REVIEW: PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT

BOURNEMOUTH PAVILION THEATRE

Based on the 1994 Oscar-winning movie, this is an entertaining flamboyant disco-fuelled musical, often poignantly funny and thought-provoking.

Featuring a superb 10-piece live pit band and an explosive opening with three singing divas floating from the stage ceiling delivering It’s Raining Men, this is a lively pacy production.

It follows the hilarious journey of three drag queens as they cross Australia from Sydney to Alice Springs in their battered old camper van named Priscilla with its sparkly red oversized stiletto shoe on the roof.

Bryan Newman, Sam Compton, and Lea Martin nail the principal characters, helped by a huge multi-talented cast of singers, dancers and actors.

The numbers are hooky, including What’s Love Got To Do With It, I Say A Little Prayer For You, and the show-stopping Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

Stage sets are ingenious, direction from Helen Barrington is creative and assured, and Carly Simmerling’s choreography is sparkling and mesmeric.

Particularly outstanding are the stage costumes, including the swirling “cup cakes”, the flamboyant diva delights, and the enormous colour-blocked flared trousers.

Australian accents are secure and convincing, as are the 1994 attitudes towards sexually ambivalent people who are misunderstood and violently attacked.

Celebrating its 66th production since 1954, BLOC (Bournemouth Light Opera Company) once again delivers a show that’s hugely entertaining, astonishingly impressive, and – judging from the enthusiastic standing ovation – increasingly professional.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert runs until Saturday.

Brendan McCusker