Resist the urge to treat the stage version of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert’ as a sing-along. (Photo courtesy Mike Morgan)
Endlessly catchy, ‘Priscilla’ rules the desert … and the Kalita
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Executive Editor
jones@dallasvoice.com
There are jukebox musicals based on songwriters’ catalogues (ABBA for Mamma Mia, the Four Seasons for Jersey Boys, Carole King for Beautiful). And there are jukebox musicals than hinge around a genre or period (‘80s pop for Rock of Ages, for instance, though Jersey Boys and Beautiful also magpie from other artists). But Priscilla Queen of the Desert may be the only such musical that compiles its set list from a vast array of camp hits and classic drag queen lip-synch. Which means one inescapable truth: When a company like Uptown Players stages a production of it, as is now onstage at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the audience can barely control itself not to treat it as a sing-along.
I admit some culpability myself during the opening night of Priscilla, which ends Act 1 with Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and Act 2 with Pat Benatar’s “We Belong” and crams in songs by everyone from Burt Bachrach to Jimmy Webb, John Denver, Verdi and Cyndi Lauper, plus tons of disco. Some are sung live; some are themselves lip-synced; some actually do both (you have to see it to understand). The score is as infectious as Ebola.
That helps mask a number of weaknesses in the script and the casting in this version. The story — adapted from the low-budget cult sensation — is about three drag queens (Tick/Mitzi, Adam/Felicia and Bernadette) traipsing across the Australian Outback in a beat-up bus christened Priscilla, on the way to a gig at a casino in the hinterlands. Along the way, they encounter Aborigines, rednecks and outsiders who embrace and/or bash them. It’s all outrageously kitsch and almost aggressively sentimental. It wears its heart on its chiffon sleeve.
Each of the three main characters serves a unique role in driving the plot: Bernadette (Jack Donahue), the transgender widow, is the heart; Adam (Blake McIver), the hot youngster, is the humor; and Tick (Kelly Groves), the middle-aged veteran, is the schmaltz. Two-thirds of that triumvirate work out.
McIver is charismatic and sexy — and best of all, has a strong singing voice — as the most flamboyant of the lot, mercilessly goading Bernadette and throwing more shade than a full solar eclipse. While Donahue’s voice isn’t as strong, his acting skills are; especially in his scenes with Sonny Franks, as the starry-eyed mechanic who accepts all the girls for what they are, Donahue brings a lovely, mature pathos to the show.
But Groves’ Tick never hits. His voice is shaky, and his pacing on the songs idiosyncratic to the point of distraction — he sounded entirely off-beat on “Always on My Mind” and seemed perpetually ill at ease. (Maybe it’s the fault of the orchestrations, but taking a buoyant song like “Say a Little Prayer” and turning it into a dirge near to top of the show is a serious misfire.) Tick’s plot is also the least interesting, though the one that propels the story; it requires more fire and authenticity to be effective.
Fortunately, we have the exaggerated costumes (they elicit their own set of cheers), the campy craziness and the hopeful message of empowerment to carry us through the rough patches, and by the end you’re tempted to run onstage and hand out a few bills to the queens. They worked hard for the money.
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SCREENING OF ‘PRISCILLA’ AT TEXAS THEATRE
While the live-action adaptation of Priscilla walks the boards for a few more weeks in Uptown, the 1994 film that inspired it — The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert — is the featured film at the month’s CineWilde film screening, which features classic movies of interest to the gay community. The film stars Terrence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Bill Hunter. Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. July 20. Screening at 9 p.m., amateur drag show at 11:15 p.m. TheTexasTheatre.com.
— Arnold Wayne Jones
