STAGE TUBE: Bette Midler On PRISCILLA!

Bette Midler, whose solo Broadway debut at the Palace Theatre is the stuff of showbiz legend, will return to that landmark venue as a producer of this season's eagerly anticipated, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The MusicaL began a pre-Broadway engagement yesterday, Tuesday, October 12, at The Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Canada, prior to beginning performances at Broadway's Palace Theatre in New York City on February 28, and opening March 20, 2011. Bette Midler said ""A new star on Broadway and her name is PRISCILLA!! So much fun, it's practically illegal!! In fact, it IS illegal in four states!!"

Here Bette is after seeing the show in London!

On behalf of all the producers, James L. Nederlander said, "Not only is Bette Midler a great friend to the Nederlander family, she is also one of the most hyphenated people I know. She is a remarkable actress and performer; a brilliant writer and lyricist; and, an accomplished director. Bette's insight has already proved to be invaluable on PRISCILLA. We are thrilled that she wants to join us on the bus for this magnificent adventure."

Bette Midler made her Broadway debut in Fiddler on the Roof, and even then, she understood the importance of doing matinees. Her remarkable career started while singing in New York bathhouses, where she was given the name, "The Divine Miss M." Her record debut, "The Divine Miss M," earned her a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. In 1979, Bette made her film debut in portraying a doomed and self destructive rock & roll singer in The Rose, which she earned the Golden Globe for Best Actress, Academy Award nomination, and Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal performance. In 1988 Bette starred in Beaches, and received her third Grammy Award, Record of the Year, for the film's title song, "Wind Beneath My Wings." Midler garnered her second Best Actress Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for Mark Rydell's For The Boys. Additional film credits include: Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, Big Business, Scene's From a Mall, Hocus Pocus, The First Wives Club, The Stepford Wives, Then She Found Me, and The Women. This past January she concluded her critically acclaimed Vegas extravaganza The Showgirl Must Go On at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, with over 200 performances that were seen by over half-million people in 2 years. Forty years, four Grammys, four Golden Globes, three Emmys, a Tony Award and tons of record-breaking performances since she hit the scene, the "Divine Miss M" is still going strong.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The MusicaL stars Olivier Award nominee Tony Sheldon ("Bernadette"), Tony Award(r) nominee Will Swenson ("Tick"/ "Mitzi") and Nick Adams ("Adam"/"Felicia") as the trio of friends on a heart-warming, uplifting adventure who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical will also feature C. David Johnson ("Bob"), James Brown III ("Jimmy"), Nathan Lee Graham ("Miss Understanding"), Mike McGowan ("Frank"), J. Elaine Marcos ("Cynthia"), Jessica Phillips ("Marion"), Steve Schepis ("Farrah"), Keala Settle ("Shirley"), "Divas" Jacqueline Arnold, Anastacia McCleskey and Ashley Spencer and Thom Allison, Kyle Brown, B Ryan West, Tad Wilson, Joshua Buscher, Susan Dunstan, Gavin Lodge, David Lopez, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Jeff Metzler and Eric Sciotto.