Produced by Joseph Panuccio - Directed by Monique
Kelly
Choreographed by Stephen Clarke Canberra Theatre, 21st December 2018.
Reviewed by Bill Stephens
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| Prada Clutch and company in "Prada's Priscilla" |
How refreshing to attend a drag shows which doesn’t rely
on coarse language for its laugh’s. For her Christmas musical extravaganza, “Prada’s
Priscillas”, Sydney drag queen, Prada Clutch, had done her homework. Targeting
a general public audience, she had prepared a witty script, sprinkling plenty
of local references among her saucy double entendres, and dazzling her adoring
audience with a constant parade of eye-popping costumes and production numbers.
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| Prada Clutch in cockatoo mode leads the opening number in "Prada's Priscilla". |
Though this was her second foray into Canberra,
judging from the response to her request for a show-of-hands from those who had
seen her before, most of the audience were Prada Clutch virgins, more than
ready to gasp at the extravagance of the costumes, ogle her four hunky male
dancers, be delighted by her two supporting showgirls, Conchita Grande and
Christina Dior, and be impressed with the overall professionalism of her
show.
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| Conchita Grande and dancers in "I Need Some Hot Stuff" |
The first half of “Prada’s Priscilla’s” was a tribute
to the musical, “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”. Prada wore an astonishing white cockatoo
costume to lead the company through “I Love The Nightlife”. Conchita Grande
performed “I Need Some Hot Stuff”, costumed in glittering red and gold sequins,
surrounded by the male dancers as cheeky lizards making the most of their
swinging tails. These were just two of the highlights.
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| Prada Clutch presenting her tribute to "Les Girls" |
Unusually for a drag queen, Prada Clutch does her own singing. Her gorgeously costumed impression of Cher singing “If I Could Turn Back Time”, and the tribute to Les Girls in which Clutch led the whole company, all costumed in eye-popping white and silver ostrich feather costumes, would not have been out-of-place in the Folies Bergere
As well as providing additional eye-candy, the four
male dancers really could dance as they demonstrated in an energetic production
number, “Singing in the Rain”. Elsewhere, they added zing to the show executing
Stephen Clarke’s demanding choreography with enthusiasm and style.
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| Prada Clutch and Company presents her Christmas Medley |
The final section of “Prada’s Priscilla’s” was devoted
to a selection of cleverly staged Christmas songs among which Prada’s
performance of Barbra Streisand’s tongue-twisting version of “Jingle Bells”
almost stopped the show.
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| Prada Clutch presents her finale |
One slight disappointment was the absence of
background settings and projections suggested by the publicity photos. In
Canberra the show was presented in front of black curtains, relying on the
costumes and lighting to provide the spectacle. However, such was the standard
of the show that the absence of settings and some steps or simple risers to
provide interesting entrances for the showgirls and dancers, the choreography
and stagings for the production numbers began to look repetitive as the show
wore on.
But even despite this quibble, with its over-the-top
glamour, extravagant costumes and wigs, excellent production values and tightly
choreographed production numbers, “Prada’s Priscillas” continues a long
tradition of lavish Australian drag shows which harken back to the glory days
of Sydney establishments such as “Les Girls” and “Capriccios”. Prada
Clutch has indicated that she is keen to build an audience for her shows beyond
Sydney. Judging by the audience response to this performance of “Prada’s
Priscillas”, if she can maintain the standard set with this show, there is an audience
out there hungry for the extravagant fantasies she offers.
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| Prada Clutch |