Priscilla Queen of The Desert The Musical

This musical is a journey.
A journey where 2 Drag Queens called Tick and Adam and a Transgender Woman called Bernadette travel the desert of Australia in a tour bus called Priscilla. Because, Tick's wife Marion, encourages him to meet his 8-year-old son Benji and also asks a favour to perform at the casino she manages. 

The road trip to the casino lead the 3 friends through some life changing moments, which strengthens the bond of their friendship and love.  

Kinver Light Operatic Society (KLOS) love a challenge and Priscilla was no exception. I think this might be one of KLOS' biggest challenge to date, but KLOS once again rose to it and achieved a spectacular evening packed with high energy and fun.

I am always impressed by the positive leadership and strong vision of this company. Not only did they succeed in achieving a great pace with the right tone and style, they handled the surprising turns of the story with a delicate skill which kept the interest, emotion and perspective fresh, relatable, hard hitting and thought provoking. 

All of the characters had a genuine warmth to them and all were extremely well cast. All accents were consistent, diction was good, the atmosphere was designed perfectly and the stage was well used. Congratulations on a very successful production.

Tonight, I saw performances which were very strong and full of confidence and unlike anything I have seen from the members of KLOS before. Maybe it was the excitement of producing and being involved in a well-loved story, which was fuelled by adrenaline and passion or maybe it was the incredible dynamics of the company recognising and understanding each other's strength and talent? I think both.

The Chairman of KLOS, who also directed the show and was the main choreographer AND if that wasn't enough, rescued a part at short notice was the talented Sam Houlston-Dowell. Sam's vision and understanding of the art of producing and directing is quite impressive. I also learnt that Sam and the rest of the fantastic production team had an ambitious schedule, achieving tonight’s result after just 4 months of rehearsal. This was quite an achievement. I am so glad they managed to meet the challenge. 

The fantastic production team included Musical Director Nick Jeavons, Assistant Director Philippa Bishop and Assistant Choreographer Tracey Thompson. The show was expertly stage managed by Adam Bowles with Vicky Cook assisting.

The Back Stage crew were extremely supportive. It must have been a whole new show behind the scenes, especially with the many costume changes which the many Dressers helped with. The show overall felt smooth running and very coordinated. Lights and Sound were designed and operated perfectly which contributed to a massively entertaining evening. 

What stood out the most wasn't just the amazing flamboyant and outrageous costumes, it was the strong themes of acceptance, friendship and fatherhood. All lovely themes and all excellently portrayed by the three leads who had a wonderful chemistry which grew nicely through their adventure of self-discovery. 

Brian Ashmead-Siers, in his best role yet, was outstanding as Bernadette who is a Transgender Woman. There was so much emotion, playfulness and depth that Brian helped create. Brian helped Bernadette reveal a deep history of somebody who left show business behind, settled down to marry and then suddenly found herself on an adventure again after being widowed and a lot older. Being one of the original Ley Girls with a famous past show lifestyle, Bernadette came to accept her current situation and embraced her confidence and second chance. Another brilliant scene was when Bernadette was reminiscing her days as a Ley Girl, then actor Ben Williams helped bring Young Bernadette to life excellently during this scene. 

Bernadette’s journey ended in finding love again with Bob played by Adam Chester. Bob, was "a true gentleman and a rare breed" and Brian and Adam had some great scenes together. Adam Chester played Bob with the right amount of instinct and attention. Wonderful performances from both. 

Tick/Mitzi played by Ricky Houlston-Dowell showed many nice moments with the relationship with his son, Benji. I thought Oscar Wilkinson who played the character of Benji this evening was also superb and the interaction with them both was just so lovely. Ricky, perfectly cast, played Tick with confidence. Ricky has a certain style and a wonderful skill which makes him a great lead actor, because he not only gives so much to others on stage but he is able to hold the audience’s attention with his excellent acting and singing. When it is required, Ricky, with a massive pinch of "Here I am!" takes to the stage and owns it. The cake in the rain scene is a good example of this!

The relationship with Tick and his wife Marion, played by Charlotte Wood was awesome. There was some great acting from Charlotte who played a Mom who wants the best for her son and the love and adoration she had for Tick as the father of her child was heart-warming.

Another brilliant moment in the show was when Benji completely accepted his father for who he is. Benji asked his father and his boyfriend to live with him. Tick responded by saying he didn't have a boyfriend, Benji delivered his next line perfectly saying, "Mom thinks it is about time you get one!"

Dan Wright played Adam/Felicia was truly outstanding. Dan delivered some of the best biting comments with excellent timing. One of the more thought-provoking scenes was when Bernadette helped support Adam after his extremely awful experience of a homophobic attack. Adam showed his vulnerability and insecurities and also accepted Bernadette as a true friend in this moment. Whilst he was suffering from the shock, he allowed to be supported through some realisations of his own. Dan is another talented actor who completed an excellent trio of friends, he brought so much impact and cheekiness to the relationship. 

The rest of the cast, such as The Divas, Nina Best, Sophie Bishop and Attiye Passey were a HUGE winning combination. They were all stunning. The choreography was also brilliantly focused and engaging as well. 

Another stunning performance was by Claire Jackson who is an absolute genius when it comes to physical comedy and great characterisation. The character of Shirley must have been an absolute gift for Claire to play. It was very funny and quite unforgettable.

There has to be a special mention to Jennie Wall who stood out in more ways than one tonight. Again, another brilliant casting choice, Jennie played a character called Cynthia with such a fun intensity and the ping pong ball scene was a massive highlight of the evening and again, quite unforgettable. 

Another great character that deserves a special mention was Miss Understanding played by Scott Denton who had the hard job of setting the pace, tone and energy right from the start. This energy remained incredibly strong throughout the show.

All of the ensemble were fantastic and such a joy to watch as well. Congratulations and well done to Tracey Thompson, Cathy Moreton, Louise Lippett, Lottie Hannah, Becky Turner, Chas James, Jo Gubbins, Harvey Dalloway, Kate Cox, Rachel Bloomer, Maddy Hickinbottom, Dan Johnson and Jake Jones. 

Finally, thank you ever so much to Phillipa Hickinbottom and Peter Mills for the warm welcome tonight and thank you to KLOS for the invitation this evening. You should all be very proud of what you have achieved. This was a mind blowing evening and a brilliant achievement.

Coming up next by KLOS will be their panto Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs on 2nd-9th Dec 2023, followed next year by the eagerly anticipated Oliver 14th-18th May 2024. Tickets are on sale now and can be found by following these links. seaty.co.uk/snowwhite and seaty.co.uk/oliver

All the best for the future.

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