Through Sun 11/21
The Prom, a light-hearted tribute to high school social life, recent Broadway musicals, and narcissists, opened its national tour last week at Connor Palace. Layered with song, satire, do-gooding and allusions to hit musicals, this 2019 Drama Desk Award winner seems a perfect choice to re-open a new post-pandemic (we hope) season.
Playhouse Square has planned a 2021-2022 season that includes three more musicals (Pretty Woman, Ain’t Too Proud and Frozen) plus one drama, To Kill a Mockingbird).
Opening night, we all seemed a bit giddy to return to Playhouse Square. Even the sidewalks welcomed us via decorative colorful bands on the pavement. It’s an optimistic sign that life may return to normal, but for now, all attending had to pass health protocols (the usual, either vax or negative test) before entering the theater.
But back to The Prom. It’s a layer cake, a pastiche (in the best sense of the term), that is, a deliciously satiric mix of fun and music. And so, it’s not surprising that The Prom’s director and choreographer, Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw, already has two hit musicals (Aladdin and Mean Girls). The Prom both celebrates and references Broadway shows and fans may love identifying familiar plot and character developments. I did.
Young Emma’s desire to attend her high school prom with another girl (an idea banned by the school board) exists in the show as a reason for a narcissistic troupe of actors to descend upon a Midwest community, in this case, in Indiana. (Yes, we were surprised it was not in Ohio. But a generous helping of good-hearted fun is served to everyone.)
The musical opens in New York City as the famous Tony Award winner Dee Dee Allen (an appropriately extravagant Courtney Balan) and Drama Desk Award winner Barry Glickman (again, appropriately extravagant Patrick Wetzel) anxiously await opening-night reviews of Eleanor!: The Eleanor Roosevelt Story. The two make delicious fun of actors and acting. When reviews are so bad that the play closes opening night (now that is bad) the pair decide they need to redeem their image by taking up a social cause. Their Broadway press agent, Sheldon Saperstein (Shavey Brown), proposes a plan to do it.
Once the mission to redeem the Midwest is decided, they enlist aging dancer Angie (a perky and empathetic Emily Borreomeo) and Trent Oliver (Bud Weber). Weber delightfully fulfills his role as, to quote program notes “Esteemed Juilliard Graduate/Cater Waiter.” Costume designer Ann Roth helps Weber steal scenes with his Juilliard letter jacket. (I did not go to Juilliard, but I want one too.) His Book of Mormon-style lecture to the high school kids, “Love Thy Neighbor,” is spot on and funny (and funny is often necessary to make the teaching medicine go down).
The quartet’s cause is to help Kaden Kearney’s awkwardly cute Emma. Emma wants to take her secret girl friend Alyssa Greene (Kalyn West) to the prom, but (of course) there are complications due to PTA restrictions about same-sex dates. Kearney reminds us of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home when her character, usually dressed in jeans and plaid shirt, makes her case.
Grownups need love too. As Mr. Hawkins, the high school principal, Sinclair Mitchell provides a handsome romantic foil for Dee Dee Allen. Seeming to lack love, Ashanti J’Aria, as Mrs. Greene (the short-sighted president of the PTA) still makes comic dismay when she discovers the truth about her daughter.
Rounding out the ensemble are talented dancers and (sometimes) comic actors Jordan Alexander, Gabrielle Beckford, Ashley Bruce, Olivia Rose Cece, Maurice Dawkins, Jordan De Leon, Shawn Alynda Fisher, James Caleb Grice, Megan Grosso, Chloe Rae Kehm, Braden Allen King, Brandon J. Large, Christopher McCrewell, Adriana Negron, Lexie Plath, Brittany Nicole Williams, Thad Turner Wilson and Josh Zacher.
The Prom has Broadway cred (in this case, that means lots of Tony winners and nominees in the following list): book by Bob Martin (Elf, The Drowsy Chaperone) and Chad Begnuelin (Aladdin), music by Matthew Sklar (Elf the Musical) and lyrics by Chad Beguelin, scenic design by Scott Pask (The Book of Mormon), costume design by Roth and Matthew Pachtman (The Book of Mormon), lighting design by Natasha Katz (Diana: The Musical), sound design by Brian Ronan (Mrs. Doubtfire, Mean Girls), wig and hair design by Josh Marquette (Pretty Woman, Mean Girls), make-up design by Milagros Medina-Cerdeira (Mean Girls), orchestrations by Larry Hochman (Hello, Dolly!), music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Mean Girls). It is based on an original concept by Jack Viertel.
BOTTOM LINE: If you love satiric musicals that don’t take themselves too seriously, you’re likely to love this show and the outstanding actors, dancers, and musicians who make it sing. Hello Broadway, it’s so great to have you back where you belong.
The Prom runs through Sunday November 21. Get tickets at playhousesquare/the-prom.
[Written by Laura Kennelly]