Brownstein: Off-Broadway hit Titanique set to sail into Segal Centre for Canadian première

Québécois vedette Véronique Claveau will be at the helm of the musical Titanic parody featuring the song stylings of Céline Dion.

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The Titanic’s maiden voyage may have been doomed in 1912, but the same can’t be said for the James Cameron blockbuster the ship’s sinking was to spawn 85 years later. Nor for the more recent jukebox musical parody of the film, the Off-Broadway hit Titanique, which offers a rather obtuse and whimsical view of the ocean tragedy with a fictional Céline Dion taking centre stage.

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Now get set for local hearts “to go on and on” with the news that Titanique will set sail into the Segal Centre for its Canadian première this fall.

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This is quite the coup for the Segal Centre, which is co-producing the show with Toronto’s Mirvish Productions. Titanique plays the Segal Oct. 27 to Nov. 24 before heading down (up) the river — OK, the 401 — and mooring at Toronto’s CAA theatre, Dec. 3 to Jan. 12.

In her English-language theatre debut, Québécois vedette Véronique Claveau, almost as well known for her Céline impressions as for her singing and acting chops, will be at the helm of the Montreal production and its subsequent stop in Toronto and will doubtless enchant audiences with her rendering on My Heart Will Go On, among a host of other Céline tunes.

Titanique’s Off-Broadway director Tye Blue will steer the Montreal and Toronto shows, while the remainder of the 13-member cast will be announced later.

Titanique focuses on a Céline-like creation who gives a Titanic museum tour group her own take on the tale of Jack and Rose’s ill-fated romance all the while crooning some of her classics.

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“I went to see Titanique first in New York when it was just a little basement production, and when I walked out of the theatre, I wrote directly to the show’s writer and said we need to do this in Montreal,” says Segal Centre artistic and executive director Lisa Rubin. “I then spent over a year getting to know the team and meeting the director and having conversations with Mirvish with the understanding that if we were going to embark on this journey, we wanted to do the real deal. My only regret is that it’s only running four weeks here.”

Rubin feels the real deal will be attained in this “replica production” of the Off-Broadway play, albeit with an all-Canadian cast.

Rubin doesn’t mince words in noting that theatre in this country is in dire straits.

“There’s so much talk about cuts to the arts. I’m purposely doing this play, followed by a Leonard Cohen musical, to make it completely irresistible for audiences to stay away,” says Rubin, in referring to The Secret Chord: A Leonard Cohen Experience, to run Dec. 8 to Jan. 12 at the Segal.

Lisa Rubin, artistic and executive director of the Segal Centre.
“I’m purposely doing this play, followed by a Leonard Cohen musical, to make it completely irresistible for audiences to stay away,” says Lisa Rubin, seen in 2021 outside the Segal Centre Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette

“We knew no one else could play Céline if it wasn’t a francophone and we happen to have landed the best Céline in Quebec with Véronique Claveau,” Rubin says. “We had been talking to her for months. What she’s doing is incredible both here and going to Toronto for her first time in English. But she gets to keep the accent.

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“When Tye the director came in, he was on the floor with her singing. People are Céline-ophiles. They are obsessed with her. Véronique’s voice is unbelievable. She knows Céline like it’s her own DNA. Even when she parodies Céline, it comes from a very genuine place of love and reverence.”

Rubin’s big wish now is to get Céline to the show in the fall. Same with Claveau.

“That would be just incredible,” Claveau says. “Oh, my god, I hope so.”

Claveau hasn’t encountered Céline since achieving fame for her dead-on impressions. But as a kid, Claveau recalls meeting her once in Quebec City.

“I was a big, big fan when I was young as I am today. I learned to sing listening to her. Her voice has always stayed with me.”

Hailed as “a true queen of musical theatre” by Radio-Canada, Claveau caught Titanique last year in New York and was blown away.

“Formidable,” Claveau marvels about the production. “I just loved the way this Céline recreates the Titanic story.

“But this is going to be a huge, huge challenge for me acting in English for the first time. It’s also a big challenge to do this every night for a few months, eight performances a week. This is not like me doing brief impressions of singing Céline. This is going to take a lot of concentration, particularly in adapting to English. Yes, I’m a little nervous, because I’m a perfectionist and I’ll be performing to audiences who don’t really know me.”

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Forget Toronto audiences, most anglo audiences in Montreal, unless they’ve caught her in the year-end Bye Bye revues or on the franco production of Hairspray, aren’t much aware of Claveau, either.

“But they soon will be in Montreal as well as in Toronto,” declares Rubin, who also anticipates many francos showing up for Titanique here.

“I love the fact I’m going into Toronto totally unknown. I actually find that super exciting,” Claveau says. “It’s not that I feel have to prove myself but more that it’s just another step up in my comfort level by performing in another language. In a way, I feel like it’s a great opportunity to bridge the two cultures.”

Not unlike the bridging role Céline has played over the course of her career, Claveau mentions.

Like so many around the world, Claveau has been distressed that Céline’s voice has been silenced on stage with the revelation that she is suffering from stiff person syndrome.

“For someone who has given her entire life to her music, it’s just so sad. But she’s still young and we can only hope that she makes a return to the stage,” Claveau says.

“Even though most people assume parody is laughing at someone, this is not at all the case with Titanique for me. This is all about my love and respect for Céline and her music and her sense of humour. Her voice will always be in my heart.”

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