- Title: Celine Dion celebrated in new West End musical ''Titanique''
- Date: 10th January 2025
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (JANUARY 9, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTORS ROB HOUCHEN AND KAT RONNEY, SAYING: KAT RONNEY: “I think it does the film so well.” ROB HOUCHEN: “Yeah, it really just pays homage to it. And it's done with love. You know, that film was 1997 and I think about it and I’m like...that's crazy. And everybody still loves it. I watched it on Christmas Eve this year. Like it's still an iconic like..” KAT RONNEY: “I probably watch it like at least three times a year. Really. I love it so much.”
- Embargoed: 24th January 2025 01:41
- Keywords: Celine Dion Darrren Bennett Lauren Drew Titanique musical west end
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: UK
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Theatre
- Reuters ID: LVA00D178008012025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Imagine if singer Celine Dion had been on the Titanic, survived and now wants to revisit what happened, sounds far fetched - but that is the premise of musical “Titanique” which is open in London's West End.
Featuring Dion’s back catalogue, the lighthearted show about some of the people on the fated ocean liner that hit an iceberg in 1912, blends in elements from 1997’s hit movie “Titanic”, starring actors Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as lovers Rose and Jack.
Director Tye Blue, who also wrote the musical along with actor and writers Constantine Rousouli and Marla Mindelle, describes it as as “a joy machine.”
“It is something that is so well-crafted, using the jukebox musical theory, using the IP of Celine Dion, using the beloved film ‘Titanic’, and combining it all with such fun camp queerness and joy,” he said at the show's press night on Thursday (January 9).
The story is told through the eyes of the character Celine Dion, played by Lauren Drew.
“This is very much a love letter to Celine Dion....paying homage to her and her craft and her strength,” Drew said after coming off stage.
“It's completely embodying her kookiness, her craziness and her talent. So I just I love that I get to do that every night,” she said.
Dion's team came to see the show, which opened in New York in 2022, after it had been running for a few years and according to Blue, “they loved it” and “kind of unofficially gave us their blessing.”
Last year Dion made a return to the live stage when she performed at the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris. The 56-year-old singer said in late 2022 that she had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome that causes muscle spasms.
Along with plenty of pop culture references the music from the show includes ballads such as “Titanic’s” award-winning hit “My Heart Will Go On” and Eric Carmen’s “All by Myself”, which Dion released in 1996.
Actor Rob Houchen who plays Jack said the show will please “Titanic” movie fans as the are plenty of references and lines from the film.
“Any 'Titanic' fan that comes to see it is going to hear them and cackle and laugh it's like an added feature,” he said.
“Titanique” is currently playing at The Criterion Theatre until March 2025. Meanwhile having recently opened in Sydney, Toronto and Montreal, another show is set to open in France in April.
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