat out Jim Parsons of Big Bang Theory for the win!

https://instagram.com/stories/lorteltheatre/3097804414954623018?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Thanked Céline ☺️

Aaaan, Titanique just won for Outstanding Musical!

https://instagram.com/stories/lorteltheatre/3097812324338314181?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Edited May 8, 2023 at 01:22 AM by scielle

May 8, 2023 at 01:58 AM

OMG that's well deserved!!!!

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