HAVING A COSTUME BALL
After Tim Chappel won a 1995 costume design Oscar for Stephan Elliott’s landmark The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, he moved to Los Angeles to take on work in TV, films and music videos. But when he returned to Sydney, Chappel became a maverick in theatre, revisiting Priscilla for the stage in 2006 and winning a Tony, Olivier and Helpmann in the process. Now, as the musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert road-trips across the country 12 years later, Chappel, 50, tells WHO’S Cynthia Wang about the staying power of the iconic costumes.
What’s it like seeing Priscilla back on Australian soil?
It makes me very proud to see that the old pink bus that started this journey 23 years ago is still chugging along and keeps going strong, too.
Were there modifications?
Well, the great thing about live theatre, especially when you get to do many incarnations, is you have to go back and fix anything you didn’t like. Anything that was bothering me is now perfect and everything looks very polished. We’ve got a couple of new numbers in the show, which are pretty flash, and they also help make the show a bit more sexy and a bit more contemporary.
What are your favourite new looks?
Interestingly enough, the costumes that people are least aware of that I felt were very successful were for the real people in the country in the Alice Springs nightclub. The plaid shirts are all handpainted plaid that we had digitally printed and they’re all different.
What about the headdresses?
One of the things that technology has brought us from the beginning shows to now is that the headdresses are a lot lighter because we use a lot of vac-form plastics and thermoplastics so that we can get the volume without the weight. Some of those headdresses in 2006 weighed, like, eight kilos, which is a lot to carry on your head. Now they’re more like three or four kilos.
Are there fewer thongs attached to the classic dress this time around?
No, there’s more thongs, but rather than thongs bought from Target, like the original ones were, these are all handmade from Neoprene so they don’t injure the dancer. So they’re all light and each one’s a different size,
so it has a bit of flair in the costume.
What has changed from the time Priscilla was first made and now?
When we made the film, it was a statement and our way of informing the world that we exist. Now I know it’s more of a celebration. I want this round of Priscilla to be our “Thank you” to everybody who voted Yes for marriage equality and a big “That’s OK, we forgive you” to all those who voted No.