Titanique review: Silly spoof of Titanic and Celine Dion finally sets sail on Broadway

1 hour and 40 minutes, with no intermission.At the St.

James Theatre, 246 W.44th St.The strange and scrappy voyage of “Titanique,” the feel-great musical-comedy sendup of the movie “Titanic” and singer Celine Dion, has been a wonder to behold.

And pretty hard to believe.If the RMS Titanic was the largest vessel of its time and thought to be unsinkable, “Titanique,” which opened on Broadway Sunday night, started out as a wooden rowboat with a single paddle.Its first sizable-ish production was in 2022 at the Asylum in Chelsea — basically a broom closet beneath a shuttered Gristedes.Back then, I went on a lark and left on a high.“Titanique” was the only show in New York that accurately read the room.

After theaters reopened in 2021, most musicals skewed serious.But the loud chorus of laughter under that grocery store was frankly disturbing.“Titanique” was sized up and moved to a larger off-Broadway venue, where it ran nearly three years.

And then she embarked on the craziest cruise ship route ever: London, Sydney, Paris, São Paulo, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal.And now “Titanique” has finally arrived on Broadway.Was it smooth sailing?I can’t say the humongous St.James Theatre, which suits hardly any show, is my favorite port of call.

Nobody can argue that its distancing size is an asset to a musical that thrives on a dirty-little-secret energy.And actors dashing 10 feet to the wings doesn’t suit a staging packed with rapid-fire gags.

Its new set of metal platforms and beams is more concert tour than comedy hour.Yet the unhinged underdog retains its essential charms.There’s Celine’s hit songs, such as “My Heart Will Go On” and “A New Day Has Come,” which have never had a dedicated Broadway berth before.The smart and zippy book by director Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli weaves those emotional and nicely sung tunes into a well-told, consolidated version of James Cameron’s “Titanic” that’s also h...