Having seen the original film in the late 90's I was keen to see how this would be translated into a stage musical. Add to the fact that Jason 'Scott' Donovan was taking a leading role and I was itching to book my seats! (If you don't get the 'Scott' reference you are clearly not a big enough fan of early episodes of 'Neighbours'!)

In 2002 Alan Scott, a UK screenwriter, began to see the potential of the film as a musical and teamed up with Michael Hamlyn who was a producer of the original film. A few years later they had successfully negotiated the rights to the musical during which time work had already started on its production.

Plot Summary
Jason Donovan plays Tick (Mitzi Mitosis is her drag name), a long time drag queen who gets a call from his wife to come perform in Alice Springs at her casino and meet his 6 year old son - its perhaps worth making clear that Tick is gay despite the wife and son!. Tick gathers together Bernadette (played by Tony Sheldon) a retired member of an infamous group, 'Les Girls', and transsexual, to perform with him in Alice Springs along with Adam (drag name of Felicia; played by Oliver Thornton) a young drag queen with oodles of confidence that teeters into arrogance! They set off on a road trip in an old school bus to get to Alice Springs - although Ticks's two companions only think they are heading to Alice Springs to perform and not meet his wife and son (who they don't even know about).

The show is full of bright colours and recognisable music making it easy to join in the fun - I've rarely been to a performance mid week where the whole crowd was clapping along and/or up on their feet and dancing!. It draws you in tremendously well and once it's got you its hard not to enjoy it thoroughly. The ensemble cast was superb with high levels of energy all the way through. They also deserve credit for being able to perform such great dance routines in such wildly huge costumes.

Costumes and Make Up
Amazingly, the film had a budget of only AUD$15,000 for costumes - the musical had AUD$1.5m!!! At a budget this huge it's hardly surprising that the show turns out to be such a visual feast. In fact, Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner won the 2007 Helpmann for Best Costume Design award. From dancing paintbrushes to the Diva's dressed as cockatoos you cant help but be enthralled. And the make-up! Usually, getting extravagant make-up done for a show can take about an hour or longer per cast member but in this show the main characters change outfits about 15 times - and what respectable drag queen would keep the same make-up with each outfit?! Over to Cassie Hanlon, the multi-award winning make up designer on the film, who created over 60 make-up 'masks' for the show. In order to be able to change the make-up in a matter of moments, Cassie had moulds taken of each of the casts faces and created the make-up designs on these. They could then be moulded back onto the the cast members face in seconds. The result is fabulously gaudy make-up with enough glitter to sink a ship - perfect!

My One and Only Issue
The film, whilst be camp and frivolous in places, was aiming to deal with issues surrounding the lives of gay men. Tick was married and has a son before coming out as gay. He has never had a relationship with his son and feels ashamed of his job. How will his son react? Another key element of the film was homophobia. These elements were definitely portrayed in the musical show but perhaps in a more 'light-touch' way. I remember watching the films poignant homophobic scene and being moved to tears as well as finding it uncomfortable to watch. Admittedly, it's hard to marry a musical with such gritty drama but I did feel there was too much of a glossy sheen added occasionally that made it lose its effectiveness and meaning. It's a small point really, and only one that people who have seen the film would notice.

Tickets and Timings
Priscilla is currently showing at the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1V 8AY. Tel : 0844 755 0016
I purchased tickets from Lastminute.com for £39.50 a seat. Normal tickets are as follows: