Priscilla pays tribute to LGBT community

When Priscilla Queen of the Desert opened in 1994, the film became a hit around the globe. With the movie’s positive portrayal of the gay fringe, it was a raving success for the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community.

This is a story of three friends: Two drag queens and a transsexual, who set out for the Australian Outback to perform a four-week gig at Alice Springs. Their trials and tribulations are indicative of their time. Queen Priscilla, the name of the large bus they had hired for this adventure, has been witness to all these, that despite all the camp, eccentricity and dry humor, being a gay man living in the Western World during those times was not easy.

The musical now serves to remind the LGBT community just how far it has  come. Beside us were a couple who were having a discussion as to whether the actors in the musical were gay or just good actors. They ended up saying that whatever their inclination, they were great singer-actors.

The early ’90s was a time where gay parenting was an anomaly. It was the twilight of the era before gay bashing was included in the definition of hate crime. These were the thinly-veiled issues that haunted the homosexual world 20 years ago. Today, gay men and women are tying the knot and raising families.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the musical opened last week at Resorts World with an amazing cast. At the helm is direk Jaime del Mundo who at first was hesitant to direct the show. “It wasn’t exactly up my alley,” he says. Jaime kept the sets minimal, supported them with a LED backdrop and had built as its centerpiece the life-sized bus called Priscilla.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is known for its flamboyant costumes (the film won an Oscar for Costume Design in 1995). With multi-awarded Edgar San Diego as chief costume designer, glitter sequins and towering headdresses take center stage. Edgar was tasked to create an all-original set of designs requiring the same wit, impact and creativity from the original Broadway show. Consequently, the trio of leads has eight iconic retro-inspired costume changes throughout the show, some of which take inspiration from Charlie’s Angels, Cher and Diana Ross.

The musical score is equally diva-rich, featuring radio-friendly hits that had been sung by disco and dance legends like Gloria Gaynor, Tina Turner and Kylie Minogue. There are close to 39 songs in the show and all are significant to the touching story and comedy of errors. “The younger generation will eat this show up,” promises Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo. “They took an interesting story and filled it with dance music. We will have audiences dancing in their seats.”

Leo Tavarro Valdez takes up the lead as Tick. While we had wished his character was more often queerly clad, his rendition of Dionne Warwick’s I Say a Little Prayer left us jaw-dropped as he filled the hall with his soulful serenading. Even his last solo, a true love song, Always On My Mind written by country music’s classic Willie Nelson, brought us to tears as he melodiously poured out his heart to his stage son Benjie. The power in Leo’s expression and voice left us exhausted at the end.

Veteran comedian Jon Santos gracefully fills out his gowns throughout the production. Playing Bernadette, a bereaved aging transsexual with an accomplished performing career behind her, Jon convincingly combines the elegance of a woman and the gentle bitterness of a gay man who has spent a lifetime battling the world to be the person she wants to be. Shoring up the trio is Red Concepcion, a rising star in the thespian world, who plays a young cocky Adam with the stage name Felicia Goodfellow. Adam is a new-generation drag queen who sings his own songs. He is loud, energetic and has a penchant for trouble that almost gets him bashed.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert plays Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 3 p.m.

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