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'Titanique' Story and Characters | Box Seat Babes Podcast · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome back listeners to another episode of the Box Seat Babes.
• 0:04
  Today we're going to be discussing the off-Broadway hit Titanique.
• 0:08
  But before we get started, if you enjoy the episode, please like, follow and subscribe to us, the Box Seat Babes on all social media platforms at Box Seat Babes.
• 0:18
  RJ, another one in the books, you ready to talk about Titanique?
• 0:22
  I, you know, I was gonna try to come up with like some pun to respond, but I am not witty enough.
• 0:28
  It's also 9 30 at night and we're recording our, what's essentially our third part of another up.
• 0:36
  It's been a long day.
• 0:36
  We are doing it.
• 0:37
  We are live and that's okay.
• 0:38
  We're not actually live by the time you hear us.
• 0:40
  We're just going to be recorded.
• 0:41
  So, but this is one Titanic.
• 0:47
  This was one that last time we went to New York, you were, you were like, man, we should have gone to see the show.
• 0:54
  And so when we were going this time, I had brought up.
• 0:58
  Like we should try to see if we can get into the show.
• 1:01
  Um, so I guess we're going to need to backtrack and say, where did you get introduced to Titanic?
• 1:07
  Like what, how, where's your connection?
• 1:10
  Why did it, it such like, like, like a necessity for you to really want to see this one?
• 1:14
  TikTok, no, I mean kind of a little bit.
• 1:19
  It's some of the, some of the folks who were in the original cast, or maybe not original, shouldn't say original, but that had been cast in the show previously.
• 1:32
  Um, I'd seen posts from them.
• 1:36
  I've seen them in other productions.
• 1:39
  And so that was the initial draw, but then of course, because it's the way that TikTok works.
• 1:47
  It just kept showing up and it just seemed so extreme and so just the most and I'm not typically a comedy person per se but it just it almost it looked like so campy that
• 2:09
  I had to give it a go.
• 2:11
  And then I did actually two weeks before we went.
• 2:16
  ran into someone that I knew that had gone to see it and was, said it was amazing.
• 2:24
  yeah, mean, kind of entirely by accident and then not.
• 2:31
  You know, I think that there's quite a few shows that did the TikTok route.
• 2:36
  Cause I'm thinking along the lines of if we're going on Broadway, six, six with the, with the route of trying to blast it all over social media on TikTok.
• 2:46
  was every other video.
• 2:49
  And then the other one was Dracula, Terror's, which also was all over TikTok everywhere.
• 2:56
  But Titanic was one of those ones that like clips were surfacing.
• 3:00
  and like funny bits and trailers and the idea of Celine Dion and something like that.
• 3:07
  All of this stuff just kept appearing.
• 3:09
  was almost like every third video for a while there, was a Titanic related video.
• 3:14
  And it really kind of took the world by storm.
• 3:16
  Again, kind of like Dracula, Comedy of Terror and Six, like the people just latched onto it.
• 3:22
  It kind of became like the people show in a way through social media.
• 3:27
  And I mean, I'm sure we'll circle back to this, but like, is it the people's or is it just the gays?
• 3:36
  That's fair that you know the algorithm has a way of connecting us together with our people But that
• 3:47
  they play into that.
• 3:48
  So the intentionality in the marketing and the PR there, but I do think that they lucked out.
• 3:57
  I hate to say that in that way, but Celine.
• 4:03
  had this kind of re-entrance into the public eye recently, kind of simultaneously as the show was coming to be, and I think that that also kind of played a little bit of a role.
• 4:20
  Because if you Google, probably, I haven't tried, but if you Google Celine Dion enough, I'm sure that this does in some facet, if you're any type of theater goer.
• 4:34
  show up for you.
• 4:36
  Oh, absolutely.
• 4:37
  mean, cause like, I guess we'll just dive into it.
• 4:40
  You know, so you're right.
• 4:41
  This did kind of come along with the, the, the life of Celine Dion of like, with her health issues, with the documentary, there, there was a life that she had kind of her own.
• 4:53
  And granted we've known Celine Dion for our entire life.
• 4:56
  Pretty much, you know, since Titanic, which is what this is connected to, she's been kind of in the popular eye.
• 5:03
  And she's also been like a gay icon in a little bit of way too, which I think again plays into that queerness of the story.
