THEGAYUK WINTER 13 /14 Issue 1
THEATRE REVIEW
PRISCILLA QUEEN OF
THE DESERT
THEATRE REVIEW
!
By Paul Szabo
Three drag queens "unplug their
curling wands and go bush" to
travel across the outback en route
to a show in a casino in Alice
Springs. Along the way, they bitch,
bicker and laugh their way across
the desert, and continuously
ensure that they are looking their
best whilst "dressing up in
women's clothing and mouthing
the words to other people's songs".
!
Based on the film of the same
name, Tick (Noel Sullivan),
Bernadette (Richard Grieve) and
Adam (Graham Weaver) buy a
budget Barbie camper; Christen it
Priscilla and head into the outback
to perform a show at a casino run
by Tick’s wife in Alice Springs.
!
Stopping off along the way, the trio
make friends, get themselves into
trouble, fall in love, strengthen their
friendship and following the bus
breaking down, pick up mechanic
Bill who leaves his wife (who has an
extraordinary talent which she
shows off in the local pub) as they
head to the middle of nowhere for
the show of their life.
This stage musical was excellent
fun. Following the story of the film
fairly closely (albeit with some
minor changes) it was a show which
is unashamedly flamboyant. The
show uses a combination of camp
disco classics, opening with It’s
Raining Men and including I Will
Survive, I Love the Nightlife, Go
West and Finally, which meant that
the whole audience were clapping,
cheering and laughing from the
moment the curtain went up.
performance as Adam/Felicia. The
supporting cast were, as you would
expect, ludicrously attractive and
beautifully toned and threw
themselves into the musical
numbers with energy and gusto.
The only downside of this
production was that the music was
a little loud over the vocals on the
odd occasion, but that is a very
minor quibble when the show was
as much fun as it was.
The whole thing was colourful,
exuberant and thoroughly
entertaining with a cleverly
designed set (with the bus on stage)
and a sharp, funny script with all of
the characters that you know and
love from the film. But where the
show really came into its own was
in the musical numbers, taking
some from the film and some new
ones introduced for the show, the
routines were over the top, bold,
brassy and ballsy, with costumes to
match. The enthusiasm of the cast
was clear and it was abundantly
obvious that they were enjoying
themselves as much as the
audience.
The show is one which is perhaps
best seen on a Friday or Saturday
evening. Its two hour running time
quite literally flew by with the
whole thing never really slowing
down.
!
!
The costumes in themselves are
worthy of a mention. Some were
recreated from the film (flip flop
In terms of the cast, Noel Sullivan
dress, anyone?) and the others just
(who is perhaps best known for
added to the campness of the
being a member of “Hear’say”) was proceedings. Everything from
functional as Tick, but played the
dancing paintbrushes to dancing
part with a little bit t oo much camp, birthday cakes, hicks, lizards, Marie
watering down the interplay
Antoinette's, Ostriches and scantily
between the straight laced Tick and clad, leather wearing dancers were
outrageous Adam. Richard Grieve
all on stage in a dazzling
was much better than expected as
spectacular.
Bernadette. But Graham Weaver
stood out with an enjoyable
!
!
!
Overall, this was a really great, fun
show and a piece of feel-good,
uplifting and ultimately heartwarming theatre which has its
tongue firmly lodged in its cheek.
It’s a real feast for the eyes, the
ears, the heart, the soul and the
funny bone. ∎
!
Priscilla Queen of the Desert is
currently touring the UK
!
priscillathemusical.com/home
!
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