Priscilla Queen of the Desert
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Cititour.com Review
If your heart belongs to the disco era, and you can never get enough sequins, then the musical adaptation of the film, "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," is the glitzy, psychedelic-colored fantasy of your dreams.
This elaborate jukebox musical plays up every campy moment with over-the-top costumes, (Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner - based on their original award-winning film designs), athletic, tasteless choreography (from Ross Coleman), and serves up gay-anthems from “I Will Survive” to “It’s Raining Men” with relish. The result is an uneven mix of razzle-dazzle trying too hard to please with lots of smoke and mirrors thrown in hoping the audience doesn’t catch the unfortunate flaws at the heart of Stephan Elliot and Allan Scott’s book (based upon Elliot’s screenplay.)
Three drag queens make their way in a large camper/bus from Sydney, Australia to a smaller town down-under where one of them will meet his six-year-old son for the first time. Will Swenson, so captivating as Berger in the revival of “Hair,” lathers his clever barbs with the sweet underside of a panicked papa in the making. Nick Adams, as the buffed youth seems to be having the time of his life as the flamboyant and outrageous one. But the standout here is Tony Sheldon, an original Australian cast member, whose take on the aging transsexual Bernadette is shot through with pathos. His delivery of various zingers, and the vulnerability he brings to the role, offer small glimpses of what could have been in a vehicle where witty repartee masquerades as subtext.
If you don’t look too closely at “Priscilla…” you will surely be astonished by the stunning lighting from Nick Schlieper and the three jubilant, high-flying “Divas,” played with heart-stopping clarity by Jacqueline B. Arnold, Anastacia McCleskey and Ashley Spencer. The trio sing their hearts out while the leads lip-synch to some of the bigger numbers.
Try as he might, director Simon Phillips can’t quite keep this extravaganza on an even keel. But make no mistake about it, "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," is a flashy, outrageous, ornate show that makes no excuses for wanting to be known as a crowd-pleaser. Given the speed to which the audience jumps to its feet at the curtain call, you might say that the show hits its mark.
By Lesley Alexander
Visit the Site
http://priscillaonbroadway.com
Open/Close Dates
Opening 3/20/2011
Closing Open-ended
Theatre Info
Palace Theatre
1564 Broadway (at 47th Street)
New York, NY 10036
Map
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