“Titanic On Ice: The Musical!” bobs along with music and mirth

The theater company Magic Smoking Monkey is not to be taken seriously. Sure, its founder, Donna Northcott, also founded St. Louis Shakespeare, which has some serious cred. Magic Smoking Monkey has been around since 2006, earning its own long run of silly cred, Its latest production, “Titanic On Ice: The Musical!,” joins is parodic predecessors, which include “One Hour Star Wars Trilogy: a Parody!” “Jurassic Park: The Musical!” and “Star Wars Trilogy: Live!.” All titles end with an exclamation point, which is surely one of the best uses of ironic punctuation in titles – ever!

For the uninitiated, Magic Smoking Monkey mockingly describes itself as existing “…on the razor's edge of wit and pop culture; where lesser theatre troupes would falter and greater theatre troupes would probably roll their eyes.” Sure, go with that. For a group that’s built its reputation on snarky, unpolished, seat-of-your-pants parodies of pop culture spoofs, that’s some highfalutin’ hyperbole.

For those deciding on where to spend their entertainment dollar, the company’s promotional materials ask that you “Imagine the grandeur of the Titanic, now with 100% more ice skates* and 200% more laughs, with a disclaimer (*)  that states, “The appearance of 'ice skates' in our show is entirely subject to whether management approves our grand plan to flood and freeze the stage.”

There was no freezing or flooding, of course, and thus no skates or ice. But there is plenty of buffoonery-induced laughter, chuckles and snorts – all at the expense of the original film’s love-to-hate-‘em characters like Rose, Jack and the vacuous villain Cal. The creative team behind this production is director Northcott herself, Rob McLemore, who adapted the script, and Nick Bohl and Jaysen Cryer, who composed the original music and lyrics.

You won’t be wowed by the set, costumes or stagecraft. I’ve seen high school productions that would put “Titanic On Ice” to shame. But this lo-fi, rough-around-the edges approach is part of the charm of a Magic Smoking Monkey production. Sure, those life preservers don’t just look like, but are, made from cardboard, but they cleverly sub-reference “Gilligan’s Island,” so who cares?

What a Magic Smoking Monkey lacks in production values is usually more than compensated with pithy scripts and outlandishly fun acting. So you might be wowed, or at a minimum impressed, by this rapidly paced piffle that delivers laugh-a-second patter and an insightful take-down of film – ala Monty Python, the Not Ready for Prime Time Players and the Wayan family’s “In Living Color.”

The velocity of the humor was too often muffled on opening night, leaving me to wonder, “What did they just say?” That’s a shame because I think I might have missed some great jokes. I’ll never know. I appreciated the way this production moved the focus of the film’s doomed lovers to the insufferably arrogant Cal Hockley character, played by J. Rogan. He’s given two of the best songs, “The Unsinkable Ship of Dreams” and “Cal, The Alpha Male,” with four reprises.

But the strongest and best character with all the best lines and delivery go to Christy Simmons, who plays the Unsinkable Molly Brown. Her crusty, horny Molly threatens to sink the rest of the cast whenever she’s on stage. Delivering another, equally over-sexed and self-absorbed old woman, Christi Diamond’s Old Rose pokes perfect fun at the narrator who is frozen in time – but not timing.

Kudos also to Kelli Rao as Rose’s snobby mother who speaks only in gibberish that ranges from seal barks to rooster crows. Like two cubes in a cocktail, Austin Cochran channels a lanky Jack with a boyish charm that’s part Leonardo DiCaprio and part Jimmy Stewart, and Katie Brunwasser replaces Kate Winslet’s upper-class ennui with a scrappy Rose who is part Lucille Ball and part iceberg magnet.

“Titanic On Ice” is definitely not a tragedy. Not even an iceberg could sink something this light and frivolous. But it’s a funny chip off the old block and an usinkable ship of slapstick dreams.

“Titanic On Ice: The Musical” at the Don Lux Performing Arts Theater on the Lift for Life Academy campus Lift through June 29. Ticket information is available on their web site.