TONY SHELDON TO RETURN HOME AS PRINCIPAL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR AUSTRALIA’S MOST SUCCESSFUL MUSICAL
Australian theatre royalty Tony Sheldon will be back on the bus, returning home to reprise his role of “Bernadette” in the 10th Anniversary Celebration Tour of Priscilla Queen of The Desert – Australia’s most successful stage musical.
Completing the trio of misfits who hop aboard a battered old bus bound for Alice Springs is accomplished leading man David Harris as “Tick” and Kinky Boots and Les Miserables alumni Euan Doidge as “Felicia”.
Performances begin on Sunday 21 January 2018 at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre, before touring to Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
Tony and Olivier nominated actor Tony Sheldon created the role of Bernadette in the original Australian production, frocking up more than 1750 times across the globe as the sassy desert queen. He performed the role in the original West End production before treading the boards at the legendary Palace Theatre on Broadway where he won the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. He won the Sydney Critics, Green Room and GLUGs Award along with a Helpmann nomination for his performance in the Australian production. Overseas he was nominated for a Tony and an Olivier Award. His portrait hangs on the famous celebrity wall at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York’s Times Square.
Tony Sheldon is a third-generation performer. As a baby he watched from his bassinet as his parents, cabaret legend Toni Lamond and her late husband Frank Sheldon, rehearsed their vaudeville act. He began his career as a seven-year-old singing on Graham Kennedy’s TV show “In Melbourne Tonight” and has performed with all of Australia’s major theatre companies. He now lives in New York.
David Harris has a celebrated career spanning more than 20 years. He gained critical acclaim for his portrayal of “Chris” in Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Miss Saigon and has won countless awards and nominations for various musical roles, including Fiyero in Wicked, The Baker in Victorian Opera’s Into The Woods and as Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde.
Euan Doidge was most recently seen in Cyndi Lauper’s musical Kinky Boots as one of the sequined, high-heeled “Angels”. He understudied the lead role of “Lola” and performed many times to great acclaim. He previously played “Marius” in the recent Australian tour of Les Miserables and has appeared in Anything Goes, The Producers, A Chorus Line and Legally Blonde.
Tony, David and Euan lead a cast of 25 movers and groovers for the 10th Anniversary tour of this veritable national treasure; Australia’s most popular homegrown musical and top cultural export.
Based on the Oscar-winning film, Priscilla Queen of the Desert is the hilarious adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus bound for Alice Springs to put on the show of a lifetime. The 1994 film created by Stephan Elliott starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce remains one of Australia’s most successful films and soundtracks of all-time, winning a trophy cabinet of awards – including an Academy Award for Costume Design, two BAFTAS for Costume and Make-Up Design and the Grand Prix du Publique from Cannes Film Festival.
The iconic hit musical has more glitter than ever, featuring a dazzling array of more than 500 award-winning costumes, 200 headdresses and a non-stop parade of dance-floor classics including IT’S RAINING MEN, I WILL SURVIVE, I LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE, FINALLY, and many more.
Michael Cassel Group and Nullarbor Productions in association with MGM on Stage present Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the cult classic translated from screen to stage by director Simon Phillips, and authors Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott with the film’s award-winning costume designers Lizzy Gardiner and Tim Chappel onboard, alongside stage designer Brian Thomson and co-choreographers Andrew Hallsworth and Ross Coleman.
Full casting to be announced soon.
