Bernadette Bangura Archives - North West End UK

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

30Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

The Sheffield Lyceum Theatre basked in the 80s/90’s disco glitter ball disco hits as Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the Musical drove into town. With more sequined glamour and glitz than a red carpet event the audience went wild and this full throttle jukebox musical hit all the right notes with unadulterated pizzazz. Based on the Motion Picture, Stephen Elliott and Allan Scott’s adaptation does a stellar job in retaining its heart-warming story of acceptance, queer identity and family. The 13 years since its premier has seen Drag become a mainstay and accepted part of our culture not just in theatre but on prime time TV and Media. But, Priscilla, the trailblazer adds the Trans community central and upfront - no hiding - with the character of Bernadette which is written with sinceri...

Hairspray – Edinburgh Playhouse

‘Save your personal life…’ instructs Velma Von Tussle ‘… for the camera, Sweetie.’ She, back in ‘62 (OK, John Waters in the mid 80’s) had clearly seen something in a crystal ball about TV beyond the early 90’s. Despite how prescient this observation, it was soon overwhelmed by a production possessing strength, power and above all… rhythm. The dialogue - sharp and indestructible as a diamond – swung perfectly between the songs and vice versa, but where musicals can often find themselves staffed by good actors who can sing and dance a little, or good singers/dancers who can act a bit, this had a cast capable of handling it all. Of a Dick Van Dyke accent catastrophe there was barely a flicker. Not a cue nor a laugh was missed. It’s scarcely believable that this was the professional debu...

Hairspray – Sheffield Lyceum

Sheffield Lyceum’s opening night after 17 months of darkness - Hairspray is resoundingly resplendent, raucous and right on point. The show highlights many modern day issues that are particularly relevant today, that of Racism, Body Image and Sexism but never in a heavyweight way. It can be difficult to achieve this but, Hairspray packages these issues with a buoyant bouffant and plenty of toe tapping tunes. Set in Baltimore in the 1960’s we follow the trailblazer Tracy Turnblad as she stands up for equality and proves there is no place for the word ‘minorities' in the dawn of a new era. The staging on the UK tour remains traditional and is mainly made up of backdrops and two trucks which represent the Turnblad household on stage right and the Pingleton/ Motormouth Record Store on the l...