Priscilla – Queen of the Desert
Palace Theatre, London
MANY people I know were barely able to contain their excitement at the prospect of a stage transfer for this cultish 1994 road movie. Not me. When I first saw the film, which follows a trio of drag queens across the Australian desert, from the safety of Sydney to Alice Springs, aboard the eponymous Priscilla – Queen of the Desert, it ever so slightly depressed me. So the last thing the West End needed, I thought, was another “juke-box musical”, where the cast perform already popular songs in the absence of an original score. Well, what a difference 15 years and more sequins than you can shake a stiletto heel at can make.
From the moment the curvaceous Priscilla Diva descends from the rigging on wires to serenade a surprisingly scrawny Jason Donovan as he pulls on velvet cami-knickers and pink high heels, the mood of high-octane camp rarely lets up.
Donovan is well suited to the role of Tick/Mitzi who, with transsexual Bernadette (Aussie veteran Tony Sheldon) and arch bitch Adam/Felicia (Oliver Thornton, who takes on the role played by Guy Pearce in the film and makes it his own) travel to an engagement at the Alice Springs casino owned by his ex wife. Cue Donovan’s first big tear-jerking moment, as he contemplates the life he left behind to Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Say a Little Prayer”. However, no one in this show is allowed to remain down for long and spirits rise when Bernadette, who provides the show with real pathos, says goodbye to her dead lover at his funeral with a barn-storming rendition of disco classic “Don’t Leave Me This Way”.
The three leads pack up their issues, and the sparkliest costumes in the West End and “Go West” aboard the bus they have named Priscilla. The story is in getting there – and in one piece.
The trio survive a run-in with the grotesquely homophobic locals of aptly named Broken Hill, who daub “Fuck off Faggots” on the side of Priscilla. No matter, dressed as paint brushes the stars give Priscilla a makeover before Felicia brings the first act to a thrilling close perched on a giant silver stiletto atop the bus in a scene that perfectly captures the grandeur of the Australian desert.
At the start of act two, the trio becomes a foursome, as the queens pick up butch outback mechanic Bob (Clive Carter) who provides a genuinely touching love interest for Bernadette.
Fans of the film who have been waiting to see what Bob’s Thai mail order bride can do with a ping-pong ball are not disappointed. Kanako Nakano brings the house down with a truly memorable cameo. After a bashing in a bar in Woop Woop, where Bob’s devotion is tried and painfully denied, Priscilla finally rolls into Alice Springs, to be met by Mitzi’s wife and son. Benjamin is the big secret that Mitzi has kept hidden from his travelling companions. A re-union is called for, and Donovan comes through. Mitzi tells his son ‘I can do men as well. Elton John, George Michael”. Ben wants to see Elvis and Dad obliges, stretching the heartstrings with a slow “Always on my Mind” before ratcheting up the disco and the decibels.
Before the big finish – and I mean big – Felicia’s wish to be “a cock in a frock on a rock” is granted. She performs a Kylie medley in a frock atop Ayers Rock, (due to the success of Mamma Mia, the original Abba score has been substituted). Thornton gives it his all with a voice as good as any as I have heard in for a long time.
All too soon, it’s time for the audience to get on their feet and dance along to the closing number. Most are on their feet for the first time. A selected few have already been dragged (no pun intended) on stage to perform a hoedown with the cast. Priscilla has no subtlety and little sophistication. What it does have is stupendous heart and soul; a generosity of spirit that counters the cynicism all too prevalent in the West End; and, of course, it has sequins. It’s a show that says: “Love me” – and you will.
Cary Gee
