I first saw the musical of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert back in March 2009 when it was still in previews at London Palace Theatre. It was so blooming good that I saw it twice more in London. Since then, it's become the darling of the West End, a hit Broadway version and the go to show for gays, grannies and hen parties. Ergo, when I heard it was touring our great nation, I knew that I must see it once more on the road. It's somewhat different to the West End version - there are elements of the show that are probably impractical to take on the road (the moving stage, the bigger bus, etc) and it's almost the Broadway version touring (so a few song substitutions although they keep Kylie rather than the Madonna medley that graced the great white way), but it's still a riotous good time. It is, however (and like Mama Mia), a show that attracts a chatty group of women. Each time I've been people have thought that it was ok to chat about parts of the show while it's still going on! Whilst waiting for the usher to flashlight me to our seats, I overheard some ghastly woman (who was probably rejected by Big Brother for being TOO annoying) converse with her man friend (who was probably drugged)...
"Oh i love the gay homosexuals. Aren't they just so much fun" (Um, as a species?)
"Oh these seats are absolutely super aren't they? Oh well done me" (!!)
"Oh i saw Bros in a limo once when I lived in Olympia - or Limps as I called it - and I shouted 'oh f*** off Bros, I love Jason Donovan' No I did. I really did" (Oh great. one of those who thinks telling you where she lives makes her a more interesting person. Fact - it does not!)
"Oh remember when i saw a drag queen in Fiji. Super people" (Shoots self in ear)
!! Speechless!! Fortunately, their seats weren't as good as ours (HA!) so weren't anywhere nearby. Unfortunately, we were infront of an Age UK Women's Group outing who had forgotten to work the volume control on their hearing aids. It was like sitting in front of the most banal blu-ray commentary ever. "Is that Jason Donovan?" "Who?" "You know, him from Strictly Dancing Get Me Out of Here". "No, it's Jason Donovan" "That's what I said" "What just happened, I missed that bit"... and so on and so forth. Good grief! Then it continued with "did you see this, ooo he's wearing that - can you see, ooo the dress is made out of flip flops! Flip flops! Look at that, can you see that?" and I may have gotten a bit annoyed. I mean I had done the passive aggressive thing of looking annoyedly (yes it's a word) over my shoulder giving withering looks a few times so my hissed "YES SHE CAN SEE, SHE'S NOT BLIND" seemed quite reasonable. Of course my first clue that she was actually blind should have been the cataract bandages over her eyes, but I myself was blinded by rage so didn't quite notice straight away. "What did her say?" said Cataract Carly, while her carer just glared at me. Kept em quiet the rest of the show though :)
Anyway, the musical is super fun (sorry!) and obviously based on the 1994 film of the same name and clearly the 2006 Sydney musical. The story features around 3 drag queens who journey across Australia to perform in a casino in Alice Springs and to be reunited with one of the characters (Tick) son. The musical is marginally more fleshed out with a clear outline of the loneliness their lives have bought and while it is generally hilarious from start to finish (it's jam packed with innuendo and visual gags), there are some moments of great pathos. I won't spoil it too much in case you are off to see it, but needless to say Jason Donovan as Tick did an outstanding job and the entire cast is excellent. Here are my highlights:
- The choreography in the show is brilliant from the start. I'm sad they replaced the brilliant original West End opening of Downtown/I've Never Been to Me with It's Raining Men, but I guess the latter works well enough to get everyone in the mood :D
- Jason Donovan quite rightly strips down to his undies within about 2 minutes of being on stage. He is quite buff. As are the majority of the cast. Graham Weaver plays Felicia and has a stomach you could bounce a pingpong ball off. He is uniformly entertaining from start to finish, particularly when you get a glimpse of his more vulnerable side...
- While the 3 main characters mime along to various disco classics (see my cd review here), the Divas sing the real versions above their heads bestowing our heroines with music and song like gaydian angels. They are all rather good.
