'Three Aussie Poofs In A Bloody Big Pink Bus' -The Reviews — Page 2

The Independent - 2 Stars

I will survive, I'm sure, but the Priscilla wave that caught the Palace Theatre last night was a pretty strong blast of lethal elements: costumes that would have looked dated in a 1970s Talk of the Town floor show, a sick-making reunion between Jason Donovan as a drag queen and his little boy by a real-life woman (a rarity in this show) and a book that rhymes hormone with whore moan and demands that somebody shuts his von Trapp.

Yes, folks, it's the most successful show in the history of Australian and New Zealand musical theatre. It puts the glory into Gloria and the gay into Gaynor and it plays other disco favourites while a group of friends traverse the desert for a date in Alice Springs and three divas descend like Monteverdi cherubs (not) on a hot date.

At one point these divas launch into a karaoke version of Sempre Libre from La Traviata, which is no less nonsensical than a full-blown staging of the most meaningless pop song ever written, "Macarthur Park", in which someone leaves a cake out in the rain and Donovan gets worked up in green pyjamas and the chorus boys sashay around with candles on their heads.

Donovan, it has to be said, seems to have lost what little stage personality he had developed as Joseph in the Deamcoat, and turned, well, rancid ? while the long-standing Australian drag queen Tony Sheldon, who starts off promisingly as a dead-ringer for Kim Cattrall and descends into big-mouthed anonymity, and Oliver Thornton as the wicked Felicia ? look like Friday night acts at the long-ago Vauxhall Tavern.

So, what is this show? It post-dates Mamma Mia! as a reverse attempt (not very good 1996 movie translated to Aussie musical in 2006) to cash in on a juke-box musical format without much wit or cleverness. It settles for a tired old showbiz camp that is acceptable to suburban and Home Counties audiences. It references the Village People. It sort of stinks.

"Good evening, ladies and ladies," we are addressed at the start over the tannoy, "place all your purses under your seats." An obelisk shaped like a lipstick moves upstage. The divas descend from Sydney Harbour Bridge, cleverly evoked by legendary designer Brian Thomson. But that's as good visually as it gets.

The van they must all travel in appears in a surround of pink drapes. En route they bump into horrible people in low-down bars, including a ghastly old lesbian who rotates her breasts like animated bean bags.

Simon Phillips's production is slick, well-organised and fairly enjoyable. But I don't know who it is aimed at. The journey from Sydney to Ayres Rock is a relatively modest one, but this lot have been caught up in a disco fever that doesn't justify their travel passes. Big hand, though, for the finale costumes of shellfish and jungle animals that suddenly appeared as if by osmosis in a presentational void.

I personally look out for whatsonstage.com's reviews, as they always seem to reflect what an audience looks for, this is most likely as they are a theatre website, that is aimed at theatre fan's, however, there's hasn't been released yet, but I think there's will be the one to read!

Michael Coveney is the main reviewer for Whatsonstage - the same Coveney who gave it 2 Stars in The Independent so wouldn't count on it.

On the whole, the critics seem to be saying what I was thinking. As fun as this show is, once you've seen ten minutes, you've seen it all and there is absolutely no substance to it. Because you know all the songs already, the first few bars of each number raise a laugh, but after the first chorus, I just wanted them to move on. It's silly, but not in a good way.

I wondered why that link didn't work just then!! I don't reckon Priscilla will last. If it closes drastically early (which wouldn't surprise me), I'm fairly sure we're going to have the economic climate thrown in our faces again.

Evening Standard - Positive

With a trio of men decked out in gaudy dresses and absurdly over-the-top headwear, high heels and low wise-cracking innuendos, powered by a bus painted gorgeous pink, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert comes flouncing and flaunting into the West End. I welcome it with open arms and a glad rag-bag of positive adjectives. London has never played host to a musical pitched on a higher level of gayness and camp comedy, transsexual barrier-breaking and bitchy, witty drag-queenery, than this ingenious adaptation of the sensational film of the same name.

