ROBBLOG #163 and a half

One can never get too much Priscilla, so a second helping. Grab your Boas and sequins because it's a good one. The show that is.
The blog?

That's another bus...

Three queens on an old bus.

Not something you would find on Orillia Transit most days of the week.

However, I’m not talking transit here. Compose a mental picture again and let me make it perfectly clear for you- “Three “drag” queens on an old pink bus headed for Alice Springs in the badlands of Oz”.

No, wait. Now, you’re getting a mental picture of the “good” witch of the east belting out a ballad with Elphaba during Wicked- the Musical.

Let me try again. There’s this movie by the name of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” about three lads- correction two lads, one transvestite, who travel on an old bus they eventually paint pink as they travel to Alice Springs - in Australia, from Sydney - also in Australia, in order to headline at the Alice Springs Casino!

“Ah-Hah!” - you say. Now you get it.

“Priscilla Queen of the Desert” - The “Fabulous” Musical.

This is the third production of the stage musical that showcases the story of a trio of lad's from Sydney and their adventures in the desert! The stage musical extravaganza opened in Sydney, made it to West end London and now calls Toronto home - before Priscilla parks itself on Broadway.



Nick Adams as "Felicia" in Toronto's Priscilla



From the original film new songs have been added. New in the sense that they didn’t appear in the film version. Then there’s the memorable dance routines, more costumes than you can shake a kangaroo at and more muscular, lithe, naked skin that you’d find in your neighbourhood gym.

Roll that all together and you have Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

What a pleasure to see such a terrific live stage show!

Besides paying a good buck to see it, you leave the theatre with such a good-time feeling you couldn’t hide the smile on your face if you swirled a hundred boas around your neck to hide your grin and laugh lines. By the way that is the only way to hide laugh lines without a few thousand dollars of cosmetic surgery a la Joan Rivers- which is wrong and another story entirely.

By the way a hundred boas draped around one’s neck is an absolutely fabulous fashion  accessory!

Toronto theatre-goers and those that go to the theatre in Toronto have had to wait almost an extra year for Pricilla- the pink bus to roll onto the Princess of Wales Stage.

It was worth it.

This show had so much glitz, glamour, grit, gleam, glow and gayness it’ll change your world - or at least your outlook for the immediate future. The show stars Will Swenson (Tick), Tony Sheldon (Bernadette), Nick Adams (Felicia) and Toronto’s C. David Johnson as Bob. There are only a couple of other Canadians- like David Lopez, in this Mirvish production. Hopefully with some luck and a huge demand for Priscilla tickets, this musical will stay on a Toronto Stage longer than a couple of months and provide some stage work for our own talented performers.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert began as a little film that gained popularity through cult status. The movement grew over the years and now the stage version has the rare opportunity to continue the growth of its cult status with a Rocky Horror Picture Show “type” of cult following.

Many audience members at the show I attended, were draped in colourful boas and had tiaras and other funky bits of sparkly jewellery on their persons.

The show is fun. It’s a feel-good experience and I will guarantee you’ll leave the theatre in high spirits, singing the multitude of pop and disco songs.

The show is on stage at the Princess of Wales Theatre - which should be named the Queen of Wales Theatre, through to January 2^nd - and we hope beyond.

Look at http://www.mirvish.com/ for more