By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
NEW YORK � First, the good news: If you're a fan of early Madonna classics and similarly delectable pop and dance hits from the late '70s and early '80s, there's a new jukebox musical that's bound to include some of your favorite tunes.
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Actor Nick Adams, who stars as Adam/Felicia, jumps onto the stage as he prepares to take a bow during the opening night of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical at the Palace Theatre.
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Actor Nick Adams, who stars as Adam/Felicia, jumps onto the stage as he prepares to take a bow during the opening night of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical at the Palace Theatre.
The bad news is ... well, pretty much the same thing.
Like Mamma Mia!, Xanadu and Rock of Ages before it, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical (* * out of four) banks heavily on the Broadway audience's musical nostalgia and its affection for easy camp. Songs and jokes alike are delivered with a wink or a smarmy grin, encouraging us to laugh at our memories, if not ourselves.
But to its credit ? and ultimately its disadvantage ?Priscilla, which opened Sunday at the Palace Theatre, aspires to be more than just a kitsch-fest. Adapted from the fondly remembered 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the musical follows three Australian drag queens on a road trip from downtown Sydney to small-town Alice Springs.
The purpose of their journey is to reunite Tick, whose stage name is Mitzi, with his young son from a past heterosexual relationship. But along the way, all three learn much about themselves and the capacity for love and intolerance in the world around them. The young, brash Adam ? or Felicia, when he dons his stilettos ? discovers the consequences of reckless behavior, while the aging Bernadette, who underwent a sex change, finds hope in an unlikely new friend.
Granted, these revelations aren't terribly nuanced, and they tend to square awkwardly with the general mood of bombastic wackiness. Watching Adam croon and shake his booty to Material Girl and Like a Virgin? the character favored singles by the Aussie pop diva Kylie Minogue in earlier productions Down Under and in London ? we're not quite set up for the homophobic attack he endures in a later scene.
If the transitions in Priscilla can feel jarringly contrived, the principal actors clearly strive to bring authenticity and compassion to their roles. Will Swenson, last seen on Broadway as the macho, hirsute Berger in Hair, is utterly natural and likable as the conflicted Tick/Mitzi, while Nick Adams delivers bracing sass ? and some serious song-and-dance chops ? as Adam/Felicia.
Bernadette is the most fully realized character, and Tony Sheldon, who introduced the part in the original Sydney production, instills her with irresistible elegance and humanity. His witty, moving performance is the best single reason to see Priscilla.
The show has its more superficial charms, too, from Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner's shamelessly effusive costume design ? which turns the chorus into dancing paintbrushes and cupcakes ? to a trio of supple-voiced "Divas" who belt out golden oldies such as Shake Your Groove Thing and Hot Stuff.
The original recordings are better, of course ? and it'll cost you a lot less to listen to them. Priscilla may not be as cynical an enterprise as some other jukebox musicals, but it's predictably unfulfilling.
Katharine McPhee Michelle Behennah Karen Carreno Amber Arbucci Danica Patrick
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