Review: Priscilla, aavikon kuningatar
Queen of the Desert Priscilla is a hymn to tolerance Priscilla, who has gained hilarious popularity around the world, has finally escaped to Helsinki with Tick, Adam and Bernadette and the entire fast-paced and colorful party group. Two and a half hours with this entourage detaches the viewer from their flat everyday life, but also gives food for thought. Pin off and high heels on the ceiling!
A musical is a form of theatre that is guaranteed to lift a person from their everyday life to other spheres and make them forget their sorrows. Priscilla – Queen of the Desert, which has been called a party musical, is just like that. It is known for its disco hits and flashy costumes.
Successor to Kinky Boots
The director of the musical isSamuel Harjanne , who is also behind the previous successful musical Kinky Boots . It was first performed at the Helsinki City Theatre, from where it moved to the Tampere Workers’ Theatre. There are many other people involved in the making of Kinky Boots in Priscilla.
“The interest in the musical speaks of people’s need for a positive and joyful communal event. After the gloom of the last few years, it’s high time to blow up party hits and tie them into a story that discusses prejudice, parenthood, and how we all belong on this planet. Priscilla surprises with her topicality, and is guaranteed to get every dancer’s foot to pedal, if not to pedal, then at least to wiggle, promises director Samuel Harjanne.
The cast of the musical includes Lauri Mikkola, Clarissa Jäärni, Niki Rautén, Risto Kaskilahti, Tiina Peltonen, Jennie Storbacka, Johanna Försti and Maria Lund.
Conductor Eeva Kontu leads the eight-piece orchestra and the choreographer of the 30-member ensemble is Gunilla Olsson-Karlsson. The set design is by Peter Ahlqvist, the costumes by Tinja Salmi and the camouflage by Aino Hyttinen. The lighting and video design is by William Iles and Toni Haaranen, and the sound design is by Kai Poutanen. The musical has been translated into Finnish by Kari Arffman and Sanna Niemeläinen.
From film to musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (2006), written by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, is based on Stephan Elliot’s film of the same name, which aired in 1994. It received Academy Awards and rose to cult status. At that time, AIDS caused great fear and isolation.
Stephan Elliot wanted to make a liberating, bold and confident road movie. She wrote two drag queens and a trans woman to play the main roles. The film is said to have changed the lives of many viewers in a concrete way – many came out of the closet.
The musical, which has received numerous awards and award nominations, premiered at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, Australia in October 2006. It was in the Westend in London in 2009–2011, on Broadway in New York in 2011–2012 and in Stockholm in 2013. Over the years, there have been venues around the world.
Through the desert towards home
The story is about a road trip. Warm-hearted Sydney drag queen Tick (Lauri Mikkola) lures his friends Adam (Niki Rautén) and Bernadette (Clarissa Jäärni) to join him on a performance trip to the Australian outback. Adam is described as a young, articulate and skilled drag queen who doesn’t shy away from fun, speed and dangerous situations. Bernadette, on the other hand, is a stylish former drag queen who has already left a brilliant career behind her, who mourns the death of her husband.
The destination of the trip is the desert town of Alice Springs, which is the home of Tick’s wife, whom Tick keeps a secret. And there is his other secret.
On one Australian tourism website, this drive is described as creepy: from Sydney to Alice Springs, there are more than 2,800 kilometers and the estimated travel time is about 30 hours. Instead of an airplane, a person traveling by car is described as a masochist.
In the story of the musical, the journey takes place for two weeks, with stops in the mining town of Broken Hill andCooper Pedy , described as the opal city of the world.
Of course, life in those places is completely different from that in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, and prejudices and contacts cannot be avoided. Guest stars are discriminated against and one of them is beaten up.
The passengers, drag queens, are not of the same tree either. According to director Samuel Harjanne, “Priscilla’s three point of view characters represent each other’s opposites in many ways, and at the same time they share many of the same traits. They represent different generations, personalities, styles and worldviews.” A trying journey through the desert on the occasional Priscilla bus teaches them new things about each other and about life.
