Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Producer Matt Ward has a mission – to bring full scale musicals to the Gold Coast where so many Main Stage A1 musicals never play. After a stunning production of Mamma Mia! last year, he is succeeding beyond all expectations. Priscilla is a triumph in entertainment.

For anyone who has been living in a cave since the last century, the story is of three friends, two drag queens and a trans gender woman, who take a road trip on a battered bus named Priscilla, to perform their show in Alice Springs, where one has a “secret” wife and son.

When you pursue excellence, you surround yourself with the very best people in all areas – and that’s the open secret to this show. Trevor Ashley is the perfect director for the material. An iconic drag queen and comic actor with a fabulous voice himself, he squeezes every bit of campery out of the show yet still reinforcing the dark subtext of the material which saw the LGBT community fighting for equal rights for more than half a century. Gay bashings and prejudice sit uncomfortably alongside dazzling costumes and great disco numbers and Ashley makes sure we understand that this is a story about family and love, in whatever form it takes.

But this is not specifically a “gay” musical. In fact, the most important audience needs to be the straight community, since we are the ones who need to make the longest journey towards accepting sexual diversity.

Great casting is imperative. Keane Fletcher plays Tick as though the role was made for him and is totally convincing and empathetic throughout. Jerrod Moore is a charismatic Adam, with the perfect stage presence for the bitchy yet vulnerable drag queen challenging prejudice. Both are triple threats who absolutely devour the musical numbers. They have great voices, not surprising when you read that Keane was a member of the world phenomenon The Ten Tenors and Jerrod has worked extensively overseas… and it’s a fitting sidebar that both are Queenslanders.

It’s lovely to see Stephen Tandy back on stage again, and his poignant scenes with Bernadette are topped by a lovely rendition of “A Fine Romance” – a chance to breathe amongst all the disco mayhem.

What can one say about the casting of guest star Carlotta as Shirley? It’s inspired, sheer genius. Carlotta is one of our true superstars, and part of the inspiration for the movie. To have her play (and play she does!!!) a rough, thuggish homophobic outback sheila is worth the price of a ticket by itself. Carlotta is used to smashing barriers into matchsticks…. and she decimates this one, leaving only splinters. It’s a lovely touch by the director to have the footage of Carlotta in her prime at Les Girls, to enforce the journey of Bernadette.

The most important casting is, of course, that of trans-gender performer Vonni as Bernadette. It is only the second time in theatre history that the role has been played by a trans artist (the first being Chicago’s renowned Honey West in a 2017 off Broadway production). We can’t stress enough that equal opportunity ACROSS ALL AREAS IN ALL FIELDS is a must for humanity to grow. For too long, trans performers have been denied the right to even audition for roles like Bernadette. It falls to Vonni to be the trailblazer in this country, and that’s a heavy mantel.

Vonni is an iconic cabaret performer, and a great crowd favourite, and if you ever have the chance to see her in her own medium, you really must. She is something very special.  But cabaret is intimate, small, up close and personal most of the time. It’s a different animal to musical theatre and there are times when Vonni looks uncomfortable on the big stage and her voice (even miked) is a little small amongst some of the powerhouse voices on offer. That’s not to suggest in any way that she is not a great performer, but merely that this may not be the right vehicle for her very special talents. It’s especially important because she shares the stage with her friend Carlotta, and there isn’t a stage big enough to contain the latter’s personality.

Paulini proves to us again what a great voice she has, and the other Divas, Caitlin Quinn and Tiffany O’Connor have equally great chops. The three also look amazing. And once again the ensemble almost steals the show…there’s such a wealth of talent on show.

But it’s the off-stage talent that deserves the most praise in this production.

Anthony Ikin is a fabulous choreographer who has created a genuine eighties feel for the disco numbers, marrying some tongue in cheek moves with great acrobatics. Craig Wilkinson (video designer) and Josh MacIntosh (set conceptualiser) have created an astonishing landscape and set…you can almost feel the heat, and the endless distance as the bus travels through the outback. The iconic trailing banners from the movie are brilliantly recreated and enhanced with gold blow-up Angel wings that are both breathtaking and a hoot. It is all conceptually brilliant and enhanced by Wes Bluff’s amazing lighting design. The combination of video and lighting in the slightly bonkers and psychedelic McArthur Park are totally gob-smacking.

Somehow the production secured the amazing original costumes which would be budget prohibitive if they had to be re-created. Kudos to Jess Hansen for her management of the costumes., and to Michael Huxley and his staff for hair and make-up…Bravo. I don’t know how you all you all did it, but it’s spectacular.

Finally…. with this many iconic songs, you need a kick arse band – and Musical Director David Piper gives us just that. The sound is tight and fat and all the music is brilliantly executed, by a perfectly rehearsed group of musicians.

This is a fun night out and a terrific production. It’s hard to imagine how it was realised in a short time frame and a tight budget in the midst of rampant Covid 19 here on the GC. You’ll be entertained, and that’s what we need more than anything. I can’t wait for the next Matt Ward Entertainment spectacular later this year.

Coral Drouyn