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<p class=""><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino">PRISCILLA
costumes, dancing, rocking escapism @
State Theatre</span></b></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">(Member,
American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">There is an old
expression in theatre evaluation:<span style>
</span>If you come out of a musical whistling costumes and sets, its not
good!<span style> </span>Well, generally, thats the
case, but with PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL, that idiom is not
true.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">PRISCILLA isnt intended
to be a great message musical.<span style>
</span>NEXT TO NORMAL or CHORUS LINE it isnt.<span style> </span>What it is, is a show with 492 costumes, yes, close to 500
costumes, cast members singing from small platforms which drop in and out of
the fly gallery, a cast of muscle bound guys (<i style>Its Raining </i>Men), a full sized bus which maneuvers around the
stage on a turntable, and a rockin musical score which includes such gems as <i style>Whats Love Got to Do With It?</i>, <i style>I Say a Little Prayer</i>, <i style>True Colors</i>, and <i style>I Will Survive</i>.<span style> </span>Oh,
incidentally, there is a slight story line which showcases the theme of
acceptance and should satisfy those who want their theatrical experiences to be
meaningful.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">The production is so
grand that it had to moved to the State Theatre because not all the costumes
and sets could be accommodated at the smaller Palace Theatre facility, where it
was originally scheduled to be staged.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">The show, which is now
touring the US, UK, Ireland, Italy and Brazil, has a book by Aussies Stephan
Elliott and Allan Scott, and uses well-known pop songs as its score.<span style> </span>The music was not written specifically
for this show, but are a series of well known tunes covering everything from
rock a billy, to pop rock, to opera.<span style>
</span></span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">The musical is based on
the 1994 cult hit movie, THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, and
centers on two drag queens and a transsexual who travel from Sydney to Alice
Springs, in the center of the Australian desert via a bus of many colors, dubbed
Priscilla.<span style> </span>During the journey, the
three meet up with a cast of outback characters who do everything from admire
to threaten them.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">Side-lesson:<span style> </span>drag queens are men who dress as women
to entertain.<span style> </span>They are not
necessarily homosexual, may even not want to be women, but dance, sing, lip
sync, and dress in exaggerated female garb as their means of artistic
expression.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">The musical opened in
Australia in 2006, debuted in 2009 in London, winning costume design
recognitions in the British Olivier Awards and won the Tony for Best Costumes
in its 2011 Broadway run.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">The touring production is
a cacophony of<span style> </span>bright visuals and
sounds.<span style> </span>It is nearly impossible to
not bounce and sway to the loud pulsing music.<span style> </span>Though its often difficult to hear the words to the songs,
over the stomping sounds, the songs are so familiar and the meaning of the
words are generally unnecessary to push along the story line, that it matters
little.<span style> </span>This is a heart beating,
fun, fantasy, that requires little from the audience except allowing everything
to carry you along.<span style> </span>Dont let
thinking get in your way. <span style> </span>Just relish
the singers, dancers, toned abs, excellent musical arrangements, and
over-the-top smorgasbord of treats.<span style>
</span></span></p><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span><span style="font-family:Palatino">The touring cast is
excellent.<span style> </span>In fact, having seen
the show in London, I can attest to the fact that this production, in spite of
some opening night technical problems, including backstage techies having to
crawl out on stage and remove errant set pieces, works better in the
hinterlands than it did in the West End.</span>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">The trio of leads, two
drag queens (Tick and Adam) and Bernadette, a faded<span style> </span>former queen of drag, who has transgendered from male to
female, take to a bus when Adams former wife invites him to come visit his now
seven-year old son and perform at her casino in Alice Springs. </span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">Wade McCollum, who
obviously spends most of his time at the gym, dances and sings well, making for
a correctly flamboyant Tick.<span style> </span>Bryan
West, as the most macho of the trio, sings well, but is a little less talented
in the dancing department.<span style> </span>Scott
Willis creates a properly frustrated yet gallant transgendered aging
Bernadette.<span style> </span>The rest of the
cast exhausts itself by putting out full effort in multi-roles.</span></p>
<p class=""><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino">CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:<span style> </span>PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL is a rocking enjoyable
evening of theater that is mostly glitz, costumes and sets, encompassing famous
songs and a slight story line.</span></i><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span>
</p><p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">Tickets for<i style> PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL</i>,
which runs through January 27 at the State Theatre, can be ordered by calling
216-241-6000 or going to <a href="http://www.playhousesquare.org/"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none">www.playhousesquare.org</span></a>.</span></p>
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