Priscilla is a hard show to describe. It's a bit like someone's taken 'Now That's What I Call Camp', some Vivienne Westwood designs and thrown it together (with a disco ball) in a blender. But it's also absolute genius.
Adapted from Stephen Elliott's 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the stage musical tells the story of two drag queens and a transgender woman, who contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a resort town in the Australian desert. As they head west from Sydney aboard their bus, the three 'friends' come to the forefront of a comedy of errors, encountering a number of strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, while widening comfort zones and finding new horizons.
After a successful run in Australia, 'Priscilla' enjoyed a two-year West End stay in addition to its Broadway debut in 2011. The show was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical as well as two Tony Awards, winning these awards in the costume design categories.
This is my eighth time watching the show and it's safe to say - it never get's old! Priscilla is the show that keeps on giving with probably some of the best costuming, staging and scores of its time.
This production was staged by Bilston Operatic Company - one of a myriad of local societies who always pull out all the stops. It astounds me every time I sit in an auditorium and remember that the people on stage are doing this purely for the love of the craft; and never more so than this evening.
The role of Tick, in the stage musical was written for Jason Donovan so, in any production, the man who fills his boots (literally!) needs to have the impact to pull it off. Matt Elson gave us a different spin on the character - his interpretation was very much his own and not becoming a Donovan clone, which was gratefully received by the audience.
His co-stars; Adam Partridge (Felicia/Adam) and Tim Brown (Bernadette) were equally as strong and, in a show where so much is placed on the shoulders of the three leads, it was pleasing to see such credible talent come to the floor. Switching between bitchy and tender in a heartbeat they managed to show both vulnerability and sassiness in equal parts. A particular audience favourite being Brown's deliverance of the ultimate comeback in the outback bar - but I'll leave you to find out what that is for yourselves!
However the trio can't do what they do without the other members of the cast supporting them and that support came in droves this evening. Special mention should go to Stacey Lovatt, Heather Mills and Katie Walker as our incredible Diva's who's voices were outstanding, as well as Edward Jones who stole the audience's hearts as Ticks' son, Benji.
In fact the entire cast seemed to 'click' perfectly to produce a slick, rehearsed and crowd pleasing show. The supporting cast had an infectious energy that spread like wildfire around the room - every single person in that auditorium was on there feet during the finale and the deafening screams at the end capped off an evening of amazing entertainment.
Priscilla runs at Wolverhampton Grand until Sunday 26th October. For more information, or to get your tickets, head to grandtheatre.co.uk.
