Ray Meagher returns to the West End in internationally award winning PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT MUSICAL

Earlier this month Tim Chappell and Lizzy Gardiner won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, having previously received an Oscar® and a Laurence Olivier Award for their work on Priscilla.

Based on the Oscar® winning film Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical tells the story of Tick, Bernadette and Adam, a glamorous Sydney-based performing trio who agree to take their show to the middle of the Australian outback.

Australian born Ray Meagher’s acting career has spanned a period of over 35 years on film, television and stage. His is best known for playing the ongoing role of Alf Stewart in the Australian soap Home and Away, a role which he has played since the first episode of the series in 1988. In 2010 Meagher won the Gold Logie Award for the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television. In 2007 he joined the Australian cast of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical to play Bob in the original Sydney production. Meagher has worked extensively in pantomime throughout the UK, most recently playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan in Tunbridge Wells. His extensive Australia theatre credits include work for Queensland Theatre Company and the Adelaide Festival. His many film credits include Breaker Morant, The Chamberlain Report and Mail Order Bride.

The current principal cast Don Gallagher (Bernadette), Richard Grieve (Tick), Oliver Thornton (Adam) and Mark Moraghan (Bob) are joined by Gemma O’Duffy, Charlotte Riby and Lucinda Shaw as the three Divas, Newley Aucutt as Miss Understanding, Selina Chilton as Marion, Liz Ewing as Shirley, Tristan Temple as Jimmy, Kanako Nakano as Cynthia, Steven Cleverley as Farrah/Young Bernadette and John Brannoch as Frank. Completing the company are James Cohen, Tim English, Steven Grace, Hugo Harold Harrison, Matt Krzan, Frances Mayli McCann, Lucy Newton, Callum Nicol, Ian Oswald, Will Peaco, Olivia Philip, John Phoenix, Graham Vick and Graham Weaver.

Priscilla is a heart-warming, uplifting adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed. With a dazzling array of outrageous costumes and featuring a score of dance-floor classics, Priscilla is a sensational journey to the heart of fabulous.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical had its world premiere in Sydney in October 2006 and subsequently wowed audiences and critics alike in Melbourne and New Zealand, becoming the most successful Australian musical of all time. After a return Sydney season and a recent run in Toronto, in March this year the Tony award-winning Broadway production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical opened at the Palace Theatre in New York. Further international dates are planned for Italy and Brazil. Discussions are also taking place regarding other international territories including Scandinavia, Germany and Asia.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical is written by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott. Direction is by Simon Phillips, Choreography is by Ross Coleman, Musical Supervision and Arrangements by Stephen ‘Spud’ Murphy and Production Design is by Brian Thomson. Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner have re-created their Oscar®-winning Costume Designs, which were originally designed for the film. BAFTA Award winning Make Up design is recreated by Cassie Hanlon. Lighting is designed by Nick Schlieper and Sound design by Michael Waters.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical is produced in London by Liz Koops and Garry McQuinn for Back Row Productions, Michael Hamlyn for Specific Films, Allan Scott, John Frost, Michael Chugg, David Mirvish and The Really Useful Group, in association with MGM on Stage, Darcie Denkert and Dean Stolber, based on the Latent Image/Specific Films Motion Picture, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.