PRICILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT - The Musical

  Took the bus up to NYC last Sunday to see PRICILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, which had its official opening at the Palace Theatre on Broadway a week ago.  Reviews were mixed but PRICILLA will prove to be - like MOMMA MIA - immune to critics and have a long, successful run.
  This ain't Shakespeare, folks.  You want serious theatre, go see Tom Stoppard's ARCADIA.
  The stage musical is adapted from the 1994 Australian film about 3 queens (one of them a transexual) who travel across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus they have named 'Pricilla'.
One of the drag queens was portrayed by a young Guy Pearce (who I developed a crush on) and Bernadette, the transey, was played by English actor Terrence Stamp.  At one time when the project was first pitched to producers attending Cannes in 1992, Tony Curtis was attached to it and later on, David Bowie.
  Written and directed by Stephan Elliott, it was made on a shoe string budget and was one of the first films to feature popular disco songs that were lipsynced by the 3 drag queens throughout the film.  Its costume designers took home an Oscar for their fabulous, over the top designs.  An America rip-off, TO WONG FOO, THANKS  FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR was released in 1995 starring Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizano.  It sucked.
  Fast forward to 2006 when a musical stage version opened in Sydney and became the longest running play there.  Last year it opened in the West End in London and became an instant hit.  Prior to opening in New York,
it had a successful run in Toronto where major changes were made in the book and some songs deleted and others added to appeal more to American tourists who make or break musicals on Broadway.  I can only comment on what I saw on Sunday and I LOVED IT.
  Will Swenson (fresh from the successful revival of HAIR) is Tick (Mitzi) who is asked by his wife who runs a casino in Alice Springs to come and spend time with their 6 year old son whom he hasn't since since he was born.  Joining him are Nick Adams as Adam (Felina) and Tony Sheldon as Bernadette, a retired cabaret performer and a transey of a certain age.  Sheldon originated the role of Bernadette in Sydney and then in London and he is the heart and soul of PRICILLA.  If he doesn't take the Tony for best actor in a musical this year, there's no justice.  It is a one of a kind performance.  Funny, poignant, honest and real and he alone makes PRICILLA special.
  The costumes, designed by the same Oscar winning duo of the film, are over-the-top, fabulous, fantastic, spectacular and a hoot.  They alone are worth the price of admisssion.  But wait, there's more.
  The sets are to die for.  The tour bus is amazing.  It moves forward, spins around and open to show the interior which has been redone by the 3 queens and it blew me away.
  3 divas a la the Supremes open the show and slowly descend from the ceiling (on hooks) and appear periodically during the musical singing one popular disco treat after another.  The supporting cast is terrific
and some have stand out moments that add to the merriment.  The choreography is so-so but who cares.
Everyone looks like they're having a gay ole time and the audience, including my friend and myself, ate it up.
  There are 21 production numbers, all done to popular disco hits from over 3 decades.  I didn't mind the fact that some songs were lipsynced by Swenson, Adams and Sheldon because their characters would have been lipsyncing songs in the bars where they performed.  And I wasn't bothered by there not being any original songs because I haven't seen a musical in several years with new scores that I wanted to hear again.
  Bernadette's relationship with a heterosexual guy she meets along the way to the casino in Alice Springs is truncated here and the new ending with Swenson and his son singing a sappy duet is a bit much but who cares.  Swenson more than makes up for his lousy Australian accent with a dynamite rendition of MacArthur Park.
  The cast deserved  the standing ovation it got at the performance I attended.  I was won over from the moment a humongous mirrored disco globe descended from the ceiling above the orchestra seats with confetti falling everywhere.  I was in musical heaven.
  Next time I see it - and I bought tix to see it again in June - I'm taking my tambourine and police whistle with me.
  3 cheers for PRICILLA.  Forget your troubles, the wars in the Middle East, the earthquake in Japan and
enjoy.  Great fun.  Simply FABULOUS.  I LOVED IT.