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Motiv8
The Octagon Theatre
Yeovil
Friday 21st July 2017
When I go out to watch a spot of Musical Theatre my ideal show is full of great tunes, ideally performed with a great dollop of pizzazz by folks in spandex and sequins. The show should sparkle and come to think of it, have a bus, oh and amazing, fair-dinkum tricks with ping-pong balls and as much camp as pink ink too, if possible. So, imagine my surprise when Friday night’s Motiv8 show at the Octagon Theatre came along: My list of ticked boxes was as full as a centipede’s sock drawer.
Motiv8 have a great reputation for delivering exciting shows. Theatrical force-of-nature Dan Warr-Extance has directed award-winning productions like the explosively gymnastic Bring It On and the spectacular roller-skated action of Starlight Express in recent years so expectation for another big show was high. He did not disappoint with Priscilla. The show was big, sparkling and exciting.
Priscilla is the story of three characters: Drag Queen Mitzi Mitosis or Tick to his mates, his transsexual friend Bernadette, formerly Ralph and Bernadette’s friend, Drag Queen Felicia Jolly Good Fellow or Adam Whitely as he is know off-stage. The three agree to travel to Alice Springs to reunite Tick with his son. To achieve the journey they procure a bus they name Priscilla and stopping occasionally en route to perform their drag act and interact with the locals: much fun (and some sadness) is had by all.
Director/Choreographer Dan’s major challenge must have been casting the three main characters: their quality would be essential to the show’s success. In James Newton who played Tick, Mike Purnell who played Bernadette and Rob Reid who played Felicia Dan would have been hard-pushed to find better. These were three performers perfectly suited to their roles and who inhabited their characters utterly. Singing from all three was of the highest order, even maintaining Aussie accents in song, and acting was believable and engaging. Comic timing, particularly from Mike Purnell, was spot on: He clearly understands the precision required to ‘hold’ a punch line, gesture or facial expression to the perfect moment for maximum comic effect – very impressive and very funny. James has a gorgeous singing voice, even when briefly impersonating Elvis! Rob, too sang with real ability, giving a terrific characterisation. Great casting and great performances.
Supporting roles worked well too – literally supporting in the case of the three glamorous, golden-voiced Divas Chelsea Wood, Flic Keirle and Kiera Gladman who were ‘flown’ high above the sparkling slash curtain of the opening number and who returned at a similar altitude later in the show. Stevie P as Miss Understanding was suitably OTT as he opened the show in style, Danielle Kennedy was full of energy as Marion, Malcolm Harris was the charming and gentlemanly Bob, James Bamford showed energy and versatility in several parts and young Madison Parks-Keirle was impressive in singing and acting as Tick’s son Benji. The full cast was huge, with many more parts which time and space preclude my listing but all did very well.
The Ensemble was impressive too. In his role as Choreographer Dan must have driven the team very hard indeed. Choreography was often spectacular and very well performed by a large group. The costume element created by an enormous team led by Nicki Saunders worked very well indeed – combining with the dance element to provide real spectacle. The most striking element comprising the Ensemble’s performance was the clear enjoyment of the performers, which radiated into the audience and lit us up.
The ‘look’ of the show was enhanced hugely by Priscilla herself: A full-sized bus, mounted on a turntable which was slid, pushed, pulled and rotated to great effect by cast members. We were able to see both the impressive exterior of the bus and when rotated, the interior – great stuff.
Musically the show was great: a broad selection of iconic hit songs – one of the great advantages of the ‘juke-box’ musical is that the audience already knows almost every song so engagement is instant: just add the singing talent! Musical Director Ali Warlow and her Assistant MD Chelsea Wood had worked their magic on the singers: from individual solo songs from the starring trio, through close-harmony numbers to full-cast, high-energy ‘belters’ singing was full of musicality. Using a backing track can result in a loss of energy in musical performance but Ali and Chelsea had made sure this was not the case for Priscilla: energy shone out.
So, this was a show full of energy, laughs and spectacle: Was it perfect? Well, not quite. I can understand that staging a production like Priscilla is a huge and complex undertaking and the performances elicited by Dan were very good indeed however there was something of a lack of polish around the edges of the presentation: Rather too much dead black-out time between scenes and transitions felt a little clunky for me (though it is my job to notice these things and the electrified, responsive audience did not appear to care a hoot – so I can shut my face). This having been said – I haven’t had so much fun watching a show in a very long time.
Dan Warr-Extance, his long-suffering husband Mark plus the entire team at Motiv8 should be very proud indeed of the work they have presented, not least the dressers and other back stage people who must have worked their behinds off! I am agog to hear what their next production will be.
Thanks for inviting me