Titanique in the West End review – a riotous voyage with Céline Dion

A new year, and a new jukebox musical sails in from New York where it has enjoyed considerable cult success. Far from generating a sinking feeling, however, Titanique is a show with such a warm, giddy heart that it feels mean to offer it anything except the fairest of voyages.

The premise is joyously silly. Céline Dion, the French-Canadian chanteuse of astonishing popularity, who sang the title song for James Cameron’s movie Titanic, turns up on a tour of the real-life Titanic museum, dedicated to commemorating the sinking of the supposedly unsinkable liner, which hit an iceberg and went down on 15 April 1912, with around 1,500 of its 2,000-plus passengers and crew perishing.

But says Céline, this is not how she remembers it. She was on the ship – “that must make you more than 100,” Layton Williams’ tour guide squeals in disbelief – and she is going to tell you her version of events.

This is the starting point for a meta-theatrical romp, containing Williams as not only a sailor but as a Tina Turner-inspired Iceberg B*tch who decides the survivors’ fate in the manner of RuPaul adjudicating his Drag Race. Meanwhile, Jack and Rose, hero and heroine of Cameron’s movie, warble Dion songs and a couple of other pop classics (musical supervision by Nicholas James Connell) to tell of their love and their ambitions.

Written by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and director Tye Blue, it is quite frankly, riotously absurd. But it’s also endearing. And although neither quite as clever or hilarious as it sets out to be, it is so strongly sung and energetically performed under the direction of Blue and the musical direction of Adam Wachter, that it is impossible not to have a good time.

On the night I saw it, an audience who were well-versed and ready for all its cultural references, responded uproariously. Even without being a Dion aficionado, I found it quite hard to resist WhatsOnStage Award winner Lauren Drew’s gold-lamé-draped impersonation, with swooping vowels, odd moments of emphasis and a tendency to interrupt the love scenes to amplify a particularly passionate chorus. “I have so much lurve,” she insists, while introducing her best friends to join her in singing “from the bottom of my perfect heart.”

The sketches skitter all over the place, and the jokes have a scattergun quality, some sticking better than others. There are references that are introduced particularly for the UK – Strictly-style judging paddles for Williams; a Sunset Boulevard gag – but some, like a reference to the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, feel stranded mid-Atlantic.

There are wonderful moments. Rob Houchen as Jack and Kat Ronney as Rose are terrific, walking a tightrope of fine singing and total mayhem; I particularly loved the scene when she has that famous door strapped to her back and he makes glugging noises as he slips shivering away from her. Jordan Luke Gage as Rose’s spurned fiancé Cal has some acid lines, which he delivers impeccably.

Charlotte Wakefield as the Unsinkable Molly Brown and Darren Bennett as Victor Garber (the actor from Titanic rather than a character on the real voyage) and (which shows you what kind of show you are dealing with) Luigi from Super Mario Bros, are tremendously OTT; Williams and Stephen Guarino as Rose’s mum, perpetually bemoaning her lot, have some smart asides. (“They’re like Destiny’s Child, but none of them are Beyoncé”).

It’s a hot mess of a show but it’s January and I am feeling generous with my star rating. It wasn’t totally a night to remember, but it’s not one to forget either.