Imagine James Cameron’s 1997 disaster film romance Titanic as a camp musical spoof narrated by Céline Dion, who famously sang its signature number. Every character onboard this ill-fated liner is a closet-door short of coming out – including Jack and Rose. Then add enough smutty double entendres and rapid cultural references to bedazzle a pantomime dame, alongside a score of mainly Dion songs (My Heart Will Go On is set to electric guitar).

You might come close to preparing yourself for this madcap musical fantasia which has fetched up from off-Broadway to reprise (ruin?) the love story between Rose (Kat Ronney) – who is engaged to rich Cal (Jordan Luke Gage), with Grindr on his phone – and the poor artist Jack (Rob Houchen).

Hysterical, knowingly corny and as frothy as sea foam, Tye Blue’s production has a fantastically brash, devil-may-care spirit and sparkling performances. But it comes to feel like an overstretched joke – it is played straight through at 90 minutes.

The central gag is that Dion (Lauren Drew), evidently a gay icon in a thigh-split sparkling dress, romps around the stage like a megalomaniacal diva, stealing the limelight at every opportunity. Blue and co-writers Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli have not tempered their satire in light of Dion’s moving documentary about her neurological disorder, I Am, although it remains lovable.

There are exuberant twists on character and plot: Rose is bullied by her uber-camp mother and the ship’s captain takes ecstasy and is looking forward to clubbing on the LGBTQ+ friendly Fire Island. There are also wonderful renditions of All By Myself and I Drove All Night. Ronney is an especially strong singer and Drew’s Dion is full of comic harmonising and mischief, calling the audience her “best friends in the whole world”.

Layton Williams sings and dances in various parts with aplomb including best of all the iceberg, reborn as Tina Turner, who later begins to impersonate RuPaul – those onboard the sinking Titanic really do have to lip-sync for their lives.

This venue has brought shows with a fringe spirit to the West End before and Titanique is very much in that vein: a big queer cabaret with renegade energy. Outre and amped up to 11 in pace and humour, it is billed as “camp chaos.” That’s an understatement.