Hot on the heels of the closing announcement of West Side Story comes the news that the new musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert has booked the Palace Theatre and will open on March 20, 2011. Performances are set to begin on February 28, directed by Simon Phillips. The show will arrive on Broadway after a fall run at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre, where will have a 12-week engagement beginning October 12.
Adapted from the hit movie by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, Priscilla Queen of the Desert stars Olivier Award nominee Tony Sheldon as Bernadette, Tony nominee Will Swenson as Tick/ Mitzi and Nick Adams as Adam/Felicia. This trio of friends hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed.
The Broadway production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert will also feature C. David Johnson (Bob), James Brown III (Jimmy), Nathan Lee Graham (Miss Understanding), Mike McGowan (Frank), J. Elaine Marcos (Cynthia), Jessica Phillips (Marion), Steve Schepis (Farrah), Keala Settle (Shirley), “Divas” Jacqueline Arnold, Anastacia McCleskey and Ashley Spencer and Thom Allison, Kyle Brown, Bryan West, Tad Wilson, Joshua Buscher, Susan Dunstan, Gavin Lodge, David Lopez, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Jeff Metzler and Eric Sciotto.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert had its world premiere in Sydney in 2006 and has gone on to become the most successful Australian musical of all time. The London production is now in its second year at the Palace Theatre.