DRAG RACE Star Willam and Comedian Drew Droege to Join TITANIQUE

Willam (RuPaul’s Drag Race, A Star is Born) and Drew Droege (Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, “Search Party”) will join the off-Broadway company of the 2023 Lortel Award-winning Best Musical Titanique. Drew Droege will take over the role of “Ruth” beginning Thursday, August 31, and Willam will play “Victor Garber” beginning Tuesday, September 5. Now in its second smash year, Titanique – the irresistibly funny and irreverent send-up of the blockbuster film Titanic, driven by the songs of pop icon Céline Dion – continues its award-winning run at the Daryl Roth Theatre (101 East 15th Street, NYC), extended through January 7, 2024.

Bios: 

Willam is an acclaimed drag artist, singer and actor, who appeared as a season four contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race”. Willam also famously improvised an opening scene in the acclaimed 2018 feature film A Star is Born, with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, appearing as “Emerald” the lusty blonde drag queen (“sign my titties, Jackson”). Additional credits include recurring roles on “Nip/Tuck” and “Eastsiders”.

Drew Droege is a comedian, podcaster and stage performer, best known for his online parody videos of downtown indie darling Chloë Sevigny, featured in Entertainment Weekly, The Advocate, TimeOut New York, OUT magazine's Out 100, Marc Jacobs’ 2016 spring fashion campaign, and HBO's Wigstock documentary, Wig. Droege has written and performed five solo theatrical shows, including Happy Birthday Doug (Off-Broadway, directed by Tom Detrinis) and Bright Colors and Bold Patterns (Off-Broadway, directed by Michael Urie), the latter earning him the 2018 Outstanding Performance Award at OutFest Los Angeles. Additional credits include recurring roles on Paramount Network's "Heathers," "Search Party", "Bob's Burgers", "Drunk History", "The Great North", "IdiotSitter", "Key and Peele", "Comedy Bang! Bang!", and Logo's "Cocktails And Classics".

About Titanique:

When the music of Céline Dion makes sweet Canadian love with the eleven-time Oscar®-winning film Titanic, you get Titanique, a musical celebration that turns one of the greatest love stories of all time into a hysterical and joyful slay-fest. Want to find out what really happened to Jack and Rose on that fateful night? Just leave it to Céline Dion to casually hijack a Titanic Museum tour and enchant the audience with her totally wild take, recharting the course of Titanic’s beloved moments and characters with her iconic song catalog. A one-of-a-kind musical voyage bursting with nostalgia, hilarity and heart, Titanique features powerhouse voices in show-stopping performances of such hits as “My Heart Will Go On,” “All By Myself”, and “To Love You More,” backed by the unparalleled energy of a full live band.

Drew and Willam will star alongside Jackie Burns as Céline Dion, Lindsay Heather Pearce as Rose, Michael Williams as Jack, Brandon Contreras as Cal, Anne Fraser Thomas as The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and Marcus Antonio as The Iceberg. Cayleigh Capaldi, Brad Greer, Dimitri Moise, Nya, and Kristina Walz round out the current acting company. Chani Maisonet and Terrence Williams Jr. join the cast as background vocalists on September 5, and Tess Marshall joins as a swing on August 31.

Co-written by Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli, Titanique celebrated its Off-Broadway premiere in June 2022 at Asylum Theater, starring the musical’s co-authors Mindelle (Sister Act, Netflix’s “Special”) and Rousouli (Cruel Intentions, Hairspray) as Celine Dion and Jack Dawson, respectively. After several sold-out extensions, the musical transferred to the Daryl Roth Theatre on November 20, 2022.  Upon the show’s reopening at the larger venue, People Magazine declared, “Just when you think it couldn't get better, Titanique makes you love it more, with a glow-up that makes the show even more impactful and irresistible. Yet, there's still a scrappy, endearing "let's put on a show" energy to it, that gives the musical its Titanic-sized charm. You're guaranteed to laugh your iceberg off.” Titanique won seven major awards of the 2022-23 theater season, including three Lucille Lortel Awards (Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Lead Performer: Marla Mindelle, Outstanding Costume Design: Alejo Vietti), the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Musical, Las Culturistas’ Culture Award for Best Indoor Performance, and two Dorian Awards (Outstanding Off-Broadway Production, Outstanding Off-Broadway Performance: Marla Mindelle). The show earned an additional nine award nominations, including two 2023 Drama League Award nominations (Outstanding Musical; Distinguished Performance: Marla Mindelle), two Outer Critics Circle Award nominations (Book of a Musical, Lead Performer: Marla Mindelle), two Lortel Award nominations (Choreography, Featured Performer: John Riddle), and a Drama Desk Award nomination (Book of a Musical).

Titanique is directed by Tye Blue (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”, Rumer Willis’ Over the Love Tour), and choreographed by Ellenore Scott (Funny Girl, Little Shop of Horrors). Music Supervision, Arrangements and Orchestrations are by IRNE Award-Winner Nicholas Connell. Scenic Design is by Gabriel Hainer Evansohn and Grace Lauchbacher for Iron Bloom Creative Production; Costume Design is by Alejo Vietti; Lighting Design is by Paige Seber; Sound Design is by Lawrence Schober; Wig Design is by Tommy Kurzman; Original Prop Design is by Eric Reynolds. Casting is by The Telsey Office/Rachel Hoffman, CSA and Henry Russell Bergstein, CSA and Andrew Fem.

Titanique’s storied history includes a smash hit live-streamed concert – Titanique: The Maiden Voyage Concert – on the premium streaming service Stellar, on May 2, 2021, which followed sold-out pop-up concert engagements in Los Angeles and New York, earning the show a 2019 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Award.

 

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