At a time when escapist musicals are all the rage, here?s a rare one that takes you happily out of yourself and into daring places your wildest fantasies might never have dreamed of visiting. Priscilla Queen Of The Desert should, therefore, do an absolutely roaring trade, and not just among the young and gay-friendly. With homophobic bullying in London schools and attacks on gay men on the dramatic rise and a few, mad, dangerous Muslims in town calling for homosexuals to be stoned to death, Priscilla offers a joyful antidote to a world of hatred and violence.

From the first moments when three divas hang suspended high above a silver-spangled bridge and belt out Downtown, the show never loses its spectacular, helter-skelter momentum of songs to which the drag queens lip-sync.

They all dance to Ross Coleman?s pugnacious choreography in an ever wilder outrage of costumes, right down to ridiculous belle époque corseted dresses and hats variously piled heavy with fruit, flowers and feathers: Simon Phillips?s production artfully exploits the fact that drag queenery relies on excess and exaggeration.

The plot is both simple and absurd. It offers the prospect of a risky odyssey into the heart of the rural outback of Australia by three mascara-laden drag queens with a serious talent to amuse and verbally abuse. Their low comedy gives high pleasure. Tony Sheldon?s sardonic Bernadette, a stately, middle-aged transsexual laid low by her young lover?s death in a hair-dyeing misadventure, sets out on that bus with Jason Donovan?s pleasant Tick, otherwise known as Mitzi, whose plan is to end up at Alice Springs, to visit a young son from his discarded, heterosexual past. Who better than Oliver Thornton?s muscly, super-feminine Felicia to join them on their bus-trip, drag-queening as they go?

Phillips, who gives the production such brio and dashing momentum, has sensibly exchanged the Abba songs used in the film for mainly gay disco and glam rock hits. Bogie Wonderland, I Will Survive and a Kylie medley are delivered with terrific panache. When these gender- illusionists have dragged up, faced bar-room violence and returned to their bus to find the words ?f**k off, faggots? painted all over it, the singing of Both Sides Now is given a searing poignancy. In similar fashion Always On My Mind, Tick?s song to his son who comes to accepts his gay father, helps bring a reconciling laughter and pathos to this bitter-sweet, big-hit musical, that stands up for brave sexual outsiders.

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so far i would say its 2 positives and 3 mixed to negative

Ouch

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This might sound like a completely stupid question, but why is Priscilla having a press night and an opening night? Is that normal?

The problem is, the target audience of this show will LOVE it, however, no one else will, and the target audience isn't very big!

I have also heard that even though staurday's sale's are good for a few months, weekday ticket sales are awful.

I really think a drop of ticket prices will help this show survive!

Judi Dench must be so relieved to hear of a show that got worse reviews than MADAME DE SADE.

I believe the idea of two opening nights for PRISCILLA was because the producers wanted the press to see the show with a "real" audience as opposed to a house full of friends and celebs.

songanddanceman2 you've certainly done a back flip from what you were saying a few weeks ago!

lovepigeon was never a fan of this show, yet loves a tatty version of LA CAGE a show at the Playhouse. Go figure.

This show will sell. Maybe not as well hoped but there is an audience for it. All those people giving it standing ovations will go home tell friends what a good time they had they'll be encouraged to purchase tickets...and so it goes. Remember LES MISERABLES had terrible reviews.

And this show really is a modern Les Mis, I mean they live on the streets (ok, in a campervan, but that van is on the street!) There is death (in the form of the death of everything manly!) And of course the war (ok, B*tch fights) and the revolution (Drag Queens taking over the Australian outback!)

I no Alterego wasn't comparring these, but it was so hard not to post this!

Well then I misinterpreted your posting, sorry. My opinions of LA CAGE are based on a very poor representation on the Command Performance. Maybe they were just having a bad night? Check it out on youtube and see what you think. Tatty or not?