Oliver Thornton on Playing 'a Bitch with a Heart' in London's Priscilla

Priscilla Queen of the Desert has given West End musical vet Oliver Thornton his flashiest role to date: the lippy, feathered drag queen Felicia (alter ego of Adam, the character created on film by Guy Pearce), who sets out on an eventful bus trip across Australia. No wonder the 30-year-old Welshman has stayed with the musical since its London debut in March 2009 at the Palace Theatre. Thornton’s flashy costumes are so plentiful that they’re mostly kept above the stage, leaving room for the engaging actor to chat with Broadway.com about the appeal of strapping on heels eight times a week.

You’re the only one of the four original London stars who’s still with Priscilla 15 months after opening night. You must be having fun.
I’m holding on to the fort [laughs]. Usually, I’ve done year-long contracts and felt that it was right to move on. But this one still felt exciting and fresh and the audiences were just getting better and better, so it felt right to stay on. There are challenges that come with a long run in a show like this, just physically. You get tired, and I’m sure the time will come when I have to hang up my heels.

That’s the paradox: You pray for a long run, but when one happens, you have to honor the demands posed by being in a hit.
Absolutely, but with this show, especially, at end of our first year I thought, “I can’t believe it’s been a year. I can stay in this, I can keep it fresh, I can keep reinventing it,” and hopefully that’s what I’m doing. Potentially, I’m going through to next March, which is the next big cast change.

As the run goes on, do you find yourself merging more and more with Adam/Felicia—getting mouthier and more blunt?
I think the opposite! In this role more than any other I’ve done, I really try to make a definition between my life and the show, because the role is so different to me as a person. There are other roles I’ve played that have been closer to myself—specifically Raoul in Phantom because I am a romantic at heart and it’s so easy to get swept up in the drama and romance of that show. But with this, I don’t feel anything like Adam. He’s a party boy who represents the new wave of drag and is a bit of a bitch. That said, I love him, so he’s sort of a bitch with a heart [laughs].

You don’t find yourself, say, in a restaurant with poor service thinking, “What would Adam/Felicia do in this situation?”
If you did what Felicia would do, I think you’d be arrested, so it’s probably good that I keep a clear line between Oliver the actor and Felicia the character. Adam does take every opportunity to tear people down and use their weaknesses to his advantage. But I think fundamentally he’s a good person, and during the story of Priscilla, he learns to have compassion and understanding.

The costumes are so eye-popping. Have you ever worried about being upstaged by your own clothes?
I’m very aware that the costumes in this show have their own life. It’s an amazing, amazing costume design, and I’m so glad that Tim [Chappel] and Lizzy [Gardiner] won the Olivier Award and hopefully will do well at the Tonys, fingers crossed. People come to see the costumes, and you have to put your ego to one side and say, “That’s part of the joy of the show.” When you have costumes like these, it allows you to transform yourself: You put them on, and you move differently and express yourself differently. You couldn’t do a minimal Priscilla, could you?

This is one musical that won’t be turning up at the Menier Chocolate Factory [the London venue renowned for paring musicals down to basics].
Absolutely not! There’s one costume that is difficult because there’s not very much of it. I’m standing on Ayers Rock singing a big Kylie [Minogue] medley with a feather pack on my back and a big feather headdress and very little else. The feathers make it tricky to balance your weight, but it’s a real favorite with audiences; they always love that.

This must have been an interesting show to do in front of your parents!
I did a worry a little about what they would think, but they’re very cool. In actual fact, I almost think it’s easier in this piece for them to see me as an actor. In other pieces, there’s been a weird crossover of “That’s just our son.” In this, because it’s such an extreme character, they’re able to disassociate themselves from watching me as me, which allowed them in a way to enjoy it more: They get swept up by the story rather than specifically watching their son.

When Will Swenson was down the street in Hair, did he check in with you guys, since he’s going to be playing one of the other drag queens on Broadway?
Will did come, and was asking about the show and the costumes. I had actually met him six months previously when I’d been to New York to visit my good friend Gavin [Creel]. While I was there, I went to see Gavin in Hair and met Will, before the first rumors of him being in Priscilla had come out. By the time he got here, we all knew he had the role.

He’s so different from [original British star] Jason Donovan.
The exciting thing with this show is that the creative team can pretty much go in whatever direction takes their fancy. Jason was a celebrity—obviously more in the U.K. than the U.S.—who was so excited about the piece and really up for it, and I’m sure Will will be the same. In Hair, he was very dynamic and exciting and edgy, and those are qualities that suit this show.

Have you lost or gained weight during this run?
Oh, lost, probably a couple of stone [nearly 30 pounds], and I hate that because I’ve always trained very hard at the gym. When I was doing Chicago, I caught the gym bug, but it doesn’t really suit this show to have too much muscle. That’s part of our job as actors, isn’t it: to mold ourselves to whatever we are doing. There are parts of Priscilla where you have to stand up as a woman, and that’s not going to work with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shoulders [laughs].

Try telling that to Nick Adams, Broadway’s Mr. Muscle [who will play Adam/Felicia in New York].
Well, he’s going to have to face his demons, because I really did! At times in this show, you’ve got to be a passable woman, and unfortunately, women don’t have big packed shoulders and heavy pecs.

Do you ever think of doing a non-musical?
Definitely! I keep telling my agent that I’d love to do some Tennessee Williams—the really gritty, steamy stuff. That would be great! And I’d love to do some straight theater in New York, as well. Whenever I’ve been to New York, there always seems to be a real theatrical hunger, and it must be thrilling to be part of that.