Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical

From the moment the orchestra started playing the overture led by Musical Director Paul Lawton, the audience were thrown straight into the storyline. There was no gentle introduction – energy was high, sound was loud (in a good way), there was vibrancy everywhere from bright costumes, big feathers and colourful make up. The set unsurprisingly consisted mainly of a large bus towards the rear of the stage, a dressing table, etc, which was carried on when needed . The sound by Tube UK Ltd was great throughout, there were no gremlins or loss of function. The lighting plot by Ian Legate was stunning. I loved the way Tick (Mitzi) played by Gary Jones was lit for “True Colours” – individual coloured downlit spots falling in a beautifully coloured cone shape straight onto Gary singing - it was a true standout moment for me. I enjoyed the colour changes as we moved through the desert and could almost feel the heat shimmering from the colour choices. Costumes were supplied by Charades Theatrical Costume Hire, they looked incredible on the cast and certainly complimented all the fast moving, intense choreography from Choreographer Tracy Harper. All wigs, shoes and make up were in line with everyone else and were sympathetic to the scenes. There were a couple of glitches with Principals costumes – a curtain moved too soon and a cape didn’t manage to be worn  but it is such a fast moving show - it was  only an observation, it  wasn’t detrimental to the scenes. The show is quite prop heavy, all the props looked great and were handled competently by the cast.

The pace of the show was obviously set by Director Michael McCaw, he must have worked very closely with both Paul and Tracy to get all the balances right, everything was dynamic and hard hitting in its own way, he made you think deeper than the spectacle that socked you visually, he made you care about his characters. How Paul managed to get the ensemble to sing with strength and power as they were executing the many varied energetic dance steps and managing to breathe, I will never know, but somehow he did. His main three singers 'The Diva`s,' Dawn Leigh, Sarah Thewlis and Aimee Clare were for the most part suspended on a moving wire system supplied by Blue Chilli Flying above the bus, not a very comfortable position to be in but they smiled from start to finish and certainly belted out some hits and harmonies. Their armography by Dawn Leigh was executed well and in lovely synchronisation. At this point I feel I must also mention the very hard working stage crew for this production, each flying Diva had to have two stage crew on their personal  wires and the bus itself had to be physically turned around – again quite a task that has to be done quietly, quickly and safely so well done to the stage crew.

The ensemble feature heavily in this show, the costumes are extravagant and not very easy to manoeuvre, but they kept their energy levels up from start to finish. The choreography from Tracy was energetic and exciting and also took into account about the costumes so movements were big and almost exaggerated, the ensemble executed it all well, it was not evident to me who was a trained dancer and who was not, I saw a very well drilled team with internal  musicality and a great connection with the audience.

Gary Jones as Tick (Mitzi), Paul Allison as Bernadette and Steve Cheeseman as Adam/Felicia all showed us full bodied characters because they were for that time on stage their actual characters. We saw some steel backbone, some raw hurt and a lot of  searching for acceptance. Diction was good from all three, vocals were solid, connection with the audience was great, they allowed us to see their  internal struggles in their facial expressions and body language. The scene between Tick and Benji (Louis Jones-McCaw) was exquisitely touching. Louis showed a maturity beyond his years.  Paul as Bernadette was so in character that I didn’t recognise him at first, he showed such a gentle side to his character it was so lovely to watch - his comedy timing for some of his lines was superb . Steve, Adam/Felicia, at times made me want to equally shake him and hug him – he did his job, he made me feel. His role was a lot more physical with the climbing up the bus and of course when he got beaten up by Frank (Matt Hepplestone) they made it look realistic . Amy Mason as Marion was a memorable character, we didn’t see her for long but she left her mark, her vocals and stage presence were strong.

Both myself and my guest enjoyed your production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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