Inside Ariana Grande's Backstage Boost Fueling Frankie Grande's Broadway Run

Frankie Grande is back on Broadway, and yes, he is absolutely phoning a friend. His sister Ariana is basically on call as his personal vocal fixer while he launches Titanique at the St. James.

Opening night, fittingly on a Titanic date

Titanique officially opened at New York City’s St. James Theatre on Sunday, April 12 — a date that happens to line up with the ship’s first full day at sea 114 years earlier. On the carpet, Frankie, 43, said Ariana has been his go-to support system through what he calls a rough physical and vocal stretch that comes with opening a new show. She has been texting him constantly, sending the exact throat pastilles she swears by, and handing over her personal warm-up routine. He also shouted out vocal coach Liz Caplan for keeping him in fighting shape.

Quick rewind: the Grandes started on Broadway

Before the pop stardom and reality TV, both siblings cut their teeth on stage: Frankie joined Mamma Mia! in 2007, and Ariana did 13 in 2008, right before breaking out on Nickelodeon’s Victorious.

So what is Titanique, exactly?

It ’s a campy jukebox spoof of James Cameron ’s 1997 Titanic, re-told through the lens of Celine Dion — who is 58 now — with plenty of improv and pop-culture jokes baked in. Marla Mindelle co-wrote it and plays Dion with a laser-precise impression. Frankie, ever the sibling, says Ariana’s Celine is still the one to beat.

The career milestone Frankie did not expect

This isn’t his first Broadway rodeo, but it is his first time originating a role — something he figured had slipped away after his Big Brother stint. He says that once he did reality TV, Broadway types stopped taking him seriously and he got stuck in the stunt-cast lane. Credit to the Titanique braintrust — Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue — for bringing him in early, keeping the faith through roughly eight years of development, and handing him the keys now. At 43, the dream he has had since he was 10 finally landed, and he is very clearly savoring it.

Yes, he is playing... Victor Garber

This is one of those deliciously nerdy theater details: Frankie isn’t playing Thomas Andrews, the shipbuilder from the movie — he is playing the actor who played him. In other words, Victor Garber is a character in the show. That should tell you exactly what flavor of comedy we are dealing with.

Garber actually caught the show Off-Broadway and addressed the company afterward:

"I’ve reached the point where I wonder how I’ll be remembered and what my legacy will be, and I never thought it would be this." He had a blast with it.

Who is playing who

• Frankie Grande as Victor Garber (the actor, not Andrews)
• Marla Mindelle as Celine Dion (and co-writer)
• Constantine Rousouli as Jack Dawson (also a co-writer)
• Jim Parsons as Ruth DeWitt Bukater
• Melissa Barrera as Rose DeWitt Bukater
• Deborah Cox as the Unsinkable Molly Brown
• John Riddle as Cal Hockley
• Layton Williams as The Iceberg

Status check

Celine herself hasn’t made it in yet, but the show is up and running now at the St. James Theatre. Tickets are available online. If you want big laughs, a shameless love letter to the movie, a nod to the diva who sang My Heart Will Go On, and a very queer sense of humor, this is squarely in that lane.