Priscilla Queen of the Desert

What a wonderful, first class, foot tapping, sing-along of a show this is and this time with a truly extraordinary cast, from the principals – well the convention would be to say down – but there is no down to this production which would not be out of pace or place in the West End!
Packed not only with great songs and dance routines it is also crammed with heart – and much of that heart comes from the leads. Duncan James need never feel “Blue” as he delivers his part with such energy, such great voice and yes, with real heart. Simon Green makes a very believable Bernadette, fragility balanced with balls – if you will pardon that illusional mistake. Adam Bailey is equally convincing and thrilling as Felicia, the bitchy spoilt kid with a tender underbelly. Philip Childs is Bob, and his performance is heart-warmingly tender too.
With so many starring roles it is hard to keep piling on the superlatives – but you simply have to! Costumes, costumes of eye-watering impact, feather upon feather, sequin upon sequin and a string of visual puns that elicits a constant flow of oohs and aahs from an audience that is totally enraptured by the pure spectacle of the show. And Priscilla is back for this tour, a proper bus and not a flimsy skeletal prop as before.
Two final accolades, firstly a company that can sing and dance up a storm, but who throughout manage to capture the real drama of the various roles asked of them and last but not least to Frankie Milward who plays Benji and brings a tear to almost every eye in the house, I know that I had more than one.
Priscilla is a rich and saucy confection, packed with rude humour, rude jokes, camp… well camp everything – but at heart it is a morality play with a very strong message for us all about tolerance, equality, compassion and love. I loved it.
Theatre Royal Brighton
3 November
Andrew Kay
5 stars