Audra McDonald Finds Boyfriend Will Swenson's New Priscilla Drag Style 'Hot'

With Priscilla Queen of the Desert readying to drive its glamorous bus to the Palace Theatre beginning February 28, Tony nominee Will Swenson, who will play Tick/Mitzi, is working on adapting to the drag queen life style. “The costumes are silly amazing,” Swenson told Broadway.com “There’s lots and lots of platform shoes, headdresses, feathers, wings, corsets—all that fun stuff.” Sounds like a far cry from Swenson’s days at Hair where he performed shirtless before shedding his pants at intermission. “Well, I still get sort of naked. It’s kind of becoming a recurrent theme. I don’t know what my problem is,” he cracked.

So how does Swenson’s girlfriend, four-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, feel about watching her hunky man get in touch with his feminine side? “It’s kind of hot,” McDonald admitted. “I remember being very attracted to Frank-N-furter in Rocky Horror when I was 12 and not really understanding why, but Will dressed up at home once just to show me what it looked like and I was like, ‘All right, I get it! I’ll take it!”

Surely the beautiful McDonald will offer advice to her beau on how to elegantly tap into the XX chromosome? “I’m not lady-like enough,” she joked, “he’ll be giving me tips!” While McDonald may not be able to help out, Swenson said he’s already sought the wisdom of Broadway’s current reigning drag divas, La Cage aux Folles’ Cagelle dancers. “They’ve been giving me some tips on waxing and eyebrow plucking,” he said with a laugh.

Priscilla’s pre-Broadway engagement begins October 12 in Toronto and Swenson can’t wait for North American audiences to hop aboard the bus. “It’s such a fun project and the music is awesome," he said of the show, which features "I Will Survive," "It's Raining Men" and other disco classics. "There’s about 15 production numbers, and I love that it covers a giant spectrum. Some numbers are giant and campy with crazy energy, but at the same time they maintain a lot of heart. Often you only get one flavor with a musical, but this one covers a lot of ground. During a recent run-through people were even sniffling.”

Priscilla opens on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on March 20, 2011.