- Richard Grieve who plays Bernadette is literally flawless from start to finish. Bought a real dignity and warmth to the character.
- The funeral scene during Don't Leave Me This Way is both amusing and sad. Plus you get to learn the real reason that Bernadette's boyfriend was called Trumpet (he has an enormous foreskin! So large he could fit it around a ginger biscuit! Oh my lord)
- The bus is a marvel - and as the cast sing Go West the audience are showered with ticker tape for a ridiculously long amount of time. They, quite rightly, go bonkers. Later the audience are showered with ping pong balls during the lovely Cynthia's artistic performance of Pop Muzik.
- It's not hard to go from humour to heartbreak without it feeling forced but after a night on the town (to I love the nightlife), the gang get back to see their bus vandalised. They sing a rather lovely version of True Colours by Cyndi Lauper - who surely is earning enough from the Broadway stage at the mo (see Kinky Boots!) It did work well though - having replaced a gloriously harmonised rendition of Both Sides Now from the West End which was also haunting and lovely. (It really made me want to smooth down the bed covers and dab my eyes :( Bonus points if you guess that reference)
- The story is changed a little to have Felicia want to sing a kylie medley in full drag on Ayre's Rock (prompting huge cheers for the famous line "a cock in a frock on a rock") and during one of the early 'on the bus' moments, Felica and Tick (JD) sing various Kylie songs and Tick confesses to fancying Scott from Neighbours. It gave me a certain thrill to have Jase singing The Locomotion :)
- The double whammy of Colour My World (where the bus gets painted pink right before your eyes) and I Will Survive (complete with aboriginal remix) are both deliciously endorphin making. Colour My World sees the ensemble come out dressed as paintbrushes while I Will Survive turns into a tourist romp with every stereotype under the sun (I was just waiting for an inuit to be perched over a blowhole waiting for some fish).
- Talking of "colour" my world, Jase the face wears an increasingly colourful array of jeans when he is out of drag that made me quite jealous. And there was also a nifty line of footwear that I would kill for :)
- Because of the above bullet point, you often don't know where to look on the stage. There is so much going on alongside the little in jokes, the innuendos, the road signs, the dancers, the costumes, et al. Perhaps that is to force people like myself who are easily distracted by one thing to go again?!
- There is a lovely father son moment for Tick and um, the little boy (who is freaking adorable) whose name i forget right now. They do quite a nice medley of Always On My Mind and I Say A Little Prayer.
- The finale is party time. The theatre will make an absolute fortune on all those pink feather boas they were selling!! The ladies-who-go-with-gays -to-things loved them! And a medley of Finally, I love The Nightlife and I Will Survive (all with iconic costumes from the film) literally (and by literally i mean figuratively) bought the house down. I haven't felt that uplifted for ages. Must go again!
21 ~ Agnetha Faltskog, When You Really Loved Someone
20 ~ Darin, Check You Out
19 ~ Eric Saade, Coming Home
18 ~ Eric Saade, Winning Ground (NE)
17 ~ Anton Ewald, Can't Hold Back
16 ~ David Lindgren, Move That Thing
15 ~ Army of Lovers ft Gravitonas, Signed On My Tattoo
14 ~ Bruno Mars, Treasures
13 ~ Betty Who, Somebody Loves You
12 ~ Chris Wallace, Invincible
11 ~ Pink, True Love
10 ~ Danny Saucedo, Todo El Mundo
09 ~ Scarlett's Roses, Truth Be Told
08 ~ The Wanted, Walks Like Rihanna
07 ~ Auryn, Breathe Your Fire
06 ~ Mariah Carey ft Miguel, #Beautiful
05 ~ MKTO, Thank You
04 ~ Agnetha Faltskog, The One Who Loves You Now
03 ~ Olly Murs, Dear Darlin;
02 ~ The Summer Set, Maybe Tonight
01 ~ Ed Drewett, Undefeated (1 week)
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