AUSTRALIAN DRAG QUEEN MUSICAL A HIT
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ‘an upbeat, feel-good show,’ director says
For director Mike Sornberger, casting the performers in Front Row Centre’s production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was easy compared to casting the bus.
In this 2006 Australian musical based on the hit 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Priscilla is not one of the Sydney drag queens but a rundown bus the performers revamp so they can take their drag show to a resort in Alice Springs.
That road trip proves to be quite a journey, not only for the drag show trio but for the old bus as well.
“Technically, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a behemoth of a show. The bus is in almost every scene. If you don’t have a bus, you don’t have a show,” says Sornberger, adding that they found their creative angel in Edmonton in the form of Maggie Slater.
“Maggie built us a steel frame around which we were able to create our Priscilla. Maggie’s designs gave us all the options we needed.
“We can have people in the bus, on top of the bus and around the bus.”
In Front Row Centre’s Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Brian Holiday plays the transgender woman played by Terence Stamp in the film with Bryan Smith as Tick (played by Hugo Weaving in the film) and Jeffrey Follis as Felicia (Guy Pearce in the film version).
“When I pitched my proposal to the Front Row Centre board I didn’t know who I would cast in any of the roles, but I did know there is a considerable diversity in the Calgary theatre community and that is what is essential for any production of Priscilla.
“I was very fortunate that so many of the performers, as well as our designers, have been drag queens. They bring such authenticity to the look and feel of the show.”
Stephen Welch, who performs regularly in Calgary as Farrah Nuff, is the drag consultant for Priscilla as well as its co-choreographer with Christine Mooney. Andrea Timmons is the show’s musical director.
Sornberger is not surprised that Front Row’s Priscilla is selling out.
“Every number in the show is a proven hit from the 1970s to 2000. You’ve got such songs as I Love the Nightlife, I Will Survive, It’s Raining Men, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Hot Stuff.
“But that is just part of the show’s appeal. What people love is that Priscilla celebrates humanity with all its differences. Priscilla is a celebration of people being themselves. It’s an upbeat, feel-good show.”
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert runs Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Beddington Arts Centre until June 30 with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Check out frontrowcentre.ca for availability of seats and for directions to reach the theatre.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert closes out Front Row Centre’s 29th season.
The 30th anniversary season kicks off Sept. 21 with Monty Python’s Spamalot, which the company’s artistic producer Darren Stewart says is still the most successful show the company has mounted in its three-decade history.
“We did Spamalot in 2013 and it remains our biggest success, so it was a given that we should open our 30th season with it.”
Also returning by popular demand is Evita, which Front Row produced in 2006. It will open in January 2019 followed by a special two-day, three performances of Grease in March at the Plaza Theatre.
Also in March but back at the Beddington Arts Centre, Front Row will present the adult puppet musical Avenue Q, which even Stewart can’t believe Front Row has never done.
“StoryBook did Avenue Q, but that was long enough ago that we felt it’s time for us to finally do it.”
Front Row will close its 2018/2019 season with the Calgary premiere of We Will Rock You, a futuristic adventure that uses the music of Queen.