• 5:09
  And so there's probably a lot of benefits that they had from being connected with Celine Dion.
• 5:16
  Seeing that this is your, this is kind of was your show.
• 5:18
  This was your pick for New York.
• 5:20
  I want you to tell the people in as many words as you want, what is Titanic and how is it related to Celine Dion?
• 5:30
  mean, like, it's not.
• 5:34
  But I mean, they make it.
• 5:36
  They make it be, right?
• 5:37
  So the premise of the show.
• 5:41
  is not what I actually originally anticipated when it started.
• 5:45
  was like, how is this going to go?
• 5:48
  But summary, we're essentially at a Titanic Museum and
• 6:02
  Celine Dion just walking in and be like.
• 6:10
  What's up?
• 6:10
  on a Titanic and here's what really went down.
• 6:14
  So it really is a story from, she is the narrator, she's the storyteller.
• 6:20
  It's an obvious, immediate, everything is a joke.
• 6:27
  And everything, exactly what you would expect from like just breaking out into song.
• 6:34
  It pokes fun at musical theater actually.
• 6:38
  and at Celine Dion, I think in a tasteful way, and of course at the Titanic.
• 6:46
  But yes, all blended together to make this very subtle.
• 6:59
  musical comedy.
• 7:01
  And something I want to just go back to.
• 7:04
  I'm going to come back to, want to know what you thought it was going to be, because I also had some preconceived notions of what the show was going to be.
• 7:09
  But this is not like Celine Dion telling the story of what actually happened on the Titanic.
• 7:13
  This is her retelling of the James Cameron film from the 90s of characters that probably weren't even on the boat.
• 7:23
  You know what mean?
• 7:24
  Like these are like she's telling a fictional story, like a fabricated story about fictional characters.
• 7:30
  which adds to the campiness of this entire show.
• 7:32
  Because there's just so much camp of Celine Dion being like, yeah, I've been around for hundreds of years, basically, and I was on the ship and let me tell you what's going on,
• 7:42
  and then tells this completely wrong story from the one that we know.
• 7:49
  What did you think it was gonna be?
• 7:50
  it is a condensed, I mean what the runtime was maybe an hour, hour and a half, hour 40 ish.
• 7:58
  I think it was like 100 minutes straight through.
• 8:03
  and so nonstop, you just, yeah, you're just all the extremes that could happen.
• 8:13
  And, and I think a lot of the characters and the mannerisms are even like you said, the other, they're pointing towards the movie and they're specifically even pointing towards
• 8:24
  the actors.
• 8:25
  And maybe some of the things that when you, when you and your friends have watched Titanic, the movie.
• 8:32
  you're like, my God, that's so ridiculous or that's so funny or like a drinking game, right?
• 8:38
  Like I could for sure see like somebody when they were creating this musical, I can see a group of friends sitting around this movie being like, isn't this hysterical?
• 8:48
  You know, take a shot every time somebody falls in the water.
• 8:52
  You know, it's just like, it's that kind of, that kind of setup.
• 8:58
  100%.
• 8:59
  This was like, again, the only word that comes to mind is camp.
• 9:03
  Like this is like the epitome of what camp is.
• 9:07
  But going back, you set about sitting around with Titanic, you know, you and your friends, you saw Titanic, right?
• 9:13
  Like you like this is a film that you saw back in the 90s, maybe early 2000s that you're familiar with.
• 9:18
  Don't disappoint me now, RJ.
• 9:19
  and the reference to, I think if I remember right, they do reference the VHSs and the fact that you literally would have had to, like, yeah, like, did we press play and rewind and
• 9:34
  fast forward and rewind to VHS tapes?
• 9:40
  Yes, we did.
• 9:43
  Now, have to stop right real quick and just let you know that Titanic has always been one of my favorite films for no reason, other than that I'm probably gay.
• 9:52
  But my parents got the VHS for their wedding present, like their wedding party.
• 10:00
  And that's how I became discovered by this.
• 10:02
  And I put the first one in, I watched it.
• 10:04
  And again, two VHSes people, we had to watch through two VHSes to get this.
• 10:09
  I open up that second one.
• 10:11
  RJ, it was smashed.
• 10:13
  I could not watch part two of Titanic.
• 10:16
  And so, you know, picture like eight year old gay little Brian sitting there needing to know what's going to happen and not getting that crud.
