PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT at the Palace Theatre

(Seen 3/22/11)

If glitz and tackiness are attractions for you, PRISCILLA... will be your thing. This is yet another re-creation of a film into an outlandish and tacky Broadway musical. It tells the story of three Australian drag queens and their journey through the famous outback, so that one of them can be re-united with his young son whom he doesn't know, while the veteran old queen can get away from her/his unhappy circumstances.

Unfortunately, the story of the re-union, seems deftly hidden behind the outrageous costumes and sets and props, while the story of the older queen finding himself again seems the main focus. And although it's a lovely story, deftly played out by Tony Sheldon, it somehow diminishes everything else, with its shades of LA CAGE.... It's also a juke-box musical, with songs and performers spanning several decades.

There's obviously an audience for a show about the behind-the-scenes lives of drag queens, and this has been tailored to feed that audience, as well as fans of the original film. But I found the heightened use of sequined and mirrored costumes and props and set pieces were mere visual opportunities to be outlandish, rather than to serve the needs of the show.