PRISCILLA: QUEEN OF THE DESERT Extends Into March at Pride Films and Plays

Pride Films and Plays' production of the Tony Award-winning musical, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, the company's inaugural production in their two-stage Pride Arts Center, has added an extra four weeks of performances and will now close on Sunday, March 12 rather than the previously announced February 12.

The Jeff-recommended musical, which began previews on January 12 and opened for the press on January 15, earned raves from critics across the board and has been bringing mid-winter smiles to the faces of hundreds of patrons in sold out houses during its first weeks of performances.

Priscilla is performed in The Broadway, the center's 85-seat theatre at 4139 N. Broadway and is co-directed by Executive Director David Zak and Artistic Associate Derek Van Barham. Artistic Associate Robert Ollis is Music Director, Jon Martinez choreographer and Jeff Award-winner John Nasca designed the costumes. The trio of performers - two drag queens and a transgender woman - who traverse the Australian Outback in a beaten-up bus nicknamed "Priscilla" are played by Honey West, Jordan Phelps and Luke Meierdiercks, with Jill Sesso, Tuesdai B. Perry and Rebecca Coleman as the three Divas and John Cardone as Bob. West plays Bernadette, the transgender performer portrayed by Terence Stamp in the original film on which the musical was based. West is a longtime Chicago performer of musical theater and cabaret who has appeared in such productions as Dirty Dreams of a Clean Cut Kid, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Diva Diaries, Jerry's Girls, Tony and Tony's Wedding and Pussy on the House, where she received a Best Actress Award from Broadway World.com. She has won two After Dark awards for Outstanding Cabaret. Zak believes this is the first time a trans actress has played Bernadette.

PFP company member and two-time Jeff Award nominee Jordan Phelps (with nominations for Principal Actor in a Musical for Pride Films and Plays' Songs from an Unmade Bed and Supporting Actor in a Musical for Theo Ubique's Blood Brothers) plays Tick, the performer with an ex-wife and a young son who is anxious about the upcoming reunion with them at the end of the bus journey. Some of Phelps other roles include Under a Rainbow Flag and Angry Fags (Pride Films and Plays), Fly by Night, Blood Brothers, A Kurt Weill Cabaret (Theo Ubique) and The 39 Steps (Theater at the Center).

Completing the trio is Luke Meierdiercks as the hunky and mischievous Adam. Meierdiercks won hearts and critical praise in 2015 for his portrayal of Peter Allen's lover Greg Connell in Pride Films and Plays' The Boy from Oz. Luke has also appeared in The Boys Upstairs, The Boys in Briefs (Pride Films and Plays) and The Story of a Story (Underscore Theatre).

IF YOU GO:

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
By Stephan Elliott and Alan Scott
Co-directed by David Zak and Derek Van Barham
Choreography by Jon Martinez
Music Direction by Robert Ollis
January 12 - March 12, 2017
Pride Arts Center - The Broadway
4139 N. Broadway

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert the Musical is the heartwarming, uplifting adventure of three friends, Tick, Bernadette and Adam, a glamorous Sydney-based performing trio who agree to take their show to the middle of the Australian outback. They hop aboard a battered old bus (nicknamed Priscilla) searching for love and friendship and end up finding more than they ever could have ever dreamed of. With a dazzling array of John Nasca costumes and a hit parade of dance floor favorites including "It's Raining Men," "I Will Survive," Hot Stuff," "Go West," "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," and "I Love the Nightlife," this wildly funny and touching musical is a journey to the heart of FABULOUS! This Tony Award-winning musical based on the smash-hit movie of the same name enjoyed a 16-month run on Broadway.

Performances Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 3:30 PM. Additional performance Wednesday, February 15 at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $40 for reserved seats, $30 general admission. Ten percent of the tickets for each performance are $10 Access Seats available for students, seniors, or artists who cannot afford the other prices.

Pride Films and Plays changes lives through the generation of diverse new work (or work that is new to Chicago) with LGBTQ+ characters or themes that is essential viewing for all audiences. We accomplish this mission through fully-staged productions, writing contests and staged readings, film screenings, and special events. We foster long term relationships with artists to create programming that is as diverse, unique, and complex as the community we represent. In 2015, Huffington Post called PFP "A powerful and empowering entity." The company acquired its two performance spaces at 4139 and 4147 N. Broadway in July 2016, renaming the spaces the Pride Arts Center.

Pride Arts Center includes the 50 seat Buena and 85 seat Broadway, and is a home to PFP along with other companies who share our mission for theatrical excellence. Guest productions in 2017 will include work by Red Tape Theater and Walkabout Productions, Clock Theater, Underscore Theater, Another Door Repertory, About Face Youth Theater, Cor Theater, and New American Folk Theater. Each company will handle their own tickets sales and we will share marketing and promotion efforts. For rental information for rehearsal or performance, visit www.prideartscenter.com.

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