There have been many films translated to the stage over the years with varying degrees of success. The Producers, Hairspray, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Spamalot, were all hits while Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Crybaby, Urban Cowboy, High Fidelity to name a few didn't cut the muster. Similarly, there have been many Jukebox musicals over the years, Jersey Boys, and Mamma Mia! being the only two notable success stories, Baby, It's you!, Good Vibrations, All Shook Up, Come Fly Away, Ring of Fire, In My Life, Lennon, and the list goes on, didn't make it.
And now we have Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which is both based on a film (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) AND a Jukebox musical. I'm happy to say that this "Genre splicing" show is, for the most part, a great success!
The story concerns three Drag Queens, or rather two Drag Queens and one Transsexual, who go on a bus trip across Australia from Sydney to Alice Springs to perform at the casino there. Along the way they encounter all manner of locals and all many different forms of Adventure; Comedy, and Disco ensues.
Let's start with the music. It's wonderful. The song choices are all the most toe tapping tunes from the 70's and 80's. It's impossible to not hum along if not sing along to the score because it's just too damn catchy. Not to mention that each number is a complete visual and aural spectacle! I tell you, you haven't seen anything until you've seen Drag Queens dressed as cup-cakes singing and dancing to MacArthur Park.
The songs aren't always perfectly fit into the story, but once again, you are so distracted by the spectacle that you don't really care. It's not until you've left the theater and the sugar coma wears off that you realise you've had desert for dinner.
The cast is wonderful. The ensemble of both men and women (my Grandmother kept leaning over to ask which was which) sings and dances up a storm. The Three Divas shake the rafters with their voices as they descend and ascend from them. Nick Adams was out at the performance I saw, but Will Swenson and Tony Sheldon are an absolute joy to watch and have such great chemistry together.
The sets, costumes, and lighting are fantastic. Every time a new costume comes out, it's like being at a dinner party where each course is even more decadent than the last. The choreography is also enjoyable. Not every member of the cast is a diva dancer, but the choreography is so lively that you would never guess it.
In terms of book, there isn't much of one. What is there is pretty well written. It's been a long time since I've seen the source material, but I did notice some things were missing (such as Bernadette's explanation of certain life choices) that I missed. Also, the film uses a unique sort of flash back story telling process that isn't really possible on stage, but most of the information revealed about the characters in those moments has been lost.
Like any musical, Priscilla has her faults. She is not perfect, but she is still utterly fabulous~! I would recommend this show to anyone who wants to go to the theater and have a wonderful time. I wouldn't bring children under 13 because the F word quota is a little high for the under 13's in my opinion. There is also some sexual humor as well. It's all in good clean fun though! And as the song says, Girls just wanna have fun! And at Priscilla Queen of the Desert they certainly will!
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