BACKSTAGE BROADWAY

How I love these old theatres!

The last show we saw in NY was Priscilla, Queen of the Desert -- again, not for the faint of heart nor the easily offended.  In fact, I have a friend who went to see it just last week, and she hated it, but I'm not sure she knew what she was getting into.  John and me?  We had a blast.  But then, we had seen the movie, and had a pretty good idea of what to expect.

John beneath a giant silver stiletto.

We weren't expecting a Phantom or a Les Mis.  We expected more of a Mamma Mia kind of show.  Priscilla is not really about the story.  It's just three drag queens on a road trip across Australia.  Nor is it about new, original music.  Instead they recycled a lot of favorites from our youth that are guaranteed to have you singing, clapping, and maybe even dancing along.  No, Priscilla is just great costumes, great dance numbers, great props, lots of glam and glitter, and a lot of great, campy fun!

A couple of the frocks.

Since Cousin Jerry happens to be Prop Manager for this one, he had us come around to the stage door after the show, and he escorted us down into the bowels of the theatre.

Seeing exactly what goes on behind the scenes took our appreciation to a whole new level.  For example, when Jerry worked on the show Shrek, there were two sets of costumes to deal with -- townspeople and ogres.  In this show, every single song meant every person on stage was in a brand new costume, from the tippy top of their elaborate wigs and eye-make-up-masks down to their rhinestone-studded stilettos.  And their were extra sets of everything for the stand-ins. That's a lot of stuff to keep pristine, to organize, to store, and to maneuver into being in the right place at the right time.  So many wigs and frocks and props!

My hubby was modeling one of these in a previous post.

The most amazing piece of proppery was Jerry's bus, which was covered in LED lights (behind see-through paneling) that created psychedelic light shows and imagery at different times throughout the show.  The bus itself could spin around on stage to reveal the other side, which opened up like a camper.  The top slid open as well, allowing characters to rise up from within!

The bus was lined with a special fake fur that was no longer available, and which Jerry had to have custom -ordered.

Jerry points out a favorite piece -- a copy of the original he found, but which belonged in a museum, so he made a mold from it. Many props serve the double purpose of hiding wires and things you don't want the audience to see.

The shoe carrousel, in the corner of the bus.  I want one of these for my bedroom!

I couldn't get over the work that went into every little piece on stage, even if it was just a prop in the bus, and not actually part of a costume!

Was this the best day of the trip?  It's hard to say.  They were all good!  Alas, all good things must come to an end, and the following morning we headed home.  Oh, but I almost forgot!  That last morning we caved in and headed to McDonalds, since we'd had it with $50 breakfasts, but guess what we stumbled upon along the way?  The Food Emporium, a great little Euro-style specialty grocer with a counter service bakery-cafe inside -- a cafe that served yummy pastries, illy coffees, hot cocoa or tea, and which had a long table facing the window, where we could linger over our tea and cocoa, and people watch to our heart's content.  Exactly what we had been looking for from the get-go.  The total cost for both our breakfasts?  $8.97  Oooh, yeah!