Priscilla Queen Of The Desert - The Musical

PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT is one of my favourite, fabulous, feel-good shows!  With colour, artistic flare, glitz, and glamour, woven together with a bouncing disco themed soundtrack and a fiercely devilish sense of humour that stabs harder than a killer stiletto, it also knows how and when to take its foot of the break and sprinkle us with genuine emotion and a beautiful vulnerability.  I may be guilty of seeing this show more than a few times over the years, yet every time it manages to find its own identity and surprise me both anew and again, with moments of unadulterated, unapologetic, magic.  I wonder if the 1994 film ever understood its own potential, and that it would be raising the roof on theatres across the globe, courtesy of a battered old van called Priscilla?  For now, here we are celebrating the 30^th anniversary tour with a dazzling new production, with eye watering costumes that defy logic and are deserving of any runway!  Priscilla is back and she is celebrating in style.  It’s impossible not to get completely absorbed in this raucous, fizzing, pulsating show, as it grabs you by the glitter balls and spreads sunshine and love.   

For those who have so far missed the joy of Priscilla or have been living under Ayers Rock, it follows Bernadette, Mitzi and Felicia as they tour their very worn camper van Priscilla across the Australian outback to perform in the gig of a lifetime.  But perhaps Mitzi hasn’t been entirely honest about their motives for wanting to get to Alice Springs, and as the truth comes out, love wins.  The trip is met with a cacophony of characters and a comedy of errors, for if something can go wrong, it does!  Flat tyres, homophobic encounters, and bristling arguments are counter balanced by the love that underpins their loyalty towards each other, and as the trip continues, we see comfort zones widened and new hope evolving from the most surprising of characters.  Our three stars each have their own demons to battle, from fatherhood, grief, transphobia, homophobia and hate crimes.  As they learn how to love and defend each other, their own tolerance grows, and they discover that for every person who hates them, there are tenfold who accept and celebrate them.  This is a show where love and acceptance triumphs, sparkling proud and bright with every sequin and ounce of glitter they can muster.  It douses us all with their fabulous energy, imploring us to be a part of their celebration, and to just love.   

Adèle Anderson is dazzling as Bernadette, offering class and dignity as well as a razor-sharp wit, and even a feisty knee reflex when needed!  She exudes strength and safety, there in a heartbeat for Felicia’s hour of need.  And her energy is relentless, matching the dancers with every beat.  Kevin Clifton brings a beautifully touching emotional depth to the show as Tick / Mitzi, his insecurities and fear having stopped him from being the dad he wanted to be for so many years, and we watch it all just melt away when he meets his son.  It is a true joy watching Kevin Clifton dance, even the incidental background character dancing, for rhythm lives and flows through his entire body.  Matched with a powerful singing voice, a wow moment was his Elvis impersonation!  Nick Hayes has brought back the sensational sass as Adam / Felicia, a whirlwind, life force of her own!  I have been lucky enough to see Hayes in this role before, and my mind was still blown.  Felicia is like an overstimulated, excitable puppy who has the zoomies, who is also fiercely loyal and devoted to their people.  It is an exceptional performance. 

Peter Duncan is gorgeous as Bob, quietly bringing us the simplicity and understanding of uncomplicated acceptance.  He is a beacon of calm in a confetti canon of chaos and allows polar worlds to find a portal into each other’s existence.  Leah Vassell, Bernadette Bangura, and Jessie May live up to their character names as The Diva’s, firing up the audience time and time again with their phenomenal singing and fiery fever.  Isabella Glanznig Santos will make your eyes water as Cynthia and you’ll never look at a ping pong ball the same way again.  Her performance will have you howling with laughter and her execution of sass and confidence is next level.  And Harper Etienne is cool as a cucumber as Benjy, melting your heart with his ease, and a beautifully playful, yet touching moment in his duet with Kevin Clifton.

Directed by Ian Tabolt, this is Priscilla like you have never seen her before.  She is shiny and new, reimagined yet still entirely familiar.  Some things are toned down, some things ramped up, and all things are paced to perfection.  Choreographed by Matt Cole, you’ll be dying to get up on stage and join in with this high octane, infectious energy that whisks up a storm, and with a new set and lighting design by Andrew Exeter, it all comes together in the best possible way.  And not forgetting costume design by Strictly Come Dancing’s fabulous Vicky Gill.  Every colour of the rainbow is included, making this a prism of love, light, and luxurious life!

Tonight’s audience were positively alive and living for every second of this colourful show, and when one of its most quote worthy lines dropped (A cock in a frock, on a rock) the audience reacted with heartfelt appreciation and glee!  The songs jostle to outdo each other with their own fabulousness, and each one deserved the crazy responses that followed.  With a back catalogue of tunes that will get even the saddest feet twitching, there really is an infectious momentum fizzing around, and how can there not be when you are shimmied from the likes of ‘Raining Men’ to ‘I Will Survive,’ hustling alongside classics such as ‘I Love The Nightlife,’ and ‘Shake Your Groove Thing.’  With glorious reimagining’s of blended songs, such as ‘I Say A Little Prayer,’ and ‘Always On My Mind,’ the innocence and purity of love simply being love shines bright in the eyes of a child, and holds a promise for a brighter, more tolerant future.  Next thing, you are catapulted into a celebration of pride and love with corkers such as ‘Colour My World,’ and ‘We Belong.’  Priscilla is Queen of juxtaposing life, a brutal kicking assault alongside a feather boa high kick, a split in society’s tolerance nestled alongside an impressive box split jump.  Hate tries to take root where there is love, ignorance is outwitted by the intellect of Bernadette, homophobic slurs are sliced by Felicias sharp tongue, and shame is both felt and extinguished by Tick’s powerful journey across the Australian outback in a van called Priscilla.       

