No one would come to ‘Priscilla’ expecting understatement, but strewth…! This show flicks a pink boa around your neck the second you walk in and doesn’t let up.
Stephan Elliot’s 1994 Aussie movie gave us a trio of drag performers cruising through the outback in the titular bus, dealing with their own issues and others’ prejudice en route to a big finish. Sensible, sensitive Tick (Richard Grieve) is headed to Alice Springs to put on a show and meet his young son. Along for the ride are transgendered veteran Bernadette (Don Gallagher) and trouble-making narcissist Adam (Oliver Thornton).
‘Priscilla’, co-written by Elliot, sticks to the film’s plot and dialogue while mining its cheesy pop soundtrack (‘I’ve Never Been to Me’, ‘Go West’, ‘Finally’) for a jukebox-musical payday. The result is undeniably spectacular, bursting with fabulous outfits (from the movie’s costume designers, Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner), non-stop numbers and raucous gags. The sparring dynamic between the central trio is nicely handled and Priscilla herself, designed by Brian Thomson, is a triumph inside and out thanks to a snazzy exterior LED display.
‘Priscilla’ is never less than great fun and never more than that. The drag funeral set to ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ is neat, as is the giant stiletto extending into the audience for Felicia’s airborne aria, but the show romps so breathlessly from one number to the next that there’s no space for characters or relationships to develop meaningfully.
The off-the-peg songs don’t always meet the emotional requirements of the moment and the performances seem choreographed rather than felt. At the drop of an ostrich-feathered hat, we’re whooshed into a lavish flashback to or cake-themed fantasia, but each tangential escapade takes us further from understanding or caring about these people and their actions. (Don’t hold your breath for enlightened social politics either.)
‘Priscilla’ the movie filled the screen but insisted there was more to drag queens than fabulous outfits, pop pastiche and bitchy banter. ‘Priscilla’ the musical fills the theatre and stops there.