Priscilla is all dressed up
326 costumes made in 18 workshops in four different countries makes Priscilla Queen of the Desert the belle of the ball
BY Paul Gallant October 20, 2010 21:10
http://www.eyeweekly.com/arts/theatre/article/104447--priscilla-is-all-dressed-upSo I'm unsurprised when Tim Chappel tells me that the drag style in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which officially opens its North American run here on Oct. 26, is emphatically not about gay men dressing like women. Since its debut as a film in 1994, Priscilla has been about a fabulousness stripped bare of homosexual provocation. It's the story of a son, albeit a kooky one, reuniting with his father. Sissies? Some of the stage show's costumes have six-pack abs stitched right into them. Will Swenson, who plays the role of Tick/Mitzi (who was played by Hugo Weaving in the film and by Jason Donovan during the Australian run), even had his outfits "butched up" for this side of the Atlantic.
"The stuff we had on Jason Donovan looked too girly so we made it more artistic than girly, bowling shirts made out of vintage curtain fabric, rather than tight things," says Chappel, the award-winning costume designer who created the original movie's outfits and then, more than a decade later, was hired to design the costumes for the stage musical.
