[NEohioPAL] Review of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert"

[Bob Abelman]

'Priscilla' tries desperately to please, and succeeds for some

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 1/18/13

 

 

If you are an avid Bette Midler fan, there's a lot to like about the national tour of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical," currently on stage at PlayhouseSquare.  For others, not so much.

 

Based on a 1994 Australian movie, "Priscilla" is about two gay Australian drag queen entertainers and one aging transsexual on an epic road trip through the outback en route to perform as a favor for a friend.  Along the way, Tick/Mitzi embraces fatherhood when he meets the young son he created during an experiment with heterosexuality.  The flamboyant and flirtatious Adam/Felicia comes face to fist with life's harsh realities.  Bernadette learns to love again.  

 

Like the Divine Miss M herself, who is the show's producer, "Priscilla" offers song-centric, outrageously over-the-top, Vegas style entertainment.  It is a two hour, non-stop feast for the eyes and ears.  As a piece of musical theater, however, it is significantly more sizzle than steak.

 

Writers Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott merely employ the film's storyline as the silken thread to hold together the musical's self-perpetuating onslaught of production numbers.  There's a song for every occasion and to convey every emotion, all of which are pop chart hits from the 1970s and 1980s.  

 

The upbeat "It's Raining Men," for example, establishes the show's mindset and introduces its hard-bodied ensemble of singers/dancers.  A tender moment by Tick/Mitzi is best expressed in the song "I Say a Little Prayer."  A serious reflection on same-sex intolerance is encapsulated in the trio's rendition of "True Colors," while "Don't Leave Me This Way" is sung tongue-in-cheek at a funeral by a veritable parade of gussied-up cross-dressers.

 

Shows like "Mamma Mia!" and "Xanadu" offer a score of remixed  hits as well but do it better, finding a more natural matching of song to scenario and resulting in more heart and humanity than "Priscilla" has to offer.  

 

Bette Midler came to prominence singing in New York's gay bathhouses, which is where she built her core following and this musical's primary audience.  Her on-stage outrageousness and larger-than-life persona translated beautifully to campy, overly-produced revues for the Las Vegas stage.  There she attracted a secondary audience seeking to escape the heat and mounting gambling debt amidst the bright colors, the extravagant absurdity of elaborate costuming and staging, and the excess of feel-good theatricality.  

 

"Priscilla" takes its cue from Midler's Caesars Palace shows in that it, too, attempts to capture patrons desperate for escapist entertainment.  

 

Center stage is endless eye-candy in the form of Brian Thomson's ever-changing, sequin-infused set design and pimped-up, full-size touring bus; 500 astounding costumes by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner that are so huge the production had to move from Cleveland's Palace Theatre to the State Theatre to better accommodate their bulk; and showgirl choreography by Ross Coleman.  

 

Simon Phillips' fluid direction manages to keep all this and the constant activity of a high-energy ensemble of superb drag queens fully operational and interesting to watch.  In fact, the show's pacing treats its audience as if it was an ADD convention and in constant need of stimulation. It tries hard-too hard, in fact-to keep the audience amused and, if not amused, amazed. 

 

As with all of Bette Midler's shows, there is talent galore beneath "Priscilla's" frantic ostentation.

 

Wade McCollum is quite wonderful as Tick/Mitzi, exuding a boyish charm, bearing a Cheshire Cat grin, and possessing triple-threat talent. His dancing is particularly engaging, though Bryan West in a dress is certainly the most feminine and, thus, the most authentic drag queen on stage.  He is delightful as Adam/Felicia.  Still, Scott Willis is the most endearing performer, offering up a Bernadette who remains dignified and refined while serving up clandestine insults and bawdy one-liners.      

 

They are surrounded by a very gifted ensemble and supported by a crack team of backstage dressers, who make the astounding number of costume changes seem seamless and instantaneous. 

 

If Midler's "Clams on the Half Shell" is your idea of a good time, "Priscilla" will delight.  If your taste in musical theater leans toward more standard fare, like "Annie" - which just so happened to replace "Priscilla" at Broadway's Palace Theatre after its 526 performance run - than a visit to PlayhouseSquare should be delayed.  "Guys and Dolls" will be there in May. 

 

"Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical" continues through January 27 at PlayhouseSquare's State Theatre.  For tickets, which range from $10 to $75, visit www.playhousesquare.com.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20130117/e768c2bc/attachment-0004.htm>