by Priscilla

Dec.08, 2011, under Cast Blog

I was the original Diva 1 in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland for nearly two years from 2006 to 2008. I was there for the last workshop. Priscilla happened really quickly for me. I got a call late one Friday afternoon saying do you want to audition for Priscilla and I was on pencil at the time for a feature. So I thought I’d audition, but I wouldn’t take the job if I got it. I walked into the waiting room at 6:30 one Monday night and I was the only girl there and I thought “Oh God”. Sometimes when you audition you just know you have the job and the next day it was ten to twelve and I got this phone call from my agent saying, they want you, they want you in Melbourne tonight and they want you to do a week long workshop. I asked if I could do the workshop and then decide whether to do the role and they said no. So I had six hours to decide, and the rest as they say is history.

Amelia Cormack

There were two other girls at the workshop, one who ended up playing Cynthia and the other Marion. The other actors were Jeremy Stanford who played Tick, Tony Sheldon who played Bernadette and Nick Hardcastle who went on to understudy Felicia and then became the alternate in the role. It was amazing to be there at the beginning of the whole process.

I was literally in London for two weeks when I got an e mail from Spud Murphy, asking me if I wanted to do Priscilla again and of course I said I’d love to. I feel really lucky to be in it again with a new cast and new production. It is different from the Australian production, but the essence and the heart and soul of it are the same. I think the Australian and British versions are more similar that the American version. The big difference was the scale of the Australian show as the stage and sets were much bigger.

Priscilla was the first big show that I did. Previously I made a few TV programmes and films. Afterwards I did a touring show in the UK, as well as a touring production of Fame in Australia. I’ve released my own album, and done some cabaret. Recently I’ve been involved in a lot of workshops, as new work is my passion at the moment. I love the creative process with it.

My favourite number is a toss up between Downtown and MacArthur Park. I love belting out MacArthur Park and there is something of that child like wonder when you start the show in Downtown and see the audience’s reaction for the first time. Nothing can recreate that. Go West is the most active number in the show and on a two show day it’s hard, but in the most part it’s great to be active and not sat around bored, which can often happen in other shows.

Priscilla is one of the best nights of fun and entertainment that you’ll ever have in the theatre. It’s such a spectacle with fun and heart. There’s nothing out there like it. In Australia we had Chopper Read come to the show. For those of you who don’t know him, he’s an infamous Australian hitman and conman that was played by Eric Bana in the film Chopper. He came to see the show twice and sat in the front four rows and both times he was the first person on his feet. If we can get Chopper Read on his feet, we can have anyone else on their feet!