Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical – The Priscilla we had to have.

Posted by lisathatcher on October 23, 2022 in Articles, Theatre | 7 Comments

Gosford Musical Society

Laycock Street Community Theatre October 21 to November 12

You can grab your tickets here

Images: Gosford Musical Society

A Priscilla with a difference

Presenting a production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical, on an Australian stage, different from all preceding Priscillas, is no small project. For director Daryl Kirkness, this challenge was essential for a 2022 community theatre project that holds itself to a main stage standard. It’s almost thirty years since That Film, and to note cultural relations between the LGBTQI community and the broader community in which they operate has changed is to say the least. For Daryl Kirkness, this production had to include an homage acknowledging legacy, but equally satisfy the uniqueness of staging this musical in this place, at this time.

Daryl Kirkness met this challenge in a variety of ways. From the modern etiquette of correct pronoun adherence to the somber reflection of LGBTQI struggles past and present, this musical presents as a modern Priscilla. Properly honouring the musical’s histories, in turn informs and honours the community histories Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical represents. Just as every road trip story is really a story about home, it is the divergences Daryl Kirkness includes that bring us closer to what remains so powerful in the original – the allowance for love and difference.

Design with a difference

The design team ground the production in true-to-character reality by using a DIY aesthetic, without reducing the glamour and sequined glitz any Priscilla audience will expect. By presenting costumes, the bus fit out and other cosmetic touches as if the characters designed them, we are brought closer to the humanity they represent.

The Divas

Particularly powerful in this production is the inclusion of the three divas who watch over the production like a Greek Chorus. These three characters serve as a reminder of the voice Disco gave to the voiceless.

If you doubt the importance of disco to the LGBTQI community, consider the hatred for disco circa 1979, when Steve Dahl publicly detonated a dumpster-load of disco albums in front of a 90,000 person crowd, who then exploded into a riot. A little OTT perhaps? Gloria Gaynor’s I will survive hit our airwaves the year before and the year after the incident Diana Ross was singing, I’m Coming Out. ‘Real Men’ the world over wore “disco sux” t-shirts and extended the loathing into an all-out culture war.[i]

When Jacqui Grunden, Toni Williams and Khiara Paris sing these enormous songs, they bring with them a history enforced by Daryl Kirkness to remind us that glittering lights can go hand in hand with a terrible darkness. The extended inclusion of The Divas is one of the best decisions of this show. Not only are the three singers up to the daunting task, but the performances, the costuming and the evoked stage presence of the three combine to carry the audience back in time with a unique ability to reflect from the present.

The Three Leads

However, Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical is all about the three leads. The journey each protagonist takes to find themselves is the heart and soul of Priscilla. Rarely have three characters so successfully solicited our empathy than Stephen Elliott and Adam Scott’s Tick, Adam and Bernadette.

For this production Marc Calwell brings a potent warmth to his Bernadette, infusing her with dignity and elusive beauty. Callum Hobson crafts a complex Adam, whose tragic vulnerability and enormous humanity draw us into the potential horror of how well hatred can pierce and inhabit a psyche. When he reaches his climb to the top of the metaphorical mountain, we experience a keen connection and are inspired.

Offering us a warm, downright adorable Tick is Nat Barry Midas Backhouse, who provides us with an earnest character. This Tick wants nothing more than to experience an autonomous life’s profound joys. He wants the joy reserved for those who have the base needs satisfied; Those of deep love of self and profound human connection. It is the charisma of Nat Barry Midas Backhouse that acts as a reference point for the production’s authentic tenderness.

The Ensemble

Strong satellite performances from Tim Page as Bob (another noble character) Neville Boney as Jimmy and Rocky Croot as Benji (role played by Blake Paulley and Jensen Hornsby on other nights) further bring the production to the high standard audiences have come to expect from Gosford Musical Society. Comic performances from so many of the ensemble, but particularly Tina Leaitua as Cynthia and Marianne Powles as Shirley call forth their own tragedy in the comedy of this excellent production. Stand outs in the ensemble are Marlee Carter whose stage presence exudes the vibrant joy of disco, Daniel Garland’s Miss Understanding, Jacob Ramm, Sam Powell and Sandy Mailey’s Country Boy/girl, and the oh so delightful towel boys.

The Musicians

A tremendous shout out to the remarkable Diane Gardiner and her musicians for top-notch quality and a big sound that goes beyond the eleven strong ensemble. After all, what is a production of Priscilla without that music? The work of this orchestra fills the auditorium and invites the audience to have a great time with these superb songs.

Daryl Kirkness has done something remarkable for us with this production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical. He’s injected fresh life into a theatrical event whose depth and profundity are only beginning to be understood by the broader community. This Priscilla has had a very gentle makeover, with no loss of passion and joy.

Go and have a great night.

You can grab your tickets here.

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[i] ‘I Will Survive: musical mappings of queer social space in a disco anthem.’ Popular Music

Vol. 26, No. 2 (May, 2007), pp. 231-244 (14 pages)

Published by: Cambridge University Press