THEATRE TALK: Priscilla Wigs It Up

Priscilla prepares

I've had an extremely interesting week in my role as assistant editor at arts website IdeasTap. I’ve talked to everyone from legendary wigmaker Richard Mawbey to Departure Lounge composer and writer Dougal Irvine, previously a darling of the West End in shows like Miss Saigon, Rent and Wicked.

Richard told me he has been engaged on short notice to work on the US premiere of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert. He’s only recently been asked to work on the project and has to make around 160 wigs before the opening on October 4th in Toronto. Gulp. It’s a tough order, but if anyone can do it, Richard can.

He’s done wigs for everyone, from Sean Connery to Richard Harris, Barbara Windsor to Susan Sarandon and his work on La Cage Aux Folles over the years has obviously shown Priscilla’s American producers that he is the man for the job.

Talking of Priscilla, lead Oliver Thornton recently opened the very first West End Bares. While the night itself could have done with more than a few screws tightening on the technical side and a little less rambling from host John Barrowman, there were some great performances, from Love Never Dies acrobats, Legally Blonde ensemble (plus Sheridan Smith) and most notably from Thornton, who performed 'Strip Britannia', a new song by Stiles and Drewe written specifically for the occasion. Check it out here. They raised no less than £38,000 for charity TheatreMAD.

Departure Lounge beckons

While chatting with Dougal, who is currently in rehearsals for the premiere of Departure Lounge at the brand new Waterloo East Theatre, about his career and work, we got onto the subject of the cast for this production. Chris Fountain, best known for his work in Hollyoaks and his rather impressive skating skills on (my guilty secret show) Dancing On Ice, is starring as JB in the musical, which is all about Four Lads returning from a holiday together - it's the complete antithesis of something like Les Mis.

“Chris is going to surprise a lot of people,” Dougal told me. “He absolutely nailed the audition, he’s very funny and he sings beautifully. He’s going to win himself a whole new legion of fans. He was the best man for the job.”

Others starring in the show include Liam Tamne, fresh from the Hair ensemble and Verity Rushworth, who starred alongside him as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray during its run at the Shaftesbury Theatre.

Relish This

Finally, if you haven’t yet you should check out James Graham’s new play Relish. Telling the story of the very first celebrity chef, lead James Walker is superb in the National Youth Theatre’s production of Graham’s new play. Graham previously wrote The Man (at the Finborough) and The Whisky Taster (at the Bush), and it marks a return for him to the NYT fold, as one of his earliest productions was their Tory Boyz, put on at the Soho Theatre a couple of years ago. Check it out at the Tramshed in Shoreditch until September 22.

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