Adèle Anderson (BA Drama and Theatre Arts, 1972) is part of the satirical cabaret act, Fascinating Aïda, which has been performing in venues across the UK for more than four decades. Adèle is the first trans actor to take on the role of Bernadette in the hit show Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
She will be performing alongside Kevin Clifton (Strictly Come Dancing) and Nick Hayes (Hollyoaks and Doctors). The show tours the UK until July.
What attracted you to the role of Bernadette in Priscilla?
I actually have a personal connection with Priscilla because I gave some early advice to Terence Stamp, who played Bernadette in the original film in 1994. Somebody had given him my name and suggested we chat about the role and about being trans. We talked for a long time before he said: ‘You seem to know an awful lot about being trans.’ He had no idea why he’d been told to speak to me! He invited me to the premiere, but, alas, I never heard from him again.
How has the perception of trans people changed since the film of Priscilla?
I don’t think things have moved on. In fact they’ve gone backwards. In the 1990s, the film of Priscilla was very well received, but of course Bernadette was played by a male actor and people always think that’s very exciting.
When I joined Fascinating Aïda I was ‘outed’ in the press as a trans woman. It was unpleasant, but soon enough I was able to get on with being part of a three-woman group. After the Gender Recognition Act came in in 2004 I was able to change my birth certificate and everything was progressing in the right direction.
I didn’t particularly want to be a spokesperson for the trans community, but in Fascinating Aïda I sang a song called ‘Prisoner of Gender’. It told the story of my transition. It was done in an amusing way, but it really hit home and told about what I’d been through. It never got negative comments; in fact I got standing ovations.
I realised that you can’t just bury your head in the sand. And now trans people are frightened and so I think the representation of Bernadette is even more important now. Bernadette is a much-loved character and I’m looking forward to reminding people that to be trans is a glorious thing.
What is it about Fascinating Aïda that has stood the test of time?
Nobody else does what we do. Dillie Keane, who started the act, is really a genius. She has such a clear idea of what will work. And I think while we’ve got braver with our content over the years, we also have to do a lot of self-censoring too. Some of our earlier songs are no longer appropriate, but some of them we have gone back to and rewritten or adapted, so you can hear how they’ve changed. A song called ‘Cheap Flights’ is our best known and is still very popular today.
What Fascinating Aïda song are you most proud of?
We wrote a song called ‘The Markets’, which was all about short selling and long selling, and how bear and bull markets work. I did A level Economics, but I’m not sure I ever had a full grasp of the subject. But anyway, it was really popular. Our later song about Bitcoin turned out to be a complete stinker, which goes to show you can’t always guarantee success!
We wrote a more serious song called ‘I Watched Two People’, about a woman who watches her husband fall in love with a younger woman. It’s sad and beautiful and I’m very proud of it.
What do you remember about your time at the University of Birmingham?
I’d just turned 17 when I arrived at University after being in boarding school and then at a technical college. It was a refuge for me, an escape from home. I’d never heard of Karl Marx or Bertold Brecht, but I knew I liked getting up on stage and dancing about.
In the second year we did a production of The Maids, a French play in which two servants plot to murder their employer. I played Claire, one of the maids – although I’d known I was trans since I was very young, when I looked in the mirror as Claire, it was a real turning point.
During the summer at University I worked at Cadbury’s, on the production line or cleaning. It taught me how to be self-sufficient and how to budget and live in the real world.
Did you know what you wanted to do after university?
In those days you couldn’t act without an Equity card, which were not easy to get. After I left Birmingham I started the process of gender transition and had to be in work to be considered for surgery. I joined the civil service for about five years and worked as a secretary.
Eventually I got a residency singing jazz numbers in an East End pub. But one day the pub was closed down when I arrived. I found out later the owners had robbed a bank to open the venue and then got caught. So that was the end of my residency, but by then I had my Equity card, which meant I was able to take the opportunity to join Fascinating Aïda.
What advice would you give this year’s graduates?
I thought I would be acting on stage in Restoration comedies, but I’ve ended up singing for most of my life. In the arts I think you often find you’ll end up doing something quite different from what you set out to do and it’s very rare that you can walk straight into the career you’ve always wanted. But with an arts degree you learn so much about how to approach a thing, how to analyse it and how to bring out the best in it. And if that thing is yourself, then so much the better!
For information or to book tickets, visit: Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical – UK & Ireland Tour 2026