This week we went to Norwich Theatre Royal to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert obviously based on the amazing film made way back when in 1994! I’ve always loved the film, I mean, what’s not to love! Drag queens, colour, music, great costumes and a great cast of Hugo Weaving, Terrance Stamp and the wonder of Guy Pearce. I say wonder because if you’ve seen the film, he makes a phenomenol drag queen.
We had high hopes for the theatre production which on most levels it lived up to. The big name in the show we saw was Jason Donovan playing the main character of Mitz ( Hugo Weaving’s character ). I’d only bought seats upstairs in the circle so we got there in good time because I can’t stand climbing over people to get to your seats. There was a great backdrop of a map on the stage fronted by a giant pink lipstick……and so the show began. The choices of songs were brilliant, many taken from the film but instead of all the references to Abba, these were replaced by Kylie, a more modern choice and a humerous nod to the Jason and Kylie connection. As in the film, Felicia was fantastic, uber sharp and uber camp but unlike the film, Bernadette far surpassed Terrance Stamp’s somewhat stilted performance. I really thought Jason Donovan would knock this performance out of the park but he was so lack lustre, it just didn’t seem like he could be bothered with it. For the main character, he should have stolen the show but he was acted off the stage by every other person which was such a shame. We actually wondered if he was ill or something had happened as it seemed so obvious. He wasn’t in to it. The people sat behind us were talking about leaving in the interval!
Initially I couldn’t get in to it, some bits were quite crude and far more sexual than the film and there’s my problem, I’ve seen the film so many times, I’m too attached to it. All in all though the show was amazing, the second half far more so than the first as the energy level ramped up.
The costumes were AMAZING!!!! Seriously amazing, I mean the film had won an Oscar for Best Costume Design and the theatre production did the original proud, they were just stunning and kept to the authenticity of the film far more than I anticipated. Now obviously, when you’re at the theatre, you are asked to turn off your phones and not take photos, so the following I have nicked off Google!
Despite Mr Donovan’s performance, (we’ll put it down as an off day), Â I would highly recommend going to see this production as it makes for a great night out and I would definitely go and see it again.
🎤 I’ve been to paradise, but I’ve never been to me🎤
IF you’ve never seen the film, check out the clip below….enjoy!
norfolkgal 