Colorful visuals and immersive music
Priscilla has employed a large number of makers: nine people are involved in the implementation of both the props and the sets, and twelve people have made the costumes and camouflage – in other words, different makers, a total of more than 40 people.
The musical’s sets and especially the costumes are imaginative, that is, really imaginative. There are a total of 460 costume ensembles. At least the train of the dress made of flip-flops stayed in my mind.
It also occurred to me that what is going on in the actors’ heads when they walk around the stage night after night disguised as a spray can and a cake? And during the evening, you can change outfits numerous times. It could sometimes be fun to get into the dressing rooms and watch the actors quickly transform from one character to another. I don’t think it’s a job for the slow-headed.
I went to see the performance as someone who was not familiar with the story. I think I thought that Priscilla is the main character, i.e. a person, not a means of transport. I don’t remember seeing the movie.
Priscilla has also been called a jukebox musical with well-known disco hits from the 1970s and 1980s as scores. They include It’s Raining Men, Go West, I Love the Nightlife, True Colors, Venus, I Will Survive, Girls Just Want To Have Fun and Hot Stuff. A different atmosphere is brought by the familiar sounding Thank God I’m a Country Boy, which Finntrio has made known under the name Yes in the Country is Nice.
My 23-year-old daughter, who was with me, had a great time with the musical. He was more aware of the songs in the performance, some of which he said were important power songs for members of sexual and gender minorities.
Helsinki’s Priscilla does not pale in comparison to international productions
The third and most weighty opinion in this post is brought to this post by Pekka Tuominen, an avid fan of Priscilla and a friend of musicals in general, who has seen and experienced the performance twice in London and at least in Amsterdam, Madrid, Rome, Stockholm, Munich and even St. Gallen in Switzerland. Pekka thinks the story is fascinating and the music is absolutely great – after all, he lived his best disco years in the 1980s.
“Helsinki’s new version is magnificent in all respects. There is nothing to be ashamed of compared to international productions. Especially the glorious video backgrounds stand out. This is where the cake scene in particular comes to the fore. The music plays great throughout to the rhythm of the orchestra. The costumes are versatile and impressive. In fact, Priscilla’s performance rights apparently include a condition that each production must always have completely different costumes, Pekka comments.
Priscilla herself also gets praise from Pekka.
“The bus in Helsinki is impressive and versatile, with lights and all. In the painting scene, pink colors work effectively. In any case, the bus will have a central position from the roof to the front and rear lights. The bus turns in many different positions and the tires also rotate. Watch a video on how to make Priscilla here.
Priscilla, which gave its name to the film and the musical, is a 1976 Hino RC320 bus made by Japanese truck and bus manufacturer Hino Motors, a subsidiary of Toyota since 1968.
Pekka also remembers a few differences from the versions in Helsinki and other venues.
– At the beginning, the familiar song It’s Raining Men was played. In the Swiss and German versions, at that point, a dozen handsome dancers in raincoats and harnesses unexpectedly descended from the top of the stage on wires. They were quickly eliminated at floor level and the going was wild. In Helsinki, there were four male dancers in this scene on the stage floor alone,” Pekka describes.
Another difference came to Pekka’s mind in the German version in a scene where three divas came on stage with scooters in Helsinki.
“In Munich, the stage was filled with roller skaters in the same scene, of which there were about a dozen. The action on stage was very fast.
Long live Priscilla
The Priscilla fan, who has seen international productions, does not hesitate to make her final statement.
“Summa summarum: everything is brilliantly in place in Helsinki. Samuel Harjanne has once again directed – in addition to Billy Elliot, Kinky Boots and Tampere Theatre’s new Anastasia – an excellent performance, Pekka praises.
Hopefully, Priscilla will remain in the Helsinki City Theatre’s repertoire for as long as possible so that everyone who wants to see it can get to the auditorium and board a party bus through the dry and barren Australian deserts. Perhaps, with the musical, they could store in their hearts the director’s wish that prejudices and attitudes would begin to break down and “the world would become one where so many people would not have to experience shame about what they represent or what they are.”