Priscilla Queen Of The Desert – The Musical

After visiting 29 countries, Priscilla’s bus has at last called in to Brisbane on the final leg of its current 10^th anniversary tour, and if last night’s reaction is anything to go by it’s a gigantic hit. The first time it’s ever played Brisbane, this exuberant jukebox-musical is a high-camp, raunchy and glittering treat. Based on the 1994 movie, which was an excess in itself, the stage version of three drag queens on a road-trip in the outback doubles the impact with more outrageous costumes, an updated and super smart script, and a buffed cast whose energy levels are off the charts.

And the best thing is we get to see Tony Sheldon’s Tony and Olivier Award nominated performance of Bernadette. Sheldon brings enormous warmth and vulnerability to the aging transsexual as well as a deliciously dry caustic tongue. He’s the master of acid put-downs. He also grounds the show and gives it heart.

Leading man David Harris was no slouch in that department either, giving Tick, the drag queen who has to suddenly become a father, a humane reality underneath all the glitz and sequins. Euan Doidge was a brilliant bundle of sass as Felicia. Whether displaying a shapely set of pins or provocatively flashing his buns, he was a commanding and dominant presence.

Ray Meagher also has a history with the show, having played Bob, the outback “ocker” in the West End for a year. It’s a gift of a role and Meagher gave it a nice laconic edge.

Oliver De Los Antos was a cute Benji, Lena Cruz was back again being especially funny as the ping-pong ball popping Cynthia, whilst Blake Appelqvist made a meal and a half of Miss Understanding as he sent-up Tina Turner’s diva-turn in “What’s Love got To Do With It?”

The song-stack has been altered from the original and now includes more Kylie Minogue (Doidge was particularly good delivering a solo of “Confide in Me”), and the “Macarthur Park” sequence judiciously mixes pathos and comedy to marvellous results.

Simon Phillips’ direction is fast and flashy, Andrew Hallsworth’s choreography punchy, whilst Stephen Gray’s pit-precision band had the audience up boogieing in their seats long before the finale. But it’s Brian Thompson’s bus and Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner’s costumes that are the star of this road-trip. Alive with psychedelic colour they continually washed the stage with invention.

Peter Pinne                   

Photographer: Bem Symons