
PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT - MAY 2024
Director - Shannon Cronin
Musical Director - Charlotte Upfold
Choreographer - Jess Eades
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Book by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott​
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Theatre Royal Winchester 22nd - 25th May 2024
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Cast:
Tick Belrose/Mitzi Mitosis - David Tatnall
Bernadette Bassenger - Iain Steel
Adam Whiteley/Felicia Jollygoodfellow - Daniel Williams
Divas
Funke Akiboye
Olivia Conroy
Jade Nicholas
Miss Understanding - Simon Meanwell-Ralph
Marion - Gina Thorley-Hibberd
Shirley - Holly Reedman
Bob - Peter Barber
Cynthia - Carolina Scott
Featured Dancers
Sophie Dosanjh
Emma Jayne
Clare Houlford
Kimberley James
Thom Jones
Ensemble
Charlie Amaro
Cressida Bullough
Emma Colbourne
Jacob Hand
Martin Humphrey
Louise Laithwaite
Amy Leddy
Christina Pye
Izzy Wylde








Charity Collection
Winchester Street Reach
REVIEWS
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NODA
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Where do I start! Ok, We arrived at the theatre and collected our tickets in an already packed and excited foyer, shown to our seats, the lights dimmed and music started, the curtains drew and we were off. Immediately we knew we were in for a great night. The stage, bedecked in silver strands with the three divas (Funke Akiboye, Olivia Conroy and Jade Nichols) stage centre, in gold dresses belted out the opening number, the stage was set. The story is about three drag queens on a journey across the deserts of Australia in their bus Priscilla and the various trials that they meet along the way.
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The first thing that struck is the choreography. Fast, furious, inventive, extremely well rehearsed and fabulous to watch. Across the board. Not just the dancers but the cast involved as well, a brilliant job by Jess Eades here. Also bearing in mind that a lot of it was supplied in heels! (and not just the ladies). Next up, the costumes. How outlandish, bright, colourful and so many of them, there were at least ten changes for the principles alone. They added an enormous amount to this show.
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The three main leads, Dave Tatnall as Tick, Iain Steel as the utterly believable Bernadette and Daniel Williams as the completely over the top Adam worked so well together, bouncing off each other, entertaining us, the audience superbly. They were though, fantastically backed up by Peter Barber as Bob the Mechanic, Holly Reedman as Shirley, Carolina Scott as Cynthia and the brilliant Simon Meanwell-Ralph as Miss Understanding, whose impression of Tina Turner in an outrageous red wig (which seemed to have a will of its own) and heels in "What's Love Got to Do With It" will stay with me for quite sometime! However, the rest of the cast dancers, ensemble et all were having an absolute blast! The feel good factor that came from the stage to the auditorium was palpable. Bravo to you all, the standard was very high. Such was the pace, you would be forgiven for thinking that words would be lost or dropped. Not a bit of it, the diction was clear, both sung and spoken and this was both principals and cast alike. The sound that they made as a chorus together was outstanding.
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The Priscilla, in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, is the bus. This enormous prop was all built and put together from scratch and was an impressive sight. Silver on the outside and pink leopard skin (well, what else did we expect) on the inside. A real showstopper in a show full of showstoppers.
This was a joyous well put together, well directed evening of sheer camp fun in its purest form. The audience were treated to a fantastic evening of fun, laughs, cheers claps and singing. If this was marked out of ten, I'd give it eleven.
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Mark Allen
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I can only endorse everything that Mark has said. It truly reflects the outstanding evening that I shall long remember.
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Kay Rowan, SE Councillor
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WINCHESTER TODAY
Outrageously funny and entertaining. I could stop there, really. But that would be a serious understatement if the hand clapping, foot stomping, standing ovation at the curtain call of last night’s opening performance is anything to go by.
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WMOS’s latest production is a far cry from some of the more genteel shows it has staged in the past 100+ years but, despite some ripe (but inoffensive) language and adult themes, it marks the progression of time and the development of a musical theatre company that knows what it’s about and how to put bums on seats. I reviewed this show some three years ago as part of a major UK tour and loved it then, even though I wasn’t sure I was going to. All I can say is that WMOS have taken a hugely ambitious project and done it justice. With, I suspect, a fraction of the budget, they have pulled off a West End quality production with a huge cast and an even bigger costume rail. There are more glamorous and glitzy costumes in this show than I have ever seen on stage, I think, and many of them are complex and the changes lightning fast. Just to manage that and make it look effortless, is an envious achievement. Hats (and feather boas) off to Jo Barker and her wardrobe team for creating every single garment – and there are a lot.
