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L-R Jacob Sidney, Wallace Bruce, J. Stephen-Brantley, Justin Lang, Ted Barton, Front Max Macke in “Of Mice and Men” see page 19. Photo by Aaron Rumley.
US POSTAGE PAID Desert Hot Springs, CA PERMIT NO 00005
October 26, 2017 Vol. 10 No. 87
Queen of the Desert
Nicholas Sloan, Anthony Nannini and Ron Coronado prepare to play the lead roles of friends traveling the Australian Outback in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, playing at the Palm Canyon Theatre October 27-November 12. Photos by Paul Hayashi
Priscilla Queen of the Desert rolls onto the Palm Canyon Theatre stage By Desert Star Staff Palm Springs, Calif., – She’s known as “Priscilla Queen of the Desert,” and although she started her adventures in Sydney, Australia, the tour bus is calling Palm Springs home from October 27-November
12, as the Palm Canyon Theatre presents the musical production. Based on the 1994 hit movie, The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, the musical is the heartwarming adventure of three friends, who
By Desert Star Staff Desert Hot Springs, Calif., A $25,000 grant from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation will allow Cabot’s Pueblo Museum in Desert Hot Springs to expand its unique educational programs, cultural events, and exhibitions of artifacts. The endowment is part of the monthly Coachella Valley Spotlight, a partnership between the Berger Foundation and CBS Local 2, to benefit local charities. Cabot’s is a Hopi-inspired pueblo that draws tens of thousands of visitors each year. The sprawling complex was built over more than two decades in the 1920s and ’30s with scrap
wood, sheet metal and other materials Cabot Yerxa collected throughout the desert. Shortly after homesteading 160 acres in 1913, Cabot dug a well with pick and shovel, discovering the now famous hot mineral waters of Desert Hot Springs. “We are so grateful for this grant, which will help us preserve Cabot Yerxa’s legacy and the Native American and Alaska Native artwork he collected, while also helping inspire the next generation to appreciate the distinctive nature of the desert,” said Irene Rodriguez, the museum’s executive director.
agree to take their drag show to the middle of the Australian outback. They hop aboard an old tour bus they name “Priscilla,” each searching for something they may not even realize. The adventures begin when Anthony “Tick” Belrose
(A.K.A. Mitzi Mitosis), played by Nicholas Sloan, receives a call from his wife, Marion. The two are separated, on the account of his homosexuality. However, Marion advises Tick that it’s time he meets his 8-yearold son. Without revealing
the real purpose of the trip to a resort in Alice Springs, Tick asks two friends to join him. Bernadette Bassinger, played by Ron Coronado, is a transgender woman who, in her younger years, was a Continues on Page13
Berger Foundation Grant Benefits Cabot’s Pueblo Museum
Continues on Page 2
Catharine Reed, program director for the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation present check for $25,000 to Cabot’s Pueblo Museum executive director, Irene Rodriguez and a group of DHS second graders.