Year of the Queen: The Making of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical (26 page)
Read Year of the Queen: The Making of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical Online
Authors: Jeremy Stanford
Funny old year, huh?
Post Script
Priscilla went on to perform for eleven months in Sydney and then travelled to Melbourne to the Regent Theatre for another nine months. By then it was the top grossing Australian musical in history and one of the top grossing musicals the country had ever staged. It then went on to New Zealand and enjoyed a sold out six week season in Auckland. This is where I left the show. Around seven hundred performances later it was time to hang up the stilettos and hand over the reins to a new Tick. The show returned to Sydney for a short season before opening in London, Toronto, New York, Milan and Brazil. It remains the most successful Australian show of all time and it’s a credit to the vision and tenacity of a group of exceptional people: Stephan Elliot, Simon Phillips, Ross Coleman, Garry McQuinn and Spud Murphy.
Once I left the show, I started a film production company called Storybox Films. We finished our first feature film - which I co-wrote and directed called
The Sunset Six
, in September 2011. It’s due for release in 2012. We have a number of other films in development and fingers crossed they’ll go in front of the camera in the not too distant future. I still do the odd acting job but film is where my heart is these days.
I wanted to publish this book as an
ebook
because the show is now an international affair. I still feel very proud of my involvement in it and wanted to share the story of its incredible birth with that international audience.
Let’s hope it keeps shaking its groove thang for many years to come.
Jeremy Stanford. May, 2012
.
THE ORIGINAL CAST
Bernadette - Tony Sheldon
Tick - Jeremy Stanford
Felicia - Daniel Scott
Bob - Michael Caton
Shirl - Genevieve Lemon
Marion – Marney McQueen
Cynthia - Lena Cruz
Miss Understanding - Trevor Ashley
Diva - Danielle Barnes
Diva - Sophie Carter
Diva - Amelia Cormack
Jimmy - Kirk Page
Frank - Ben Lewis
Bernadette Understudy & Ensemble - Rohan Senior
Tick Understudy & Ensemble - David Spencer
Felicia Understudy & Ensemble - Nick Hardcastle
Bob Understudy & Ensemble - Damien Bermingham
Dance Captain & Ensemble - Mark Hodge
Ensemble - Michael Griffiths
Ensemble - Kurt Phelan
Ensemble - Damien Ross
Ensemble - Dean Vince
Swing - Jeremy Youett
Swing - Christina O’Neill
Swing - Sean McGrath
Benji - Joshua Arkey
Benji - Alec Epsimos
Benji - Rowan Scott
Benji - Joel Slater
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Director - Simon Phillips
Writers - Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott
Choreographer - Ross Coleman
Musical Arranger, Director and Supervisor – Stephen “Spud” Murphy
Set Designer - Brian Thomson
Costume Designers - Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner
Lighting Designer - Nick Schlieper
Sound Designer - Michael Waters
THE PRODUCERS.
Back Row Productions – Liz Koops and Garry McQuinn,
Specific Films – Michael Hamlyn,
Allan Scott,
John Frost,
and Michael Chugg
in association with MGM On Stage.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: When The Phone Rang
Chapter 4: Can you hear the drums?
Chapter 9: She’s leaving home, bye bye
Chapter 11: Rehearsals Week Two