Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical

This Aussie drag-queen road-trip musical is about as subtle as being run over by a spangly 20ft bus with 'Rear Entry On Request' painted on the boot. 'Priscilla' is brash and trashy, but she is uniquely transporting, thanks mainly to the soundtrack of outrageously femme anthems ('I Will Survive'; 'Finally'; 'MacArthur Park') and to Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner's Australiana-inspired costume design, which is on a madly brilliant mission to give the whole ruddy kangaroo-hopping continent the campest of makeovers.

Despite the abundant faux flora and fauna, fans of the original may miss the alien beauty of the outback - and the film's art-house slant. Its three female impersonators are on a triple-pronged quest. Straight(-ish) man Tick (a listless Jason Donovan) is on his way to meet his six-year-old son for the first time. Fading star Bernadette (the waspish, touching Tony Sheldon) is running away from the death of her 24-year-old husband in a freak grooming accident. And the mouthy, hard-core Felicia (marvelously pouting muscle-boy Oliver Thornton) wants to fulfil his fantasy of climbing the sacred Ayers Rock in drag: 'A cock in a frock on a rock', as Bernadette remarks. Cultural sensitivity is one of many nuances that 'Priscilla… the Musical' grinds beneath its size-12 heels.

Hetero-womankind is represented by a bigot with tits down to the bottom of her beergut and a mail order bride who pops ping pong balls out of her orifices. But even if they were less freakish, these fabulous floorshows would still convince you that being a lypsynching woman is way more fun than being a real one. The pitstops in crudesville and schmalztown don't stop this being one hell of a ride.