Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Friday, April 17, 2026
How 'taking chances' got 'Titaníque' from a basement theatre to Broadway
NPR: 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.
I got the chance to see this show when it was still off broadway, and even having no knowledge of celin dion, and only a passing understanding of the plot of titanic, it was still an extremely enjoyable time. It's not at all shocking that this show stemmed from a drunken thought but I’m so glad these two people decided to pursue it. I think this speaks to the idea that often the most successful stories aren't trying to be tailor made for a specific audience, they stem from a group of friends trying to make each other laugh. I hope that Tinanique doesn't lose any of the scrappy magic it had as an off broadway production by moving to broadway, because a lot of the fun of that show comes from the idea that its a bad re telling of the james cameran movie, but I hope it stays open long enough for me to get to go see it.
There is something about stories like this that is just so healing. Oftentimes we hear about the big Broadway failures. We hear about the shows like Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, which spent a ton of money and lost even more. We hear the numbers that only some 1 in every 6 or so Broadway shows are actually expected by producers to "make it". Getting to hear the story of a musical that was drunkenly inspired by two friends, then moved to a dingy back-alley basement, and eventually to Broadway is inspiring. It cements the idea that theatre gives that anyone can make it. Although I strongly hope that your director doesn't always have to max out their credit cards in order for that to happen. While I do not often go out of my way to see specific shows, if I ever end up in New York with some time and money to burn, I will definitely make it a point to go see Titanique.
It's very exciting that Titaníque is finally coming to Broadway after opening off-Broadway. The rarety of this happened in the basement, as well as the fact that the show started with three friends who wanted to make each other laugh over martinis makes it even more remarkable to happen; listening to what Marla Mindelle had to say about when she was performing "My Heart Will Go On" and had trash juice dripping down her face because the basement was condemned puts "scrappy theater" in perspective. Even though the show went from such a small scale to such a large scale, the show's campy, loose vibe has remained constant; going from a $1,000 production budget with only one trunk of costumes to a production starring Jim Parsons and Deborah Cox at a full auditing Broadway is huge, but according to what I've read from the people involved in the project, the kitschy, queer heart of the show remains intact—an example of how something funny enough to live in a literal rat infested basement for years is likely to be sustianed for a period of time out of a much larger auditorium for each night.
3 comments:
I got the chance to see this show when it was still off broadway, and even having no knowledge of celin dion, and only a passing understanding of the plot of titanic, it was still an extremely enjoyable time. It's not at all shocking that this show stemmed from a drunken thought but I’m so glad these two people decided to pursue it. I think this speaks to the idea that often the most successful stories aren't trying to be tailor made for a specific audience, they stem from a group of friends trying to make each other laugh. I hope that Tinanique doesn't lose any of the scrappy magic it had as an off broadway production by moving to broadway, because a lot of the fun of that show comes from the idea that its a bad re telling of the james cameran movie, but I hope it stays open long enough for me to get to go see it.
There is something about stories like this that is just so healing. Oftentimes we hear about the big Broadway failures. We hear about the shows like Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, which spent a ton of money and lost even more. We hear the numbers that only some 1 in every 6 or so Broadway shows are actually expected by producers to "make it". Getting to hear the story of a musical that was drunkenly inspired by two friends, then moved to a dingy back-alley basement, and eventually to Broadway is inspiring. It cements the idea that theatre gives that anyone can make it. Although I strongly hope that your director doesn't always have to max out their credit cards in order for that to happen. While I do not often go out of my way to see specific shows, if I ever end up in New York with some time and money to burn, I will definitely make it a point to go see Titanique.
It's very exciting that Titaníque is finally coming to Broadway after opening off-Broadway. The rarety of this happened in the basement, as well as the fact that the show started with three friends who wanted to make each other laugh over martinis makes it even more remarkable to happen; listening to what Marla Mindelle had to say about when she was performing "My Heart Will Go On" and had trash juice dripping down her face because the basement was condemned puts "scrappy theater" in perspective. Even though the show went from such a small scale to such a large scale, the show's campy, loose vibe has remained constant; going from a $1,000 production budget with only one trunk of costumes to a production starring Jim Parsons and Deborah Cox at a full auditing Broadway is huge, but according to what I've read from the people involved in the project, the kitschy, queer heart of the show remains intact—an example of how something funny enough to live in a literal rat infested basement for years is likely to be sustianed for a period of time out of a much larger auditorium for each night.
Post a Comment