priscilla hits a bump in the road

Working with drag queens is usually a real bitch. But it's got to be doubly hard when the star of your show weighs a ton and refuses to perform.

Last night's preview of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical," newly arrived in London's West End from Sydney, had to be postponed due to technical difficulties with the title "character," the bus that dominates the set from about the fifth scene forward. Apparently the old girl stopped cooperating and, based on my guess, wouldn't rotate properly for the show to go on. Talk about a pissy queen.

The BF and I caught enough of the musical to get a sense of its campy extravagance, which just got more fag-tastic with every scene. (When a show begins with three sequined angels suspended from the ceiling belting out Petula Clark's "Downtown" while a guy throws on a wig, heals and makeup below, you know the night will be anything but subtle.)

Things were going fine through the first few numbers, including a crass take on "I've Never Been to Me" (which was so earnest in the film), a hilarious Tina Turner shtick and an über-gay "Go West," but then the curtain came down and an announcer asked the audience to be patient while the crew worked out some technical difficulties.
The delay lasted maybe five minutes, then the action resumed with Mitzi, Felicia and Bernadette mary-ly driving across the Outback. Before the next song, the curtain fell again. This time director Simon Phillips came on stage and apologized for the set malfunction, noting that "although she may look like a bus, she's actually a very large and expensive computer" (aha--another drag queen!) which was, on this night, acting more like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, he said.
The show resumed one last time, but luck wasn't a lady tonight. Soon enough the curtain fell again, and this time one of the producers came out and announced that the show would be postponed. Apparently Priscilla's temper tantrums only started up in the last couple of days; the unnamed producer claimed that last week's performances went off without a hitch.

I can see why a broken down bus could be the death of this show; the piece itself--which cost a reported £1 million--stays in constant motion, spinning around like a "Price is Right" Showcase Showdown and opening up to reveal the leopard-print and fringed interior within. Did I mention that nothing about this show is subtle?

Knowing the film, Priscilla's troubles on stage happened minutes before the bus breaks down in the script, leaving the three queens stranded. Let's hope that's not a metaphor for what could happen with the show itself, which enjoyed a long run in Sydney. If the new West End production gets derailed by a piece of prickly hardware, well, that would be a real drag. Yuck yuck.

The show opens March 23 at the Palace Theatre in London.