Review: Priscilla, aavikon kuningatar
Theatre review: Priscilla is the party musical the world needs right now
This autumn, the Helsinki City Theatre will bring so much glitter and disco music to the big stage that no one will be left in any doubt. Now we’re making a party musical, and we’re going to pull everything out as much as we can!
The musical Priscilla – Queen of the Desert is based on the 1994 film of the same name, in which two drag queens and a trans woman travel on a bus across Australia. Disco hits follow one another, and travel companions throw a flap and poke at each other benevolently. The musical has been directed for the Helsinki City Theatre by none other than Samuel Harjanne, who has previously directed The Little Mermaid, Kinky Boots and TTT’s Matilda and Billy Elliott, among others.
The musical follows the plot and events of the film very faithfully, and there are even many of the same songs as in the movie. In terms of genre, this musical is so-called. i.e. the songs in the performance are hits previously known as independent songs, not composed for the musical. The songs are more detached performances than they actually promote the plot.
The musical features songs such as It’s Raining Men, What’s Love Got to Do with It, I Say a Little Prayer, Go West, I Will Survive, Girls Just want to Have Fun, Hot Stuff, Boogie Wonderland and the Kylie Ensemble. Many of the songs have been made into Finnish versions that flow quite well, but a large part is performed as originals.
The story begins when Sydney-based drag artist Tick, whose stage name is Mitzi Mitosis, decides to go on a performance trip to the city of Alice Springs and also lures his young friend Adam, aka Felicia Jollygoodfellow (Niki Rautén), and Bernadette Bassinger (Clarissa Jäärni), who has already left the stage earlier,).
Tick and Adam are still actively performing, but Bernadette, an old diva, needs to be lured in for a while. The trio decide to go, but Tick doesn’t mention to his friends that the real reason for the trip is that he has a wife and son in Alice Springs, whom Tick is going to meet. Adam and Bernadette don’t know that Tick has either a wife or a child.
They embark on a bus that Adam names Priscilla. The journey through the desert takes days, and during that time they stop to cause confusion in the small towns of the Australian outback, rehearse for upcoming performances and joke with each other. Many gay and trans jokes would be very politically incorrect, but when they come out of the mouths of gay and trans characters, they are allowed to be laughed at together. In addition to this, Jäärni, who is seen in the role of a trans woman, is a trans woman herself.
In the musical version, music and drag performances play an even bigger role than in the film. Some of the songs are sung by the lead trio in their own voices, but as is often the case in drag shows, some of the songs in Priscilla are performed as lip sync. The lip-synced songs don’t come from tape either, but they are also interpreted by the “divas“ on stage: Johanna Försti, Maria Lund and Jennie Storbacka, who have wonderful voices and have sung in many places.
Of the main roles, Jäärni in particular plays an impressive role and gets to show off his baritone voice in addition to lip sync. While the actor’s own trans background brings new color to the jokes, the more serious and profound side of his character is particularly touching in its own way, and I think it’s a great thing that HKT has cast an actor with a trans background specifically for this role.
Lauri Mikkola did a great job in Kinky Boots as drag queen Lola and will be able to continue his drag career in Priscilla. I thought it was a bit of a shame that Mikkola has been made to do lip sync as a brilliant vocal in so many songs, but luckily he also had songs with his own voice. Niki Rautén, on the other hand, is in a class of his own as a drag artist, down to every gesture.
The City Theatre’s costume department has put their best foot forward in this musical, and more and more imaginative costumes and wigs follow one another. The sets and lighting do not pale in comparison to them, and the end result is real eye candy.
Disco music plays loud and high, and the musical offers just as good a party as promised. The party is also based on a deeper message about accepting one’s own and other people’s differences, and also a reminder that sometimes other people’s tolerance can surprise you positively. And this is exactly what the world needs right now.