“Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”

[rating=4]There was a great deal of activity in Wrigleyville tonight, and the Cubs were not in action. The action was at the Mercury Theater Chicago and the “at last” production of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” with a book by Stephan Elliot and Allan Scott. What a drag! What I should say is this is a drag show musical that began as a movie. In reality it was a “road movie”. Think back to the early years of films when Bob Hope and Bing Crosby along with Dorothy Lamour made “road films”. They were silly, funny and included all types of music and situations. Today, this is called “camp”

When this movie was made back in 1994 it was anticipated that the LGBT community would hold it as its own. It truly gave this community a positive portrayal and allowed mainstream audiences to learn a little about the “other world”. “Tick” a/k/a Mitzi (Josh Houghton) is a very tall drag queen who at one time was married and had a son. He never saw his son and has been estranged from his wife for many years. She manages a hotel where she is in need of a show to save her  job and wants “Tick”to meet his son. He persuades two of his friends, Adam/Felicia ( played to perfection by Shaun White) and Bernadette ( Played by Honey West- the first actual transgender to play this role) to join him on their “road trip” in a  tour bus, called Priscilla across the country.

While on this journey thru the desert and remote areas they meet all types of people and situations. Their bus is painted, breaks down and along the way they meet their hero, Bob ( a wonderful character played by Michael Kingston, who also handles some other roles). Bob is married but during the course of the action she leaves him, but it doesn’t bother him as he is falling for Bernadette.

Directed and choreographed by Christopher Chase Carter on a set designed by Jonathan Berg-Einhorn, this is a pretty slick production. The Mercury is a smaller venue with a stage that they have learned to use to its best advantage, and while this set and set pieces are not glitzy, they make up for it with very talented ensemble members. The Divas ( these three ladies are dynamite and change costumes and wigs quite quickly) are Heather J. Beck, Lydia Burke and Jessica Brooke Seals. Darren Patin, a member of the ensemble playing all kinds of roles truly shines as Miss Understanding in the opening number. Brittany D. Parker plays the estranged wife and the son Benji is played by newcomer Gabriel Solis.

Rounding out the ensemble are: Marcus Jackson, Matthew Weidenbener, Ayana Strutz ( who does a number that is worth the price of the ticket-she is sensational) and John Cardone.

This is a song filled show with some songs being lip synched and others being more snippet than song. The list is amazing: “Venus”, “True Colors”, “I Will Survive”, “Thank God, I’m A Country Boy”, “Always On My Mind”, “Color My World” and many many more including a production number of “MacArthur Park” that is a show stopper, for sure! I think 30 songs.

“Priscilla” has a cult following and I am pretty sure that 70% of the opening night audience was composed of the followers. They knew what was coming and when. The energy in the audience was almost as high as the actors on stage. Will this show appeal to everyone? Certainly not at the rate that I witnessed. My rating however is based on my feelings about what I saw and what I feel will be my readers and listeners. By the way, the musical direction by Eugene Dizon was right on and Robert Kuhn outdid himself on the costumes. The wigs by Keith Ryan were extraordinary. This production is geared to entertain and educate the people who attend, and  I truly believe it was accomplished. Running time-total 2 hurs and 25 minutes ( two one hour acts and an intermission with the bar open).

“Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” will continue through September 11th with performances as follows:

Wednesdays  7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays  2 p.m.

Tickets range from $39 and are available at the box office, online at www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com

The Mercury Theater is located at 3745 N. Southport Ave.

Covid regulations require face masks during the entire visit to the building

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”.