STAGE TUBE: PRISCILLA Talks West End Success & Bway

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, at the recent WhatsOnStage.com Awards, Gary McQuinn, producer of the Australian hit PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESSERT, announced that the show has planned a Broadway transfer for sometime in 2011.  See his interview, in addition to the starry arrivals at the Whatsonstage.com Awards below.

The hit musical will celebrate a year in the West End on March 23rd, 2010 having completed over 425 performances at the Palace Theatre since its opening last year. From 8 March Jason Donovan (Tick) and Oliver Thornton (Adam) will be joined by Don Gallagher as Bernadette. As booking for the show in the West End has been extended until 26 February 2011, it is unclear as to whether or not these London stars will make the transfer to the Great White Way.

Based on the Oscar award-winning film and written by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott and directed by Simon Phillips, Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical tells the story of Tick, Bernadette and Adam, a glamorous Sydney-based performing trio who agree to take their show to the middle of the Australian outback.

Priscilla Queen Of the Desert The Musical is an adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed. With an array of outrageous costumes and featuring a score of dance-floor classics, Priscilla is a journey to the heart of fabulous.

The cast, from March 8th, includes Jason Donovan (Mitzi/Tick), Don Gallagher (Bernadette), Oliver Thornton (Felicia/Adam), who are joined by Portia Emare, Emma Lindars and Charlotte Riby as the three Divas, Newley Aucutt as Miss Understanding, Yvette Robinson as Marion, Steven Cleverley as Farrah and Young Bernadette, Daniele Coombe as Shirley, Tristan Temple as Jimmy, Kanako Nakano as Cynthia and John Brannoch as Frank, and Completing the company are Christopher Drake, Amy Edwards, Amy Field, Hugo Harold Harrison, Luke Jackson, Hayley Jayne Langwith, Callum Nicol, Zabrina Norry, Will Peaco, John Phoenix, James Rees, Jeremy Secomb, Robert Styles, John Tsouras and Matt Wesley.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical had its world premiere in Sydney in October 2006 and has subsequently wowed audiences and critics alike in Melbourne and New Zealand, becoming the most successful Australian musical of all time. After a return Sydney season last year due to popular demand, the London production now celebrates its first year in the West End. Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical will open at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Toronto on 12 October and with plans for a Broadway transfer to open early 2011. Further international dates are also in discussion for productions in Brazil, Scandinavia and Germany.

Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical - adapted from the Oscar®-winning film The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce - is written by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott. Direction is by Simon Phillips, Choreography is by Ross Coleman, Musical Supervision and Arrangements by Stephen ‘Spud' Murphy and Production Design is by BrIan Thomson. Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner have re-created their Oscar®-winning Costume Designs, which were originally designed for the film. BAFTA Award winning Make Up design is recreated by Cassie Hanlon. Lighting is designed by Nick Schlieper and Sound design by Michael Waters.

Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical is produced in London by Liz Koops and Garry McQuinn for Back Row Productions, Michael Hamlyn for Specific Films, Allan Scott, John Frost, Michael Chugg, David Mirvish and The Really Useful Group.

For more information, visit priscillathemusical.com. Ticket prices for the West End production - Monday to Thursday evenings at 7.30pm and Thursday matinees at 2.30pm: £60, £45, £25, £20
Saturday matinees at 2.30pm & Friday & Saturday evenings at 7.30pm and Sunday matinees:
£65, £45, £25, £20. Box Office: 0844 755 0016.