Queen of the dancefloor

 

For this next post, I’ll be looking at two shows that I happened to see at the end of 2016/start of 2017 (programmes above). The first was a professional production of ‘Strictly Ballroom’ and the second an amateur production of ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’. There's often an assumption that amateur shows aren't as good as professional ones and in my experience that definitely hasn't always been the case. This time I’ll also be considering the experience of live theatre and the immediacy of it (yes, I still miss it!) and what it means to people as well as the feelings it can evoke and the kind of unexpected things that can happen.

 Up first is a stage production of ‘Strictly Ballroom’, which I saw with my parents and Grandma at the Leeds Playhouse in December 2016 when we were in Yorkshire for New Year and family birthdays. We saw it in between Christmas and New Year, which is usually a confusing time where people might not know which day is it etc but after this past year, I think we’ve probably all become more used to that feeling all year round. ‘Strictly Ballroom’ is a musical adaptation of the Australian 1992 Baz Luhrmann comedy film of the same name which was based on a short play by Luhrmann and which parodies certain aspects of the competitive ballroom dancing world in the 1980s (a world Luhrmann knew from his own experiences). For instance, the leads and main couple, Fran and Scott, try out different styles of dance, including the Paso Doble that they are perhaps best known for, and learn important lessons about taking chances, stepping out on your own, being who you truly are and that there’s more to life than winning and competitions. For instance, when Scott meets Fran’s family, they teach him that ‘a life lived in fear is a life half lived’ and that’s something that I found quite powerful and that stuck with me. After the run in Leeds, ‘Strictly Ballroom’ was performed on stage in the West End in 2018 and was due to tour in the UK in 2020 under the direction of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge, Craig Revel Horwood, but was postponed due to Covid-19. The musical mainly features pre-existing songs, such as ‘Love is in the air’ and ‘Time after Time’, which appear in the movie and stage musical.

During the production of ‘Strictly Ballroom’ that we saw (on 29th December 2016), one of the significant things that happened was that Sam Lips, the actor who was playing Scott, fell ill in the first act and Dale White, one of the understudies, played Scott for the rest of the show (there are two understudies listed in the programme and I'm fairly sure it was Dale but feel free to correct me if that's wrong.) This reminded us how live it really was and that almost anything can happen during live performances. For instance, we didn’t know what was happening at first or if everyone was ok or if the show would go on or if it was a technical issue.* Much like Sam, who played Scott for the first half, Dale did a brilliant job, especially as it was such short notice and the whole cast was excellent. Whilst I’m sure it was a horrible night for the lead who was unwell, for the audience it added a whole wild level of excitement and relief as the show DID go on and was amazing. We clapped till our hands were sore for the hero of the night - the understudy! It was like being in a musical, never mind watching one.

I saw our next show, an amateur production of ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’, at the Whitehall Theatre in Dundee the day before my 17^th birthday in 2017 with my Mum and our fab friend, Phyl. In fact, much like ‘Strictly Ballroom’, ‘Priscilla’ is also a jukebox musical that is based on a 1994 Australian movie with 1970s/1980s music that was written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The show (written by Elliott and Allan Scott) includes famous songs such as ‘I’ve never been to me’, ‘I will survive’, ‘Don’t leave me this way’ and many more. However, while there are similarities between the two shows, ‘Priscilla’ is more of a road movie about the Australian landscape with friendship as a major theme, whereas familial pressures and expectations and the romantic relationship between Fran and Scott are quite crucial for the plot in ‘Strictly Ballroom’. The production of ‘Priscilla’ that we saw was performed by the Downfield Musical Society and featured at least one familiar face - Kenny Christie, playing Bernadette, had often been choreographer and director for shows I had taken part in for The Song Shop in Montrose. I knew he was super talented (he had been in a few shows with The Song Shop too) and while there were some...slightly questionable aspects and moments in the show, the whole cast did such a brilliant job as they're very talented.  You wouldn't see better on a West End stage (and with the added challenge of drunken banter from the audience too - a couple of women a few rows in front of us were asked to leave...). The costumes (from Utopia Costumes in Forfar) in ‘Priscilla’ were absolutely incredible too (and there were so many of them and some of them were so huge!) and the visuals were extremely eye-catching and memorable. We hadn’t known what to expect going in (I hadn’t seen the film at that point) but it was certainly a night to remember and it proves that amateur and local productions can be just as good as professional shows partly because many people who perform in local theatre groups are talented enough to be professional performers.

I know it’s been a hard year for fans of shows and live theatre and for anyone involved in the performing arts or creative world but we will have theatres and performances and shows again as live theatre really is so special and deserves to be loved and appreciated as there truly is nothing quite like it.

*This actually did temporarily pause a production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that I saw with friends at the same theatre three years after seeing ‘Strictly Ballroom’.