Actors from Broadway hits such as Damn Yankees, Jekyll and Hyde and The Book of Mormon will be taking the stage at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts today, Wednesday, for Priscilla Queen of the Desert. The show runs from July 20 to Aug. 6.
Presented by The Gateway, Priscilla is an acclaimed musical adapted from the 1994 Academy Award-winning film The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
Priscilla the musical was written by Stephan Elliot and Alan Scott. It’s the most successful Australian musical of all time, with runs on the West End and Broadway, according to Gateway. This is the show’s premier on Long Island.
The Gateway production is directed by Dave Ruttura with choreography by Gerry Mcintyre.
The lead actors portray a trio of friends on a road trip, “who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback. They end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed,” according to a press announcement about the show.
The musical features over 20 dance-floor anthems including “It’s Raining Men,” “Finally” and “I Will Survive. Tickets start at $59. Click here for tickets or call The Gateway box office at 631-286-1133.
about the actors
The Gateway production will star Jarrod Emick (“Tick/Mitzi”). Emick is a Tony Award, Drama Desk and Theatre World Award winner for his role “Joe Hardy” in the 1994 Broadway Revival of Damn Yankees. His additional original cast Broadway productions include The Full Monty, The Boy from Oz, Ring of Fire and the West End premiere of The Rocky Horror Show.
William Selby (“Bernadette”) is a veteran actor and director of Off Broadway’s Forbidden Broadway and most recently appeared in Laughing Matters, Vol 5 at Florida Studio Theatre. He appeared in the NY workshop of Finding Nemo and appeared regionally in South Pacific, Barrymore, and The Presidents. Matthew Marks (Adam/Felicia) joins the company on hiatus from Broadway’s The Book of Mormon. He also appeared on Broadway in West Side Story and the Broadway National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof (Fyedka).
The three portray the trio of friends, on a road trip of a lifetime, who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback. They end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed.
Bob will be played by Mitch Poulos who appeared in the Broadway tour and Canadian Production of Billy Elliot the Musical (Big Davey). The three Divas will be played by Coleen Sexton (Gateway’s Lady of the Lake in 2011’s Spamalot, Broadway’s Jekyll and Hyde, National Tours of Wicked as Elphaba, Legally Blonde as Brooke Wyndham and Chicago), Deb Walton (Broadway’s Pajama Game, National Tours of South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun and Chicago), and Lisa Helmi-Johanson (New York’s Avenue Q, and regionally in Waterfall at The 5th Avenue Theater, 4,000 Miles at St Louis Rep and Taming of the Shrew at Virginia Stage Company.
The rest of the company includes Darius Harper (Miss Understanding), Jon Cooper, Alex Nordin, Emily Grace Kersey, Mark DiConzo, Brooke Martino, Mallory Davis, Nicolas de La Vega, Adam Rennie, Andrew Norlen, Vinny Celeiro and Martavius Parrish.
