Header Image: Priscilla Production Image. Photography by Kenn Santos
The disco musical genre has its tops and has its flops, but with its Australian campiness, heart-warming story, boogie-worthy songs and dazzling costumes, few manage to reach the tops of the Australian classic, Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Based on Stephan Elliotts’ 1994 feature film with the extended title ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’, this fabulous musical follows three LGBT+ friends from three different eras who leave the confines of suburban Sydney and “Go West” to Alice Springs on an old, battered bus. On their journey, they meet new friends, some less-than-friendly folk in rural towns, and reinvigorate family bonds that have been neglected for many years. Not a child-friendly family-oriented musical, and it can be quite daunting spending ten minutes viewing a bus with ‘F–k off F—–s’ prominently displayed on the side of it. But juxtaposed against the harder-hitting content is so much wonderful choreography, charm, uplifting moments, and covers of some damn impressive songs you can’t help but tap your foot along to. The musical itself delivers two and a bit hours that go by very quickly, with nary a dull moment.
I first encountered Priscilla Queen of the Desert through its national tour in 2018, having the fortune to be involved in its Brisbane season presented by Michael Cassel Group. To say I fell in love with the show would be an understatement, seeing it at least a half-dozen times across its Melbourne and Brisbane seasons. While you may think that a local production would struggle to keep up with the high standards of a touring production, you would be wrong. Granted some clever technical tricks were not involved in this three-week production, similar to Matt Ward Entertainment’s 2021 production of Mamma Mia, viewers are treated to perfectly cast actors, wonderful choreography, costumes that rival that of the national tour, and some modern-day Easter Eggs which warranted a hearty chuckle. One of the big surprises, although from my vantage point in the audience I couldn’t enjoy them fully, were the occasional pre-recorded videos, such as during the post-trip performance near the end of the show (Done by the amazing Craig Wilkinson and the team at Optikal Bloc). Paying homage to the recording style of the original movie, it was used tastefully in the right moments and just enriched the experience just that little bit more.
A sneak peek at Priscilla Queen of the Desert
The casting of Priscilla Queen of the Desert was sensational, and most importantly, genuine. Vonni, Keane Fletcher and Jarrod Moore are all perfect in the lead roles of Bernadette, Tick and Felicia respectively, while as the Lead Diva, Paulini’s vocals (along with the other divas Caitlin Quinn and Tiffany O’Connor) shine from start to finish. But where the casting shines the most is the inclusion of Australian cabaret performer Carlotta who makes a special guest appearance, being one of the inspirations of the original film and the character of Bernadette and an original member of Sydney’s Les Girls. Touches like this really show the extra lengths the creative team, led by director Trevor Ashley, did for this to be a celebration of the musical, the film and the LGBT+ community as a whole.
While there were many strengths in the production on its opening night, I still have the same qualm as I did with Matt Ward Entertainment’s last musical at The Star Gold Coast, in that sound design and audio levels were not perfect. Sometimes the instrumental tracks, as great as they were, dominated the performing cast, while one scene near the end saw Tick’s microphone levels dip down very low. Not the headache inducing offering that limited the enjoyment of the last production, and didn’t hamper the experience too much, but was something that you would’ve hoped have been been nutted out during rehearsals.
With fabulous book and score to work with, Matt Ward Entertainment’s Gold Coast production of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert doesn’t hold anything back in providing a top-tier musical experience, with on-point casting, stellar costuming and a few surprises that will surely be a treat to newcomers and seasoned-viewers of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert alike. As one of my all-time favourite musicals, I went in with high expectations, and they certainly met them!
On the Gold Coast for the next couple of weeks and would like to see this production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert?
