If girls just wanna have fun, then take along your hot stuff and shake your groove thing to the most joyful celebration of musical 70’s camp disco that you’re ever likely to boogie along to. In the words of Cabaret’s Emcee, leave the world outside, as three gender-diverse drag queens go on their way “together”, taking their “c**c in a frock on The Rock” across the sling-out-back to a Casino called Alice, in a bus prone to breakdown.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical surely had the foyer “stone” lions shaking on their pedestals as the stars came out for the show’s opening night at Auckland’s outrageously cinematic Civic Theatre, the perfect venue for this co-production of North Shore Music Theatre and The Amici Trust.

“The Civic Is a Cashless Venue” proclaims the sign behind the bar, but on this gala night it could have read “strapless”. Thankfully the straps are secure however, as, overture over, three Motown angel divas glide down from the flies all the while singing with the ease of The Weather Girls but hovering 10 metres over the stage!

Forget the Full Monty, as a male mosh-pit is writhing shirtless in glittery speedos stage-right, and we are soon transported to a bizarre funeral that would leave Armani turning to Riff-Raff to ask “what the….?”.  Among the mourners, surely that was Coco Chanel?  Obviously the musical accompaniment is Don’t Leave Me This Way.

No international fashion or Australiana icon is left untouched in this riotous revelry, from a croc on a dock to erectly-hooded iguanas. The costumes took a Tony, justifiably, as the headgear alone is worth it; the ingenious pontoon platform shoes that anchor exaggerated, barely danceable bell-bottoms to the deck are breathtakingly deployed by the cast.  Choreographer Rebekkah Schoonbeek-Berridge (recently Dance Captain for Chicago The Musical) has clearly had a (disco) ball engaging the cast with this unflagging whirlwind of movement and colour.

This is tightly zipped and dazzlingly danced non-stop riot of music and camp that has smartly addressed any gaucheness that might have stilted the earlier stage versions. With none of the “ramshackle” staging that the New York Post archly bitched about back in 2011, this professional production is near-faultless, with more flair than the 70s in MacArthur Park, more flare than Cher and more sequins than Britney had rhinestones. 

Madonna, Jerome Kern and Burt Bacharach are among those whose material fills the 70s playlist, so no wonder it is non-stop danceable. I suspect even Giuseppe Verde would even have marvelled at the bus-top lip-synced Sempre Libre by Jason Parker as Adam/Felicia. Energetic and pouting, his character is true to the film, and he and Andrew Allemora (Tick/Mitzi) who are each other’s foils are evenly matched dramatically and vocally.  The real revelation, however, is Nick Hall as Bernadette, the transgender anchor of the trio; this actor/cabaret owner/musician has an alluring vocal and dramatic presence, showing tenderness and credibility in his character.  Hugh Robinson plays Bob, the “straight man” who helps rescue the girls. Young Parker Poppleton as Tick’s son Benji is a joy, confident and melodious.

As always, it is the pits that are the engine rooms of musicals, and down there, under the keyboarding arms of Music Director Zac Johns are eight players who add up to so much more than the sum of their parts.  Johns, who is also a composer, keeps a cool but energy-giving and rhythmic command of the scores that are played with joy and conviction. In the background are ten cohesive, convincing backing singers, while Auckland musical identities Penny Dodd (répetiteur) and Claire Caldwell (vocal coach) also appear in the credits.  At the end of the day, it is an ensemble show with a wall of sound, benefitting from an additional 14-strong “chorus” on-stage.

The sound designed by Glen Ruske is spot on – rich, resonant and as clear as a bell.  The team of Vicki Cooksley and Andrew Gibson manage the stage and technical elements nearly faultlessly. The brief appearance on stage of guitarist Ben White playing live is an example of the technical mastery that saw not even a blip in the radio mics. This might be the best sound I have ever experienced in a New Zealand production.

You’ll need to remove any political correctness as this Cirque de So Gaya throws euphemisms under the bus with a script that is sometimes as sharp as the blade of Maggie Smith’s Dowager. Will Coober Pedy ever forgive Bernadette’s line: “If you want to give the world an enema, I think we’ve just found the perfect point of entry!”.

Any criticisms are quibbles – a UV light extinguished too early, a pallid “Dame Edna” voice-over, one short scene abandoned against just a blank stage. All a matter of interpretation, or fleeting first-night technicals, perhaps.

Structurally it is all rather clever – at the start it was raining men, and towards the finale someone leaves a cake out. We finish with a fine romance and a touch of tenderness, and love indeed does have something to do with it.

The Hollywood Reporter headlined in 2011 that this Simon Phillps staging of Stephan Elliott’s 1994 film (originally performed in 2006) did for Priscilla “What Mamma Mia! did for Abba”.  Who am I to argue with Hollywood?  Go on, dress up, and colour your world with this irresistible musical stomper!

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