• 10:25
  The VHS was crushed indeed.
• 10:28
  But it was, you know, again, this is it was a story I was very familiar with.
• 10:34
  And I do not think that this is what I thought about it either.
• 10:37
  I thought it was going to be like Celine Dion, like serving as like an
• 10:41
  like an omniscient narrator, or almost like a fairy, like the enchantress from Beauty and the Beast almost, so just being the guiding force, but not actually in there.
• 10:55
  And then she was like smack dab in every single part of the story.
• 10:59
  So I do have to know, what did you think this was before you went into it?
• 11:03
  I think very similarly, I mean, I knew that she was the comedic, one of the, just from what I had seen, I knew that there was comedy, hardcore comedy involved with her, I
• 11:17
  didn't, you know, sometimes when you see those publicity stunts, it's like, oh, that's the only funny part that that person gets.
• 11:26
  And so as it was unfolding,
• 11:30
  And even just the staging in regards to
• 11:35
  her narrating for like a minute and then leaving, but then the way in which the character reasserts herself as, and that is the comedic part, because it is similarly how it
• 11:50
  happened in the movie, because that's how extreme, right, we're playing off those extremes.
• 11:55
  I was completely not expecting, not expecting that, but it was, yeah, it was some of the more, I think,
• 12:03
  some of the things that got the laughs.
• 12:08
  I'm thinking of one of the scenes, I think it's when Jack and Rose are singing together and she's in the row in front of us, hunched over, getting ready to run back in and just
• 12:22
  looked like total witch from Snow White, ready to pop back in, get the spotlight.
• 12:28
  That was just like, I was crying at how funny it was for no other reason than it was just so over the top and we were a part of that.
• 12:39
  And I think it plays on the idea too that when a celebrity breaches, Like when a celebrity just appears, all of our attention is now going to that person.
• 12:51
  It doesn't matter what else is happening.
• 12:55
  And so that character specifically plays on that in regards to I am the dead center of attention no matter because I am who I am.
• 13:07
  I'm thinking even of the drawing scene, right?
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  Where she's like, and just like who even is Rose?
• 13:19
  We don't care.
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  So yeah, it's...
• 13:26
  It's funny as a concept to think that somebody who wrote a song or performed a song for a film could, the idea of they could tell the story and that they're such a part of it
• 13:40
  because you really do, over the years we've come to assert Celine Dion with Titanic before My Heart Will Go On.
• 13:48
  They are the pairing.
• 13:52
  And so it's interesting that like,
• 13:55
  We got to see her have a different side of this and have all of this power over this story in a way that kind of was reminiscent.
• 14:02
  I got a little bit of the vibes of like Ann Juliette, but like not in like the subtle way.
• 14:07
  was like, like you said, very in your face and very funny of being like the we're rewriting history to tell the story that I want to tell.
• 14:15
  Yeah, I did actually think of that too in regards to maybe just the how youthful the jokes felt.
• 14:25
  They did they they felt fresh, they felt new, they didn't feel.
• 14:32
  tired or aged at all.
• 14:34
  It was just very relevant, which of course, like the show is not very old.
• 14:38
  So of course that makes sense, but very, as, as we'll talk about more, um, very improv-y, very off, off the cuff.
• 14:52
  and very self-referential, kind of like what you mentioned too.
• 14:56
  This is poking fun at both the show and the concept and the people in the movie.
• 15:04
  Shout out to Andrew Keegan-Bolger, who played Victor Garber.
• 15:08
  He played the actor who played the captain.
• 15:12
  He did not play the captain, which I think is just, again, there's so many layers to the story that we're telling here that
• 15:21
  there was always something for someone to pick up.
• 15:25
  And like, there's some jokes that I heard and I like the one that is, I'm so sorry to my editor for this, the bukkake one because of Rose's last name, that like some you could
• 15:36
  definitely tell that the grown men in that in the in the crowd love that one.
• 15:41
  And then there was also jokes about like how men are horrible and taking you know, and like controlling women and that's not gonna happen.
• 15:47
  And like, like there was so many different layers to that telling the story.
• 15:52
  that made Titanic kind of even more interesting in the self-ferential story that it was telling.
• 16:01
  Do you feel like it did pretty well?
