Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: the stage musical

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 5/4/06 at 1:42am

A Musical Take on Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to Hit Australia
by Broadway.com Staff

A stage musical version of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the successful 1994 movie, will hit Australia this fall. The show, titled simply Priscilla Queen of the Desert, is set to begin performances at Star City Casino's Lyric Theater in Sydney on October 7, according to Variety.


And who will be playing Australia...

Seriously, this could be an "Ilya, Darling" for the new millenium. Take a film that draws a good deal of it's vitality from the location where it was filmed and suffocate it in a theater with a painted backdrop.

I toyed with the idea of a musical version of it myself. I just loved the idea of booking a theater down the street from where "Mamma Mia" is playing, so that the line: "I told you no ****ing Abba!" would have special relevance.

[stage_door76]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 1:06am

Auditions are currently being held in Melbourne and Sydney.

It's being directed by Simon Phillips, with AD by Dean Bryant and choreography by Ross Coleman.

Its opening night is slated for October 7 in Sydney, where it has booked to play for 7 months at the Lyric Theatre, after which time it will transfer to Melbourne. Definitely.

Will keep you posted over the rehearsal period. Should be very interesting...

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 6:18am

Since over half this movie is a bus trip across the Outback, I'm not sure this is such a great idea. It will take away the wonderful "road trip" aspects of the movie and leave it feeling very "land locked." I don't have a good feeling about this one. Sure the drag numbers would work well in a theatre, but not the actual STORY. Someone forgot about that part. They usually do, when it comes to musicals these days.

Next they'll try to do a stage musical of "Breaking Away."

Some films just don't lend themselves well to the stage.

[jwsel]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 11:16am

I'm not sure I agree with that. While the movie had some wonderful visuals and the landscape played a significant role, I think the heart of the movie was the characters and their interactions. I don't think you need to translate the visuals of the vast Australian outback to experience the journey the characters go through. The travels of the bus can be translated, as can being lost in the middle of nowhere and coming across the various towns/camps that seem displaced from civilization.

I'm not saying the musical will be good; I'm just not sure it's fair to say that the show won't translate merely because of the scope of the landscape.

[Calvin]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 11:19am

Will they, however, sing "Mamma Mia" in the stage version, like they do at the end of the movie?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 11:20am

They're auditioning some great Aussie talents - I think the show has potential. I'll be curious.

[Calvin]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 11:21am

*sigh* Guy Pearce...if only...

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 11:45am

Okay... so maybe the interior of a bus whirring on a treadmill for 45 minutes of the evening will make for good theatre.

Hopefully the book and songs will help it rise above the confines of the proscenium.

I'll wait and see what they do...

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 11:59am

There were some top of the line performers in the workshop and apparently it was a huge success.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 12:06pm

Is this being written with new music and lyrics? Or is it another one of those horrid revusicals a la Dusty Slimefield

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 12:18pm

From the Sydney Morning Herald site:

MORE GREASEPAINT

Daarrrrrrrling, what other city but Sydney would host the world premiere of a new musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert? The tale of drag queens in the outback is to open at the Lyric Theatre in October in a co-production between John Frost of Sydney and Back Row Productions of London. The director will be Simon Phillips, artistic director of the Melbourne Theatre Company and Tony Sheldon, who stole the show as the ultra camp Roger DeBris in The Producers, seems a shoo-in for the cast, after taking part in a recent workshop in Melbourne. The challenge will be to find three actors who can match the chutzpah of the stars in the 12-year-old movie, Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving and Terence Stamp.

A more in-depth article

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 4:03pm

Rath - is that Shirley Jones in your avatar?

[broadwaybaby692]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 4:19pm

will they recreate the ping-pong ball trick onstage?????

also, if this does happen and it is halfway decent i would really like to see Lizzy Gardiner create some new fabulous stage costumes.
Updated On: 5/17/06 at 04:19 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 7:44pm

Yes, redhot.

And bbaby, yes, Lizzy Gardiner is attached, along with the writer/director and producer of the film.

[stage_door76]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 10:27pm

A lot of the people involved with the workshop are not too keen on being involved with the eventual production because the creative team still wants them to AUDITION, even though they feel that they practically created half the show themselves. SO, there's a little bit of bitterness.

The book is average at the moment and needs major re-working (which i'm sure it will get, or at least I hope). And the score is being dealt with now, with major songs being considered - some of the originals and some new ones that weren't in the film (like "She Works Hard for the Money")

In terms of production design, I trust the team, but it will be very hard

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 10:31pm

They're making ALL of them audition?

[stage_door76]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 10:33pm

They have all been asked. Whether or not it will eventuate, I don't know. But regardless of their creative in-put during the workshop or their current "star status", everyone has to audition for the panel at this stage.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 10:35pm

Updated On: 5/17/06 at 10:35 PM

[stage_door76]

Posted: 5/17/06 at 10:39pm

Well - I hope you're right!
When you next hear anything on the grapevine, drop me a PM, i'd be interested to hear whats going around!

I really hope the show does well - because we need to pick ourselves up and brush off the dirt after the disaster that was "Dusty: The Original Pop Diva". ergh...

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 5/18/06 at 3:13am

Updated On: 5/18/06 at 03:13 AM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/30/06 at 8:10am

Updated On: 5/30/06 at 08:10 AM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/30/06 at 9:17am

Variety item re: chorus call

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/19/06 at 9:29am

The press launch is tomorrow (Melbourne time) so perhaps we'll have the casting announcements tonight - early tomorrow morning at the latest.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 8:57am

Here's the cast list from the official site:

Tony Sheldon
Jeremy Stanford
Daniel Scott

Marney McQueen
Lena Cruz

Trevor Ashley
Danielle Barnes
Sophie Carter
Michael Griffiths
Nick Hardcastle
Mark Hodge
Ben Lewis
Christina O'Neill
Kurt Phelan
Damien Ross
David Spencer
Dean Vince

Official Site

Updated On: 6/20/06 at 08:57 AM

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/20/06 at 10:52pm

I just looked at the website.

They aren't using any original songs written specifically for the characters or situations?

So, this isn't so much a "New Musical" as it is a "Really, Really Expensive Drag-Show"?

Or, sort of a "Saturday Night Fever" for the new millenium.

I'm disappointed. I think that those characters should sing songs about themselves and not just the disco songbook.