Priscilla Queen Of The Desert 29.04.16

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert

Location: The Orchard Theatre, Dartford

Date Seen: Friday 29^th April

Seen With: Mum

Understudies at This Performance: Rebecca Botterill as Diva

Summary

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert is a musical based on a film of the same name following the journey of group of friends and drag queens as they cross Australia for a new gig. On the way they experience the judgement of others as well as acceptance of each other and themselves.

I’d previously seen Priscilla in the West End several years ago and absolutely loved the upbeat songs and lavish costumes. My mum in particular wanted to see this at our local theatre as when I saw it with her in the West End we were in the upper circle with a pretty dire view.

Acting

The show is very over the top and cartoonish in a way due to the comedy and costumes. Behind this, the actors do well to not over-act and as a result there is still emotion in the characters which means there is a developing story throughout.  There are moments such as when the trio of Tick, Felicia and Bernadette face prejudice from out of town locals and Tick meeting his son for the first time that have moments of poignancy and balance the fast pace of the rest of the show.

Music & Songs

The music featured are a variety of pop songs from different eras which have been artistically arranged to provide a unique identity for this show. The Divas provide some solid vocals throughout and provide the backdrop to many of the drag acts. The vocal highlight of this show comes in Act 2 when Tick, Felicia and Bernadette are stood on Ayers Rock singing ‘We Belong’ symbolising how far they’ve come together. It’s a change of tempo and a great opportunity for vocals and harmonies to be thrust into the limelight. There appeared to be a single song change from the West End production which was from ‘Both Sides Now’ to ‘True Colours’. Whilst I appreciate ‘True Colours’ is better known, I much preferred the original song.

Choreography

The routines in Priscilla are one of the reasons why I’ve seen this show so many times. Each number has its own unique identity with lots of energy. Stand out numbers are ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ which puts an interesting spin on a  party, ‘I Will Survive’ which finishes Act 1 on a real high note and the medley towards the end of the show really uses the cast in an extremely clever and effective way.

Direction

This touring production hasn’t lost too much of its West End flare thanks to the direction that has been applied. Although being performed on smaller stages, the production doesn’t look messy or cluttered due to some clever choices.

Set/Lighting

Due to it being a touring production, some of the set pieces I recall from the West End run are smaller and less technical. The Priscilla bus is the same but due to the smaller stages of the touring venues, it does not rotate as much though it doesn’t lose its affect. I also appreciate that due to touring restrictions that Felicia’s aria cannot be performed on top of the bus but the staging using a single chair centre stage - whilst funny - feels a bit cheap and no where near as good as the original west end staging.

Costumes

The costumes in this show are absolutely outrageous (in a good way!) and highly memorable. They feature bold and bright patterns with various themes throughout such as paintbrushes during ‘Colour My World’ and cakes during ‘MacArthur Park’. The  

Stand Out Performances

Duncan James as Tick – After my bad experience of star castings in Chicago I wasn’t getting my hopes up for Duncan James though I needn’t have worried. He delivered a stellar performance as Tick with great vocals and emotional depth. Through his eyes you really experience the prejudice he and his friends experience on their journey.

Adam Bailey as Felicia – Adam Bailey puts in an energetic and highly memorable performance as Felicia. His line delivery hits the mark every time and provides some of the funniest moments of the show.

Show to Show Comparisons

With its jukebox musical style and high tempo numbers, Priscilla reminds me a lot of Mamma Mia! It’s a typical feel good musical with a great story linking all of the well known songs together. Priscilla is much more over the top than Mamma Mia but with both of these musicals you leave singing the songs of the show.

Would I Recommend?

Yes however unfortunately due to the publish date of this review; the tour has now completed its current run across the UK.

Overall Verdict (Out of 5 Stars):

4 Stars