by Priscilla

May.07, 2010, under Cast Blog

Playing Miss Understanding is interesting, because it’s different every night. The audiences react differently from show to show. When I go out there and first address them as Miss Understanding I literally have no idea how the speech will go, which means you can’t prepare totally. Sometimes they laugh out loud straight away, other times I have to give them a nudge, by putting a little laugh in it myself. It is quite in your face straight away and sometimes they are not prepared for it, but by the time I get to the song, they are all into it.

Newley Aucutt

I’ve always been a huge Tina Turner fan, but I’ve never done drag before. So when I came in to audition and they gave me the music and the script I was not sure how far I was supposed to take it. I did almost what was in the show now. I was flying blind so to speak. I purposefully hadn’t seen the show when I auditioned, because I didn’t just want to copy what Wezley had done. I wanted to do what I thought it should be. I listened to Tina a lot beforehand and then made my homage to her.

I’ve been lucky to be in a few West End musicals including We Will Rock You, Little Shop of Horrors and the The Wizard of Oz. I was fortunate to be offered Priscilla and another job at the same time. I thought this would be so out of my comfort zone that it appealed to me. I worried about it a bit, I spoke to my agent and said that I’ve never done drag before and I’m not sure I can do it, but that fear gives you an energy and excitement.

The most difficult part of the show for me is the dancing. I’ve never been a dancer, so to learn the choreography and then do it in a cupcake costume or a Gumby outfit is quite a challenge. Going out as Miss Understanding on your own and addressing the audience not knowing how it is going to go is also very difficult. It is written really well, it is just about pulling off the delivery.

My favourite part of the Priscilla is Miss Understanding, as it is a great part for me as an actor. If you are coming to see the show the musical numbers are spectacular and the script is great. There is something there for everyone to enjoy.