Jason Donovan has signed up to star in the stage adaptation of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.

The musical is based on the Oscar-winning 1994 film about a performing trio of two drag queens and a transsexual who drive through the Australian outback.

Former Neighbours star Donovan, 40, who lives in Oxfordshire and whose stage credits include Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Sweeney Todd, has been cast as Tick, one of the performers travelling in a bus called Priscilla.

The West End production will also star Tony Sheldon and Oliver Thornton.

The film, one of the most successful Australian movies of all time, starred Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce, who also appeared in Neighbours, and Hugo Weaving.

The musical, which features almost 500 costumes, more than 100 wigs, and 150 pairs of tailor-made shoes, has been a huge success in Australia since its world premiere in Sydney in 2006.

It has been seen by more than one million people and grossed more than £41m, making it the most successful Australian musical of all time.

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical will open at the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, where Spamalot is on stage, next March.