Free Year of the Queen: The Making of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical by Jeremy Stanford Page B

has the audience eating out of his hand. When the speeches are finished we all mingle with the crowd, selling them a show which doesn’t exist yet. We tell them how fabulous it will be, and what a spectacular it is. They all buy into the white lie and seem convinced the show will be a hit as well.
    After telling our quota of fibs we’re ushered off to ‘the Party Bookers launch. This is less corporate and much more homey. There’s a sea of grey hair at this one and to their utter delight, Simon is at his bawdy best. He tells them that if they miss seeing Tony and me in dresses they’ll be missing out on the sexual thrill of a lifetime. They fall about laughing.
    He introduces Tony and they cheer like the Beatles have just hit the stage. Tony makes a slick, witty speech and they gaze adoringly up at him. Then it’s my turn. After two quickly slurped glasses of red wine my blood’s up, and I fire off a few gags, which hit their mark. Daniel joins us. He’s a natural, charming them instantly.
    Simon finishes the speeches off by saying, “If you like the young men standing in front of you, then you’d better get booking, as they’ll be straight back to the dole queue if you don’t.”
    I remind them I have two young sons to support and without missing a beat, Daniel says he has two cats. The room is now a mass of old people on fire. We begin to mingle. Everyone I meet remembers me from Buddy and tells me how much they loved it. Tony is besieged by elderly women desperately in love with him. One snuggles up and says, “Oh Tony, if things were different…”
    The schmoozing is spirited and genuine. It’s not hard to sell a show which people already want to see, and this is a crowd who seem to have followed my entire career. Carl leans into my ear and privately gives me the word. Time to go. There’s a cab downstairs waiting to take us to the airport. As we navigate our way through the adoring crowd, Tony is bailed up by an elderly man.
    “Is Bluey Lamont your Uncle?” The man says.
    Not wanting to hurt the old bloke’s feelings as he makes a dash past him, Tony lies and says,
    “Yes.”
    Tony has of course, never heard of Bluey Lamont. The bloke grabs a hold of Tony’s arm, suddenly emotional. Tony can’t go anywhere now.
    “Oh, we were in the army together,” he says. “He was a wonderful man”.
    Tony nods sympathetically.
    “How is old Bluey?” says the man. “Is he still alive?”
    Only half thinking it through, Tony says,
    “No.”
    The old bloke gasps, horrified.
    “Oh no!” he says, “That’s just terrible . He was younger than me! ”

Chapter 6
    Work Begins
    Second Workshop. 21– 24June
    I’m still processing yesterday’s launch as I arrive at the MTC studios to workshop the new script. A bunch of the cast will assemble to put the new script through its paces. Now that I’m part of the project for real, I’m dying to see where it’s at. Obviously there’s been endless script meetings and re-drafts, arguments, tantrums and budget restrictions, hasn’t there? Over four months have passed since we made the offering of the last script. Plenty of time, one would think, to confirm what was good in the last one and what was needed to improve it. Drawings of costumes and sets will have been made, ideas for the staging of dance numbers and set pieces surely must be on the table by now. But as usual, intelligence is scant. The executive of the citadel are tight lipped.
    I arrive first and wait for the small gang of cast members who will be part of this workshop to assemble. Nick and Lena arrive and we chuckle about the hijinx of yesterday. Nick can only shake his head in bewilderment when I tell him what a natural he is in drag. But where’s Marney, the woman playing my wife? Who is this girl who beat off such fierce competition for the role?
    Amelia fronts up, looking like someone who’s just arrived home to their own surprise party. She’s a young WAAPA graduate who was only cast