Priscilla Queen of the Desert - Bangers by the busload!

★★★★★

In this new revival of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, you're guaranteed bang for your buck.

Photo by Johan Persson

The creative team, led by director Ian Talbot, has taken the whole of Hobbycraft and thrown it at the production. And I mean that with the utmost of compliments. Everything about this musical shimmers and shines. It's a magpie's delight.

Revitalised with a healthy dose of modern drag style, while playing homage to the classic art form, it is difficult to believe it’s a jukebox musical. The songs, a never-ending playlist of disco classics, weave seamlessly into the narrative, nestling into the heart of the characters and the fabric of its message. Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" becomes a protest song, Aretha Franklin's "I Say A Little Prayer" a lullaby, and Richard Harris' "Someone Left My Cake Out in the Rain" a pure sugar rush. The numbers sound their very best performed by the chorus of three glamorous Weather Girls (Leah Vassell, Bernadette Bangura and Jessie May) with soulful pipes, supported by a band led by Richard Atkinson. There are bangers by the busload, and just as many laugh-out-loud laughs.

Choreographer Matt Cole certainly keeps everybody in line and in shape. He's constructed complex and captivating routines with a carnival feel - even during a funeral with flourishes of handkerchiefs. Every member of the ensemble is given a chance in the spotlight as they follow Adele Anderson as Bernadette, Kevin Clifton as Tick/Mitzi and Nick Hayes as Felicia/Adam, the three queens road-tripping across Australia, each with a personal goal to meet and a lesson to learn. Over the course of a week or so, they encounter small towns with smaller mindsets and morals as ill-fitting as a sagging bra. As well as secret ping-pong champions (IYKYK) played with gusto by Mary Suarez.

Meanwhile, Vicky Gill has dressed our Queens as beautifully as the skies they encounter. Bernadette is assured with wraparound gowns, a calming sunset, while Tick has a darker, grungy edge, an exterior hiding his secrets under nightfall, and Felicia is flashy and flamboyant, as bold as the rising sun. Each is brilliantly cast, with Clifton showing off a hidden voice alongside his signature Strictly moves, Anderson the very definition of class, and Adams a true Kylie triple threat. Their costumes, wigs, hair and makeup work (designed by Craig Forrest-Thomas) in tandem as warpaint; feathered headdresses, inch-long eyelashes, and sharp shoulder pads help create an untouchable silhouette. There are picture-perfect snippets of elegance and drama, particularly in one poignant operatic moment when a veil is blown by the night breeze.

Every party has its moments of solitude and reflection in the kitchen, and Priscilla is no exception. Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott's one-liners and zingy humour meet their match with the cutting words of prejudice. But support is everywhere if you look for it. The soft blues, whites, and pinks of the Transgender Rights symbols swirl in “Colour My World”, waving like a flag on Leo Flint's subtle yet effective video design, curved like a skyline against the muted outback.

Go North, East, South, and, of course, West, to catch the ultimate feel-good show when it rolls into a town near you.