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert still has my heart, and I’m sure it will do for the next 30 years and beyond too!  It is a show that tackles difficult topics but does so with a viscous tongue of its own and isn’t afraid to bite.  It’s a show that never gives anything but it’s best, and looks utterly fabulous, always dressing to impress.  It has a very Northern grit to it that can knock you down a peg or two, but love you fiercely at the same time, and always champion you more than you champion yourself.  Priscilla is hot stuff and will have you shaking your groove thing with all the glitz and glamour of your own brand of fabulous.  It hasn’t aged at all and doesn’t look a day over sensational!  Go and celebrate love and acceptance, celebrate yourself, and help Priscilla celebrate 30 years of colouring the world with love.  

WE SCORE PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT...




Watch our "In Conversation with Peter Duncan" video about the show.

Grab your glitter, shake your sparkles and fluff up that feather boa for Priscilla Queen Of The Desert is back in town! 

The question on my lips was “How do you make this shimmering sensation of a show even more fabulous than previous tours?”  Well I didn’t think it humanly possible, but you add more glitter, more feathers, more ridiculously riotous rockin’ costumes…….oh and you add Jason Donovan as a producer of course!!  I mean come on!  Boxes ticked in every glorious colour of the rainbow thank you very much.

So, after a stinker of a day where I fought my laptop (and my laptop won), I set off in my glitterball top ready to let the joy of this show wash over my “IP address / VPN / whatever other new technical words I’ve learnt today” brain.  As suspected, all I really needed to fix my stress was, (to quote the show), “A cock in a frock on a rock!”

Priscilla just keeps getting better and better.  Its continuous catchy dance floor fillers allow your brain to tune out not only your day but the last 18 months or so.  You are swept away by the familiar disco tunes and find yourself shimmying along with the best of them.  “I love the night life”, “Don’t leave me this way”, and everyone’s favourite karaoke belter “I will survive,” are just the tip of the iceberg and my personal favourite, “We belong” sums up the shows underlying genuine message about acceptance.  The show has a strong story which is not to be ignored, but let’s just stop and know it’s also ok to simply bop to the beat and have fun.  Priscilla provides that unashamedly.  This is fast becoming one of my favourite shows and I think the audience agreed as the energy filled the room, the applause started and everyone joined in clapping and cheering from the second the overture started.

If you have no idea who or what Priscilla is - she is a camper van who makes an epic journey across Australia, carrying three friends to Alice Springs where they are booked to do a drag show extravaganza.  However, the journey across Australia throws up more than the trio bargained for including prejudice, assault, death, acceptance, self-discovery, hope and love.  The destination provides more than their drag show too when we watch the most beautiful love story unfold between father and son.  The simplicity of this scene against the backdrop of a flamboyant drag lifestyle is truly heart-warming and the innocence of love simply being love that shines out of the child, holds a promise for a brighter, more tolerant future.  There are so many moments of poignancy set against a glittery high heeled kick and splits that the show not only has the full fun factor, it also has depth and meaning.  The use of an extended silence following a high-powered dance routine in which the audience are merrily clapping along, makes the prejudiced abuse that immediately follows a powerful kick of a different kind.  A simple line at this point really stopped me in my tracks.

            “I thought they loved us?”

            “Only till sunrise.”

The three friends onboard Priscilla are Bernadette played by Miles Western, Tick / Mitzi played by Edwin Ray and Adam / Felicia played by Nick Hayes.  All three actors portraying these parts are seasoned theatre professionals and it shows.  The chemistry between the three of them is perfect and they switch with ease from throwing shade to care giving as the story demands. Nick Hayes has the biggest emotional rollercoaster playing Felicia and he is truly mesmerising, giving me goosebumps on several occasions.  His rendition of Kylie’s “Confide in me” is striking and shows exactly what he is capable of.  The trio working together provide some cracking harmonies, such as True Colours and We Belong.  Simply stunning.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Priscilla is a tonic of the best kind.  I seriously haven’t stopped smiling.  It is a joyous toe tapping, hip swivelling, sparkly sensation and has some of the best one liners ever, so get yourself down to the Cock a Two club, make sure you don’t sit in the splash zone (or do – what ever takes your fancy I suppose) and enjoy yourself…………..every version of yourself……..and just celebrate the brilliance of live theatre!

Thank you Priscilla.  You were exactly what I needed after the not so great a start to my day.  In fact – as of tonight I shall shun all tech language and replace it with my own Priscilla inspired terminology.  So, for all you tech lovers out there, let it be known that if I ask for an IP address, I’m asking for the location of the next tour stop for the Incredible Priscilla and if I reference a VPN, I am clearly talking about the only acronym that makes any sense – VISIT PRISCILLA NOW!!

PS – How on earth do they do their make up so fast?!!!!!

We score Priscilla - 10/10!!!