Constantine Rousouli Docks on Broadway With ‘Titaníque’

For a Broadway moment like “Titaníque,” some people wait a lifetime. For the show’s creator, cowriter and star Constantine Rousouli, that wait was 10 years.

“​​ It’s a dream that we’re here,” says Rousouli, upbeat from his dressing room at the St. James Theatre before an evening performance. “It’s been 10 years, and we finally made it.”

The musical is a jukebox parody of “Titanic,” featuring the music of Céline Dion — who in this re-imagined version was on the ship alongside Jack and Rose. Rousouli wrote the script a decade ago along with friends Marla Mindelle, who plays Dion in the show, and Tye Blue, after moving to L.A. with dreams of booking a TV show and becoming famous. “Well, the universe laughed in my face,” says Rousouli.

Instead, he found himself at a bar with Mindelle and Blue, reflecting on musical parodies. Two martinis deep, Rousouli floated the idea that became “Titaníque.”

“ I was looking at Marla and I was like, we have to write something for ourselves,” he says. “You’ll be Céline, I’ll be Jack.” He sat down and hashed out an outline during a time when the trio were each working multiple jobs in L.A. 

“ When we wrote it, we wanted to make each other laugh,” adds Rousouli. “So that to me is the number-one thing that I want to continue to give to people: come into our world, and let’s laugh for two hours.”

After five years off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theater and an Olivier-winning run in London’s West End last year, the campy show has docked on Broadway in the middle of the prime Tonys eligibility season. Rousouli and Mindelle have returned to their roles for the Broadway production, and are joined by costars Melissa Barrera, Jim Parsons, Deborah Cox and Frankie Grande. While the budget has gotten bigger, the team has aimed to retain the original scrappy “highbrow-lowbrow” DIY spirit.

“We’ve elevated it of course, bringing it to a Broadway stage, but it still feels very intimate and still that underground, ‘we are rooting for you’ type feel,” says Rousouli.

And the show’s fanbase — the “TiStaniques” who’ve been onboard since its off-Broadway days — have come out to show their support, alongside new audiences. Rousouli has been moved by the enthusiasm that greets him at the stage door after each performance, and sees his own journey reflected in the show’s younger fans. 

“ I used to be a stage door kid. I would wait outside and want them to sign my playbill,” he says. “You never know who they’re gonna be. In seven years or five years, they could be on stage with me,” he adds. “ That’s what happened with my trajectory. I was outside of a stage door at ‘Hairspray,’ and then seven years later, I’m closing the show on Broadway opposite Marissa [Winokur] and Harvey [Fierstein].”

Rousouli has been captivated by Broadway since seeing his first musical, “Phantom of the Opera.” As a kid growing up in New Jersey, he would often come into the city to see shows with his family. “I was like, that’s so fun. I want to do that. I always knew I wanted to be an actor.”

But he didn’t know he wanted to be a singer until he saw Kelly Clarkson win the first season of “American Idol” when he was in high school. The next day, he auditioned for a production of “The Will Rogers Follies” singing an a capella rendition of “A Moment Like This.” Before that, he’d never sung in front of anybody. He got cast.

“I was some random person in the back. But it just was the best, most wonderful experience of my life,” he says. “I was like, wow, I’m finally doing what I love. 

“ I feel like we all have those in our lives of like, ‘I know exactly what I want,’” he adds. “That’s exactly where I’m supposed to go, what I’m supposed to do, and I’m gonna follow that feeling.” He felt that with Kelly Clarkson, and he felt that drive again when writing “Titaníque.” 

Now, it’s a few days before the show’s opening night on April 12, and Rousouli is doing his best to stay in the moment and enjoy the show’s “victory lap” on Broadway. 

“I just want to continue to spread joy for as long as we can be here in this theater at the St. James,” he says, while acknowledging that Tony nominations loom in the distance. “If we don’t even get a nomination, that would suck — but also, who cares? It’s not about awards. It’s about the real underlying heart of this show: spread joy, spread love, spread laughter. I know it sounds cliche, but it’s true. That’s the gift.”

For Rousouli, “Titaníque” has been the gift that keeps giving, but he adds that he has other stories to tell, too.

“It’s time for me to be the gay Tina Fey. I want to write stuff for people, write stuff for myself. Go out into the TV film world as well,” he says. “Be the jack of all trades.” 

He flashes a smile. “Pun intended.”