Musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert will be staged at Artscape Theatre from Wednesday March 26 to Sunday April 23.
Ten year olds, Jack Fokkens and Jagger Vosloo and eight year old Alexander Wallace take to the stage as Benji, the son of lead role Tick played by Daniel Buys.
Benji is the real reason Tick convinces his fellow friends Bernadette and Felicia to head off into the desert in a big pink bus for a four-week stint at a Hotel Casino Resort in Alice Springs, the same resort managed by his estranged wife Marion played by Taryn-Lee Buys. Interestingly, the roles of the estranged couple are played by real life husband and wife.
Tick hasn’t seen eight-year-old Benji for years and is nervous about exposing him to his colourful lifestyle, only to be surprised that Marion has raised him to be sweet and open-minded so he’s fully supportive of his father’s sexuality and career.
“The role of Benji presents itself as a wonderful opportunity for a young actor to work with multi-talented all South African cast and creative team in one of the best known productions in the world,” says Hazel Feldman of Showtime Management.
“This is going to be an exceptional learning curve especially as the boys will be working with Australians Dean Bryant, Worldwide Associate Director of Priscilla, and Andrew Hallsworth who co- choreographed the international production of Priscilla, for Broadway with Ross Coleman.”
Priscilla Queen of the Desert is a heart-warming and uplifting tale of three drag artist friends who hop aboard a battered old bus aka “Priscilla” and go off on the adventure of a lifetime through the Australian Outback, to perform in Alice Springs. On the way they find friendship, love and far more than they ever dreamed of.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert has been seen by over five million people worldwide to become the most successful Australian musical of all time.
With 10 years and several thousand kilometres racked up, the pink bus is looking more magnificent than ever for its South African debut and will run for a limited season at Artscape before heading to Montecasino’s Teatro in Johannesburg.
Based on the Oscar-winning film, the play features a hit parade of dance-floor favourites including I Will Survive, Hot Stuff, Finally, Boogie Wonderland, Go West, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and I Love The Nightlife plus more than 500 outrageous costumes, 200 extraordinary headdresses and a 10-metre long customised bus weighing six tonnes as its sparkling centrepiece. This musical contains some strong language and adult themes, therefore parental guidance is recommended for children under the age of 12.
Ticket prices range from R150 to R500.
Book at Computicket.