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HOLLYWOOD REPORTER BigThumbs_UP

March 20, 2011

The Bottom Line: Big, brassy, unapologetically profane and over the top — it’s no wonder Bette Midler signed on as a producer.

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AM NEW YORK BigThumbs_DOWN

March 20, 2011

“Priscilla Queen of the Desert” is not so much a normal musical but rather a loud, oversized karaoke party and midnight drag show. You really want to have fun, but it is so aggressively campy that it soon becomes irritating and too much to stomach.

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Newsday
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March 20, 2011

‘Excuse me, class coming through," says Bernadette as she calmly clears a path through the toughies in the tavern in the Australian Outback. And even if she has to say so herself, the woman knows what she knows — which means that we want to know, too.

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CHICAGO TRIBUNE BigThumbs_UP

March 20, 2011

The first tipoff to the desired ambiance at "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" is severe-faced Broadway ushers sporting huge purple boas. The second is the early descent not just of a disco ball, but the mother of all disco balls — a shimmering, spinning colossus that would put even a jet-lagged kangaroo in the mood for a Broadway party. And the third? Well, the opening number is "It’s Raining Men," warbled by three divas in the sky and underscored by various colorfully attired gents who do their best to eclipse any competing form of precipitation.

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NEW YORK TIMES BigThumbs_DOWN

March 20, 2011

Every conceivable surface has been decked with sequins, spattered with colored lights, plastered in mirrored chips or trimmed in feathers and fringe in “Priscilla Queen of the Desert,” the new musical that shimmied open Sunday night at the Palace Theater. Probably a few inconceivable surfaces have been accessorized with equally exotic detail, but I hesitate to inquire.

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March 20, 2011

So confident is “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” in its ability to ramp up the thrills that it doesn’t wait for the finale to drop the confetti — it falls a mere 30 minutes in shamelessly feel-good show won’t do to entertain, from bringing theatergoers onstage to dance to lowering its singing divas from the rafters. It may look a bit ramshackle at times, but "Priscilla" has a big, joyous heart.

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Entertainment Weekly
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Thom
Geier

March 20, 2011

Imagine La Cage aux Folles crossed with Rock of Ages and a dash of Mamma Mia! and you’ll get some sense of what awaits you at Broadway’s latest jukebox musical extravaganza, Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Based on the 1994 Australian movie about three road-tripping drag queens, this production boasts a score of super-familiar disco and pop hits and some seriously show-stopping costumes designed by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner, who won the Oscar for their work on the film and are safe bet to pick up a Tony this June. You might recall that Gardiner wore a self-made dress of Gold American Express cards to the Oscar-cast and her designs for the on-stage Priscilla are just as delightfully eye-catching and colorfully hilarious.

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