• 16:03
  do you feel, like, obviously in the end, it kind of followed the story pretty well of Titanic.
• 16:08
  Would you agree with that?
• 16:10
  Yeah, I mean you get the plot, you get the...
• 16:14
  I think you, maybe not even the plot, but you get...
• 16:19
  what you also took away from the movie, which of course is the purpose, right?
• 16:24
  Like the scenes that people remember from the movie are exactly what you're taking away from the production.
• 16:32
  for sure.
• 16:33
  Like the door and everyone's she's like you could be up on this door like in those things like all the things that we think about about the show.
• 16:40
  They were also thinking.
• 16:44
  Um, so yeah, when we look at these, we look at the story, we have these characters recognized.
• 16:49
  have Rose and we have Jack.
• 16:51
  We have Annie, you know, um, not Annie.
• 16:56
  What is her name?
• 16:57
  What am I thinking of?
• 16:58
  Molly Brown.
• 16:59
  Sorry.
• 16:59
  Annie Get Your Guns, a different film.
• 17:01
  Um, like these, these, these characters and they're all there and they're pretty much represented.
• 17:05
  But I think the ones that we need to talk about are the ones that were largely changed.
• 17:11
  So I'm going to go ahead and ask you.
• 17:13
  What did you think of the iceberg?
• 17:16
  Amazing.
• 17:19
  Rightfully so.
• 17:20
  mean, and it is like, once again, the joke on the...
• 17:27
  Unfortunately, on the reality of the situation in all the movie of just like, there's this massive fricking iceberg.
• 17:36
  It literally in this instance, couldn't be louder and prouder and shinier and like a fricking disco ball and you still missed it.
• 17:47
  And so, yeah, I think of course, just playing on that characterization.
• 17:56
  And also just killing it.
• 17:59
  Um, I'm trying to remember what song they were singing.
• 18:02
  I think it was, yeah.
• 18:05
  Um, man, was like, blow, blow me away.
• 18:11
  Um, which of course, I mean, obviously they're all extremely talented, but it just, it, the, dynamic change from, you know, as we know the Titanic feeling very like kind of
• 18:23
  sullen, um,
• 18:24
  and serious a lot of the time, even though it's not, to just like a massive dancing iceberg.
• 18:31
  Yeah.
• 18:34
  It was River Deep Mountain High, which is even more funny because it's a mile high iceberg that could not miss.
• 18:43
  And they did.
• 18:46
  And then, know, again, some of these characters, like the one friend's name, Luigi, and so they played that up with Luigi from Mario.
• 18:55
  like, get to really kind of...
• 18:56
  You got to see a lot of these actors, and we're talking about this more in part two, but you get to see a lot of these actors have a lot of fun in these roles.
• 19:04
  And so I think it made me appreciate the characters more because when you're watching Titanic, Jack's kind of a kind of a dick sometimes.
• 19:14
  Sometimes Rose is a little bit of a brat.
• 19:16
  there's like the characters are very much set and rigid and like who they are.
• 19:20
  And yes, they have growth, but you got to see those exaggerated with the characters and you got to see the actors kind of play with those characters and have fun with those bits.
• 19:29
  And so that made the made me appreciate Rose and Jack and their story a little bit more.
• 19:33
  But what did you think of these characters overall?
• 19:38
  Yeah, I mean, of course, I think it's interesting who they decided to characterize and as a character, what and what objects, obviously the iceberg.
• 19:51
  Luigi, like you're just in granted, you know, we know that there's a handful of folks that in the movie you reference and you know.
• 20:03
  But Cal, mean, there's just, there's so much, and everyone was so different and approached differently that it's just, that's why it's one of those shows that it's not just you
• 20:27
  laugh and then there's not another joke for another 15 minutes.
• 20:32
  think we were laughing through the majority of the show.
• 20:38
  Absolutely, which again when we come back to the comedy I do want to talk about it.
• 20:42
  But I think it's worth noting that like you who just does not like comedy that much was laughing so hard that not only were you coughing but like you were you did have like like
• 20:53
  your eyes were watering like you were having such a grand time in something that I don't want to that I like question like is aren't you gonna have a good time but like again it
• 21:04
  didn't feel like it was your show your type of show.