Take two Aussie drag queens and a mature transvestite woman from Sydney; put them in a beaten up old bus in the desert on their uncertain way to a cabaret gig in Alice Springs, add great disco hits by famous artists to keep them singing enroute; throw in some hilarious, camp and somewhat risqué one liners, loads of daring innuendos and multiple colourful drag costumes and you might be forgiven for thinking that that’s the sum of it – just another rock/pop fluffy musical with Jason Donavon and Kylie Minogue in its DNA, a flimsy vehicle (like the bus) of an excuse to get people’s feet tapping and singing along to some old hits.
But Priscilla, based on the popular Australian 1994 film by Stephan Elliott, is much, much more – it is a story of the trials and tribulations of being LGBTQA+ when outside the ironically safe confines of the city, the huge differences between the three protagonists (Tick, a drag queen on her/his way to be reunited with his wife and son; Adam, an outrageously gay cross-dresser; and Bernadette, a transvestite searching for a lost youth, love and friendship). It is a tale of acceptance – eventually of each other (Tick doesn’t dare mention his son to the others as the main reason for the trip for fear of losing them). But it’s also acceptance by the people they meet on the way – some of them welcoming, others homophobic roughnecks.
It is an uplifting show, has many poignant moments, some very funny swipes at life on both sides of the coin, of Kylie and of their own profession. Above all, it is hugely entertaining.
The front liners – Tick (aka Mitzi Mitosis), Adam/Felicia and Bernadette are played with 100% confidence, plausibility and a good dollop of bravery by larger-than-life David Tatnall, Daniel Williams and WMOS’s own president Iain Steel respectively. The three bounce off each other wonderfully and their comic timing, voices, and impersonations of drag queens are wonderful. Iain Steel’s performance as the troubled and sincere Bernadette, is stunning. His affectations, verging on panto dame at times and elderly caring aunt at others, his voice, mannerisms and timing are a masterclass in musical acting. Special mention for Simon Meanwell-Ralph in various cross-dressing roles including that of Miss Understanding, another outrageous drag queen performer. His rendition of Tina Turner’s ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ is a scene stealer and the legs are uncannily accurate!
The music of course, is very much at the centre of the show with over twenty well known hits like ‘It’s Raining Men’, ‘Go West’, ‘I will Survive’ and ‘Hot Stuff’, the lyrics of each perfectly suited/adapted to tell the story and bring double meanings where none were originally intended. There is some dialogue in between, so it’s not all musical narrative. The music is pre-recorded and the songs occasionally lip-synced (often tongue-in-cheek). At the heart of the musical backing is a trio of Motown-style live singers, the Divas – Funke Akiboye, Olivia Conroy and Jade Nicholas – who provide solid vocals that supplement and provide their own narration. Funke Akiboye’s ‘I will Survive’ is spot-on accurate. Close your eyes and it’s Gloria Gaynor singing it.
Choreography is tight and innovative with five featured dancers who, as a troupe, perform some wonderful sets, dressed as paint pots, cup cakes, cabaret dancers and who must spend a great deal of the show changing from one outrageous costume to another. Stand-out performer in this section for me is Thom Jones, whose athletic and effeminate dance routines are simply terrific.
The ensemble of nine provides a solid supporting cast as various roughnecks, cabaret audiences, dancers and drags. Peter Barber puts in a touching performance as Bob, the mechanic with a big heart and a wife, Cynthia (Carolina Scott) who performs a unique style of nightclub entertainment involving ping-pong balls. Probably the less said about that the better except to say that it is hilarious and very well done.
So, eventually the three ‘ladies’ reach their destination and Adam gets her chance to belt out ‘Sempre Libera’ from Verdi’s La Traviata from the top of Ayres Rock. The ‘cock in a frock on a rock’, in Adam’s own words. Wonderful stuff. The journey, with its hard knocks and upsetting moments (particularly when the bus is vandalised with homophobic graffiti and Felicia is attacked in a local pub) are forgotten and all ends well. Poignant moment of the show goes to the short scene where Tick is reunited with his son – a very touching and sincere sequence, with young newcomer Rufus Wood making his stage debut as Benji. Liz Petley-Jones’ and David Freemantle’s set design works well and makes good use of the theatre’s fly system, a versatile singing rostrum, nightclub paraphernalia (much of it lit) and minimal props.
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The other star of the show – Priscilla, the broken down bus – designed and hand built by the company for the show – is an impressive, full size affair on casters which revolves and allows us to see inside as the bus lurches its way through the outback. Lighting is occasionally disco-like and effective. I’m sure the very minor teething problems with the occasional rogue light and follow-spot will be ironed out for the remaining performances which run until Saturday 25th May (including a matinée on Saturday). There are still tickets available for all shows, although at time of writing Friday night is nearly sold. So if you want to be amazed, enlightened, entertained and need a feel-good night out, get yourself a ticket while you can. Well done, WMOS, another very colourful feather in your cap.
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David Cradduck