The Unsinkable ‘Titanish’

From the crew that brought us A Very Die Hard Christmas, Titanish (a parody of the summer blockbuster) makes its third voyage on Green Lake, at Seattle Public Theater through September 22. 

It’s been 84 years … Okay, 27, but let’s face it: it feels like 84 years since Titanic, James Cameron’s blockbuster-to-beat-all-blockbusters, sailed into theaters and our hearts. Instantly iconic, the film swept the Academy Awards and made Celine Dion a household diva.

But haven’t we squeezed every last drop of parody out of it by now?

Not going by Titanish, the broad, deeply silly stage spoof from The Habit Productions, a co-production with Seattle Public Theater in its third summer run, which zeroes in on the movie’s silliest aspects with laser accuracy. Combine a loose, funny script with a good and game cast, and this one has the audience in the palm of its hands. 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock that’s under another rock, I probably don’t need to give too much plot recap. Suffice it to say, you’ve still got the maiden voyage of the “unsinkable” Titanic, our star-crossed lovers, first-class Rose (played by a newcomer to the production, Julia Kuzmich) and third-class Jack (Kooper Campbell, in his third outing in the role), pushed apart not only by their status but by Rose’s boorish fiancée Cal (David S. Hogan), all narrated to a group of future explorers searching for a jewel that may (or may not) have gone down with the ship. But told in flashback from the perspective of Old Rose (in a much raunchier turn by Misty Doty than Gloria Stuart’s wistful performance), Titanish takes all that and turns the volume up, poking fun at the film’s highs and lows and finding surprising ways to bring the epic quality of the film to the small stage. 

Writers Jeff Schell and Ryan Dobosh and director Mark Siano (all members of The Habit, a Seattle comedy collective founded in 1996, perhaps best known for the holiday parody A Very Die Hard Christmas) lean into the sillier aspects of the movie and add a musical element (some original songs, some covers) that keep things humming along, reaching its zenith with a full-on rendition of “My Heart Will Go On” that brought the house down.

The cast, a mix of original members and new additions, bring their A-game to the material. Kuzmich brings the right mix of winsomeness and moxie to her Rose and, though often positioned as the straight man, has fun with more comedic moments, especially in the latter half of the show. Campbell, who originated the role, is eminently charming as Jack, and his singing voice is not only gorgeous but powerful to boot. In a show that, even as a parody, lives and dies on the chemistry of the two romantic leads, the two are very well matched. The final sequence of the show, which rides on the Internet hobbyhorse of proving that, in fact, there was PLENTY of room on that damn door for Jack, is a highlight for both actors. 

A well-deserved hiss, boo to Hogan’s priggish Cal, who makes the character perfectly punchable; the running gag of him calling for his “flipping” table — equipped with a rotating tray and glued-on flatware — had the crowd in stitches. Brandon Felker absolutely slays in each of his very different roles, first as the perpetually-intoxicated Captain Smith, then as slacker crew member Bodine, along with other roles that are perhaps best left unspoiled but might be the comedic highlight of the night. Cast members Christ Cruz and Kayla Walker made hay of their roles as a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern-esque pair of Titanic crew members, Frederick and Reggie, respectively; kudos to Walker, who manages to take this large-scale disaster and make us invest instead in the tale of a man and his whistle.

While the music direction from John Kranz and sound design from Rob Witmer were both notably seamless, I was most struck by the costume work from Justine Pogue (who also appears onstage as Trudy, Cal’s table-flipping facilitator). Some of the pieces — Rose’s arrival coat with matching hat, or her lavender dress with black beaded overskirt — are truly stunning, with a lovely attention to period detail even for the smallest parts. 

Though some of the jokes might be showing their age — the door gag, while funny, has been done and then some — the show is a lot of laughs, many of them owing to the obvious enthusiasm of the cast. And indeed, the actors are doing the Lord’s work in keeping things fresh, even in the show’s third iteration: at the opening night performance I attended, I caught an ad-libbed “very demure, very mindful” reference that tickled those in the know (i.e., the extremely online amongst us). All in all, I can see why this production is becoming a summer mainstay in the Seattle scene. Be sure to catch this paean to ’90s blockbuster excess. 

Titanish runs through 9/22 at Seattle Public Theater at Green Lake. Tickets ($38-$100, sliding scale) here. Accessibility notes: restrooms are gender-neutral and multi-stall; theatre and common areas are wheelchair accessible.

Run time: 85 minutes, with intermission. 

Jill Farrington Sweeney is a Texas ex-pat getting to know the Seattle-area arts scene, and is perpetually on the hunt for good Mexican food. Her writing has appeared on TheaterJones, Onstage NTX, and NWTheatre.