REVIEW: Priscilla Queen of the Desert - Bristol Hippodrome

Priscilla Queen of the Desert follows the story of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus travelling through the Australian Outback searching for love and friendship and end up finding more than they had ever dreamed of. 

 

The audience loved the show which is filled with feel good music such as Venus, Go West, Girls just Wanna have Fun and Boogie Wonderland but for me there were 2 best songs of the night, Venus for the awesome dance routine and costumes and True Colours for the beautiful harmonies by the lead actors – Richard Grieve, Jason Donovan and Graham Weaver.

 

Richard Grieve was outstanding as Bernadette giving the character some depth when the script did not and Ellie Leah had the audience in stitches with her portrayal of Shirley.  But staling the show tonight was the young boy who played Benji and his portrayal of a young boy who finds out his father was a drag queen and accepts his for it.

 

The set constantly changed throughout the show ranging from very bare with a rotating outline of a bus that made you feel a little dizzy to full-on showbiz glitterati with props galore and too many drag queens to count.  And I mustn’t forget to mention the awesome band under the supervision of Musical Director Richard Weeden which maintained the hyped up atmosphere all night.

 

If your looking for a good night out I would definitely recommend a visit to Bristol to see the show as Priscilla Queen of the Desert is at the Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 27 April 2013.

DISCLAIMER: While I am not paid for the review I do get the product/tickets for free

Starlight Express at Bristol Hippodrome

On Wednesday night I had the opportunity to see Starlight Express at the Bristol Hippodrome, the only catch was that I had to write a review, here's the review:

Starlight Express is a rock opera that depicts the story that all boys dream of - train sets coming to life. We follow the chances of several of the trains as they move through the heats to the finals of the world championship. 

The whole show doesn’t stop from the opening scene to the finale helped by the fact that everyone on stage is on roller skates.  The vibrant music and costumes with amazing lighting transformed the bare and simple set from a high octane nightclub in some scenes to a desolate wasteland in others. One thing I would ask for is more tricks and flips from the skating professional that performed occasionally.

Kristofer Harding was magnificent as Rusty conveying a whole range of emotions throughout the show, as well as Mykal Rand as Electra who seemed to light up the stage whenever he came on.

My favourite song of the evening was Freight with all the trucks singing in beautiful harmony (must be the Welsh Male Voice Choir fan in me) followed closely by Starlight Express which was beautifully sung by Kristofer Harding with raw emotion. U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D. sung by Ruthie Stephens as Dinah was another comedic highlight as well as One Rock ‘n’ Roll too many (sung by Greaseball, Electra and Red Caboose).

If you get a chance go and see Starlight Express as the moment I would highly recommend it, it’s at Bristol Hippodrome until Satuday 6^th April 2013.

DISCLAIMER: While I am not paid for the review I do get the product/tickets for free