• 21:09
  To see you and not just you but like we did not have a full theater that day because granted it was in the middle of the week But people every the whole room just was so
• 21:21
  roaring with laughter and connected with these characters and what was going on that it was It was a great experience for that Are there any themes to the story I know that we we
• 21:33
  usually we talk about themes but is there themes to a comedy like this
• 21:38
  Comedy.
• 21:41
  if, yeah, I mean, obviously because they're kind of following a, something that's already in existence, I don't know that there was particularly a theme, aside from just the theme
• 21:58
  or approach or direction of the show in regards to actors taking a lot of liberties all of the time.
• 22:07
  Um, if you can call that a theme, then I guess that, but aside from that, just, yeah, being the most.
• 22:16
  Sure.
• 22:17
  I do think it's interesting how they, in a way, they kept some of the themes intact of like love and freedom and breaking out of the change that, the chains that kind of shackle
• 22:30
  you to society, which is something that speaks to where a lot of us probably feel right now as well.
• 22:36
  And like, so the story of like, you still saw some of those in the story between Rose and Jack and Cale and Rose's mom.
• 22:46
  But told in a way that made the of like the spoonful of sugar.
• 22:51
  It was easier to digest some of those things a little bit easier than having like a drama play out those differences, those societal differences specifically.
• 23:00
  So I did think that was really interesting that they were able to keep some of those intact without losing it into the comedy.
• 23:07
  Yeah.
• 23:08
  Yeah.
• 23:08
  I mean, obviously you have the kind of class discussion going.
• 23:14
  You have the expectations, the marriage kind of set up, you know, in regards to who's telling you what to do at a young age, where you fall in the family, what that means for
• 23:29
  your future, what it means to even be on that boat.
• 23:34
  Right.
• 23:35
  So yeah.
• 23:38
  And they definitely, they were able to still explore those.
• 23:42
  I think what's interesting too about the character dynamics is how dependent all of the characters became.
• 23:48
  Again, as the narrator, it makes sense, but like the characters and their dynamics and their relationships with each other all became so dependent on Selim and who she was and
• 23:57
  where she was at in the story that it almost didn't matter about the story of the Titanic.
• 24:02
  You know what I mean?
• 24:03
  Like it didn't, it was more about.
• 24:06
  How is Celine going to interact with Rose?
• 24:08
  Or how is she going to tell the story of how Jack met Rose?
• 24:12
  And how is she going to interpret that?
• 24:15
  was kind of the character dynamic that really jumped out to me that kind of drove the story to the finish line.
• 24:21
  Well, and at some points, too, and I can't remember exactly at what part it was, but the fact that they did interweave improv in here so hard, as we'll talk about in part two, is
• 24:42
  what kept that character line between Celine and everyone else.
• 24:47
  So.
• 24:50
  on edge in regards to like, like, the people on stage don't know what's going to happen next.
• 24:57
  And also you don't know what's going to happen next.
• 24:59
  So it feels hilarious and funny and new for literally everyone.
• 25:04
  which was a huge component of this that I guess I also wasn't expecting.
• 25:07
  I am excited to break that down in part two is the comedic aspect that Celine did bring to this in relation to the other characters.
• 25:18
  Again, telling the story of Jack and Rose.
• 25:23
  But also if there's one more relationship I do want to mention before we wrap up that stood out to me was still the relationship between Molly Brown and
• 25:33
  Rose.
• 25:34
  I thought it was very interesting that they still kept those tender moments because in the film, Molly is kind of the voice of reason for, you know, Rose's mom and like kind of
• 25:45
  telling Rose to like do what you want, live your life, like don't let her dictate you, having been poor and have raised up in society.
• 25:55
  And so I did like that they still kept some of that.
• 25:57
  And again, some of that was self-referential, some of that was still through jokes, but there was one scene between her and Rose that really felt
• 26:03
  Genuine, I like that you still have those tender moments of heartfeltness in the middle of all of the the funny that kept the the heart, you know going on If I do say so throughout
• 26:18
  Titanic
• 26:21
  I think with that pun, we are out of time.
• 26:26
  look beyond look out for part two of our Titanic discussion, where we will be talking about more of what we enjoyed and what we didn't enjoy of this current off Broadway show,
• 26:39
  a musical show.
• 26:40
  don't know what we could talk about in the next episode, how we classify it.
• 26:44
  But thank you again for joining us here in our box seats until the next curtain call.