Review: Priscilla, aavikon kuningatar

Priscilla provided the perfect musical night full of energy, joy and acceptance

In 2008 we visited Melbourne and tried to get tickets for a local theatre performance of Priscilla, but we didn’t succeed because all the shows were sold out. Fortunately, the years of waiting were rewarded, as Helsinki City Theatre’s Priscilla – Queen of the Desert is absolutely perfect! I don’t know what else I could have expected from Priscilla, directed by Samuel Harjanne, because everything worked on the big stage of the theatre. I recommend booking your tickets immediately if you want to experience the joy and magic of a theatre performance in this autumn’s performances!

“I haven’t clapped as much in ten years as I did tonight!” Heardin the bucket

Priscilla is a comprehensive experience!

When we entered the theater hall, the party was already underway. Disco music was playing and coloured lights were circling the auditorium, I wanted to stay in the corridor and dance. The audience at the premiere was exceptionally sparkling, many wore sequins or even more spectacular party clothes. The atmosphere was tingling when the curtain rose and the performance began. It was fun from the very first moments!

I have never before experienced the kind of energy and joy in a theatre performance that was transmitted every second all the way to the back rows of the auditorium. It felt like the actors were involved in the performance with their souls, they were bringing an important message: everyone is valuable just as they are.

“I thought Kinky Boots was absolutely top and of course it was great, but this is something even more amazing, I would give Priscilla ten plusplus.” In the foyer

The technology of the big stage came into its own in Priscilla. The sound technology worked, the music was brilliantly balanced and the lyrics were clear. The lights brought a party atmosphere and the Priscilla bus glided smoothly towards the center of Australia, Alice Springs and Ayers Rock.

The plot is funny and touching

Priscilla – the Queen of the Desert is a travelogue. Physically, it involves taking a bus from Sydney through a few outback villages towards Alice Springs. Spiritually, one progresses towards acceptance, understanding and love for oneself and others.

There are three people on board the Priscilla bus: Bernadette, Tick and Adam. They have agreed to perform in a casino in the middle of the desert. Everyone has their own reasons for embarking on this journey.

Bernadette is one of Australia’s first drag queens, now in the twilight of her career. Tick is married to the casino’s program manager, but has been performing as a drag artist in Sydney for years. The couple has a young son whom Tick has not met. The third participant is Adam, aka Felicia Jollygoodfellow, a young-generation drag artist whose mother still hopes that her son’s homosexuality will be a passing phase.

This trio sets off on a journey with the three of them. Tick is conciliatory when queens from two different generations make fun of each other. And oh, what joyful language they use! Often the witticism does not bend naturally from English to Finnish, but now Kari Arffman and Sanna Niemeläinen, who have translated the text into Finnish, have succeeded brilliantly. Throughout the text, there are also topical elements that I and many others laughed out loud about.

Along the way, the Priscilla trio encounters hostile Fuck Off Faggots attitudes and technical bus challenges, but also acceptance and heartfelt friendly people. By the time we get to the final scenes in Alice Springs, I had already dug out a handkerchief a few times. In addition to all the glamour, feathers, show and joy, Priscilla has a deeply touching undertone, which is also strongly conveyed to the audience.

The perfect casting of the Priscilla trio

I’m already running out of superlatives, so I’ll simply say that the casting of the Priscilla trio was absolutely perfect!

Clarissa Jäärni was in her first major acting role as Bernadette, but her stage career is as an award-winning Drag Queen, as well as a versatile presenter and journalist. She was just Bernadette, sovereignly convincing as an artist who has seen life and has been a pioneer in her field. From time to time, there is a glimpse of sensitivity and vulnerability under the hard surface.

Lauri Mikkola Tick’s role was once again quality work. She can sing with a big, finely tuned voice, but the most amazing thing is her acting and interpretation. Absolutely brilliant combo! Tick is the driving force behind the play, as the journey takes place on his initiative and it also ends in his new life situation.

I had never heard of Niki Rautén, but oh girls and boys, both I and you will hear about it! Wow, what stage charisma! His solos won’t be erased from your mind right away. Not just how physically he performs the song Hot Stuff, but the aftermath of the situation where the homophobic values of the community have once again dropped the young man from his dreams into reality.

A few words about everything else

The whole ensemble was strongly involved, everything shone with the joy of working together. I would like to highlight three more singers who are called divas in the program leaflet. I would have called them background angels, because they sometimes appeared from the sky, sometimes from the roof of a bus, or even from barrel-like nonsense. In any case, these three divas, singing with siren voices – Johanna Försti, Maria Lund, Jennie Storbacka – were a wonderful and hilarious addition to the musical.

Priscilla has one child role, which is played by three very young boys. At the premiere, Tick’s son Benji was played by Iivari Luomala, who was as if born for his role.

Then there were the unbelievably fluffy costumes with feathers, sequins and the most incredible tunings. Costume designer Tinja Salmi and her team must have had a lot of fun conjuring up everything from a cupcake outfit to the golden pants of the Swedish Lars triplets. Oh, and those shoes! I’d like to have just those kind of golden boots for divas!

Priscilla’s music is the hit of my own youth, and that’s why I had to hold back from singing along or jumping in to dance in addition to the rhythm clapping. Go West, Boogie Wonderland, It’s Raining Men, True Colors and I Will Survive were a few gems in the hit chain. Conductor Eeva Kontu was bursting with energy from her orchestra pit. He also took a live selfie and I thought that we could have also had a live video of the orchestra, because maybe not everyone knew that there was a live orchestra in the pit.