I Will Survive judges (from left)
Jason Donovan, Toni Collette and Stephan Elliott, and host Hugh Sheridan.
Hopefuls follow the trail blazed by the
Priscilla bus reports The Sydney Morning Herald’s Michael Idato.
In 1994, director
Stephan Elliott breathed life into a small Australian film, The Adventures
of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It would become a cultural touchstone,
blending Australia's cosmopolitan gay capital with its mystical, ancient heart.
Its
plot - three city-bred drag queens embark on a coming of (middle) age journey
from Sydney to Alice Springs in a bus nicknamed Priscilla - resonated
powerfully. It was adapted as a stage musical in 2006 and has conquered
Broadway and London's West End.
Eighteen
years later, it has been turned into a television talent quest, in which host
Hugh Sheridan and two judges - Elliott and actor Jason Donovan, who starred in
the musical in London - search for the perfect musical theatre ''triple
threat'': a singer-dancer-actor.
Elliott
describes Priscilla as ''the old bus and chain'', touching gently on the
unbreakable connection he has to it. He has affection in his voice, but when he
talks about the ups and downs of the 18 intervening years, it is clear that
connection has not always been easy to live with.
''When
we were making it, I thought it was never going to work,'' he says. ''I thought
none of us would ever work again and that level of freedom, which I have never
had since, somehow made its way onto the film.
''When
it erupted, did I see it coming? No, I didn't. Did I get rich out of it? No, I
didn't. There was a bitterness that came with it after that, which was
realising how many people got rich off it and I was still basically struggling
just to pay rent.
''That
took about a decade to get a handle on and there was a period there where I was
ready to murder anyone who said 'Priscilla'.''
A
television series had been suggested by the film's production studio, PolyGram
Filmed Entertainment. Elliott wrote six or seven hours of it, but it did not
eventuate.
Adapting
Priscilla as a talent show, in the style of British programs that have
searched for leads for musicals such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
(in the show Any Dream Will Do) and The Sound of Music (How Do
You Solve a Problem Like Maria?), was raised many times. When the
discussion was opened again this year, Elliott says, ''the time felt right''.
''The
one thing I remembered, which I was reminded of when I went to the premiere of
the [stage] show in Sydney, is what joy it brings people.
''That
crowd went bananas. They were just so happy. And that's what it was like doing
the film. It was a really fun experience. I felt that if we could encapsulate
the same sense of freedom in the TV series, it would work.''
Elliott
is front and centre with I Will Survive, he says, to protect the
integrity of his original work. ''I don't want to be an actor, and I don't want
to be in front of the camera. I'm happier behind a camera, but the only way to
do it is to be a judge,'' he says. ''That puts me right in the front line to
protect the integrity.''
The
shoot - an actual road trip from Sydney to Alice Springs, retracing the film
journey, with some side treks built in - has been ''complete chaos'', Elliott
says.
''We
have 10 cameras running in all different directions, stuff going wrong, but it
is very funny.
''Some
days we can't get off the ground from laughing so hard. Everybody gets the joke
and that's what the brand brings with it.''
The
series begins with auditions, takes its top-12 performers on the road trip and,
returning to Sydney, takes its finalists to the US, finally arriving on
Broadway. Though the Priscilla musical has closed on Broadway, the prize
includes $250,000 cash and US representation.
Sheridan
signed on after parting ways with Channel Seven's top-rating drama Packed to
the Rafters. Though known mostly as an actor, he is a legitimate ''triple
threat''; that is, an actor-dancer-singer, though he concedes it is something
he hasn't always felt comfortable with. ''Once people are established in
musical theatre, it's hard for people to take them seriously as an actor,''
Sheridan says. ''I'm lucky because Rafters allowed people to see me as an
actor.''
What
I Will Survive is setting out to do, he says, is explain how ''these
days it is important to be able to do everything regardless; each discipline as
good as the next''.
Sheridan
says he was struck most by the transformational aspect of the road trip. ''Most
shows use the word 'journey'; we use it, but we can because we're on an actual
journey.
''The
scenery is breathtaking, the locations are extraordinary … The stage show is
not real, the movie is not real; this is real.''
The
advantage of filming in Alice Springs and not in a television studio? ''You
can't measure it,'' Sheridan says.
Most
importantly, Elliott adds, I Will Survive does not stray far from the
simple message in the original Priscilla film.
''Priscilla
has a simple message of tolerance,'' he says. ''That's the heart of drag: an
average kid, who isn't good-looking, who isn't famous, but for one fabulous
night they can become this fabulous creation and be the centre of attention.
''The
Rocky Horror Show was the same, about the misfits and the losers. And Glee
has turned it into an industry. There are a lot of people out there who don't
get a shot. And that is the real heart of Priscilla.''
I Will Survive airs on Wednesday on
Channel Ten at 7pm.
