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'Priscilla' buses into Sydney

A stage musical based on cult Australian movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert had its world premiere in Sydney last night.

The musical is based on the 1994 movie and tells the story of three drag queens on a journey of self-discovery across the desert on a bus, from Sydney to Alice Springs.

Priscilla, The Musical has three times the budget of the film at its disposal.

Many members of the team that created the movie have also worked on the stage show, including costume designers Lizzy Gardiner and Tim Chappel, who won an Academy Award for their designs.

A team of 45 seamstresses, milliners and couturiers helped them create the show's nearly 400 costumes.

Tony Sheldon, Jeremy Stanford and Daniel Scott play the main characters, who were originally played by Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce.

Sydney's Lyric Theatre was packed for opening night.

Director Simon Phillips told ABC TV's The 7.30 Report earlier this week it is impossible to imagine not having fun doing the show.

"It's a great responsibility to something that's such a treasure in the Australian film iconography to find a vivid and exciting and joyful way of putting it on stage," he said.

But the director and writer of the original, Stephan Elliot, was part of the camp that did not want to turn the film into a big-budget musical.

"Priscilla just never stops," he said.

"I hear I Will Survive and I just want to scream."

But Phillips said the stage musical could take on the themes and images of the original in a unique way.

"In a weird kind of way, the thing that is hardest to get that the stage can't really recreate is the danger of the desert," he said.

"I think the beauty of the desert, we can create our own version of that beauty."