GenQ - For the not so straight individual

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is a fabulous parade of campery with plenty of heart thrown in. If you’re gay and you don’t know the story of Priscilla, then I’m going to stab you with my eyeliner. Mitzi, Felicia and Bernice go on a trek through the desert on a bus, and the trek translates very well to the stage, with the huge heaving bus being a major highlight. It moves, lifts, shakes and does a lot of other things that need to be seen to be believed.

The cast are superb. Led by Tony Sheldon in the role of Bernadette. Tony is absolutely outstanding in this role, made so famous in the film by Terence Stamp. Filling out the 3 leads are Jeremy Stanford, known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in the bio-musical as Tick/Mitzi and Daniel Scott, who was last seen in Dusty as Neil Tennant, as Adam/Felicia.

The three boys are excellent actors and singers, showing great strength in moving the story along, which in turn supports the music. A lot of the songs carried along by 3 superb Divas (Amelia Cormack, Sophie Carter and Josie Lane). These girls can SING! They provide a lot of the “lip synch� music, which I think is great, that the boys aren’t synching to pre-recorded stuff.

Michael Caton plays Bob the mechanic with a lot of heart and humour and rounding out this fine ensemble are some great cameos from Lina Cruz as Cynthia (yes, the ping pong ball scene is still there!) and Marney McQueen as Marion, who has a lot of gusto and heart. Collette Mann provides an absolutely hysterical moment in Broken Hill as bar owner, Shirl.

The show moves along at a cracking pace, with never a dull moment. The songs are a catalogue of camp classics, including all the hits from the movie plus some new ones including Colour My World, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, I Say A Little Prayer and Hot Stuff.

true star(s) of the show are the costumes. All 200 of them. Tim Chappell and Lizzy Gardiner (the team who did such an amazing job with the film) have reunited to redesign and rebuild their glorious creations, and in turn, make some new ones to give us a parade of the most dazzling array of sequins, glitter and feathers ever seen on the one stage.

Overall, the show is a great night out. My mum and I were laughing the whole way through. It’s a lot of fun to be had here. It’s running for the next 6 months before we get Wicked. Go see it!

Also keep an eye out on GenQ for interviews coming up with Daniel Scott and Tony Sheldon!



For those of you who love the music in Priscilla, Universal Music has released the Original Australian Cast Recording Soundtrack. Featuring all your favourites, including those mentioned above, this album is highly entertaining and will have you singing and dancing along (apparently irregardless of your age, as I discovered when I pressed play in my loungeroom on a saturday afternoon!). See the show, enjoy the soundtrack!