Priscilla – Queen of the Desert is a psychedelic, high energy, colourful, poignant, funny riot on stage and it's putting a smile on everyone's face!
Willenhall Musical Theatre Company have pulled out all the stops (and lip gloss) to give us a show that will have us laughing, smiling, whooping and on occasions, a small tear with their stunning production of Stephen Elliott and Allan Scott’s musical theatre version of Priscilla.
Based on the 1994 film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the musical tells the story of two drag queens and a trans woman, who agree to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a resort town in the remote Australian desert. Tick, a drag queen under the name of Mitzi Mitosis, played the vocally talented Daniel Haddon (Sister Act, Me & My Girl) is reluctant at first but his estranged wife, Marion, played by Rachel Chadwck (Anything Goes, Me & My Girl) informs him that part of the reason she's asking is because their eight-year-old son Benji, played by Oliver Rudge, wants to meet his dad.
After speaking to his friend, a transgender woman named Bernadette, played by the very convincing Dom Napier, to join him. The pair meet at the funeral of Bernadette’s husband where she agrees to join him. Tick ropes in Felicia – stage name of Adam Whitely, played by the very talented and watchable Will Phipps (Half a sixpence, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs) to come with them. It’s fair to say that Felicia and Bernadette don’t start as friends.
The threesome embarks on a road trip from Sydney aboard their pimped-up bus, Priscilla, where they encounter a comedy of errors, meeting several strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, while finding themselves and becoming close.
This is a jukebox musical made up of popular songs from the last 45 years with a modern twist which connects the story convincingly. The energy from all the characters on stage leaves you wishing you were there with them. The costumes and out of this world and, against the backdrop of the Australian outback, would stand out like, well, like a drag queen in desert.
I don’t think I stopped smiling throughout this production. As productions go, Willenhall have smashed it with a professional cast, great set and one of the best musical bands in the business under the steady hand of director Rob Murray (Addams Family, The Wedding Singer).
Other notable performances include Abbie Wild (Bugsy Malone, Rent) as a third of the Diva’s whose voice was powerful to say the least and James Totney (Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, Sister Act) who played Miss Understanding, who, I’m told, walks (and dances) better in heels than most women on a night out!
If you like glamour, sequins, colour and high energy, then this is the show for you and if it’s not, go see anyway and learn to feel good all over again!
Priscilla – Queen of the Desert continues at the Dormston Mill Theatre, Sedgley till Saturday 30th April. Tickets are available online at seaty.co.uk.
