Theatre Review: The Prom Is Everything We Love About Broadway

The Prom is hilarious, powerful, poignant, silly, and happily cheesy. It plays into the Broadway tropes and fantasies every single B-way Baby loves. The reason anyone becomes a fan of Broadway musicals is because they would love to live in a world where a problem could be resolved with a song. In The Prom, homophobia is healed with a dance number, and you completely accept that that is possible.

While The Prom is an empowering love story between two teens Caitlin Kinnunen’s Emma and Isabelle McCalla’s Alyssa Greene, it goes beyond defending and honoring LGBTQ’s right to love. It defends and dignifies love, itself. It is incredibly vivacious from music to performances, and flows smoothly as you watch the town of Edgewater, Indiana become rocked by four narcissistic Broadway actors looking for a “cause.” When they see Emma has been denied entrance to her prom because she wants to bring her girlfriend, they salivate at the positive publicity they will gain. Yet, this is Broadway, and a moral high-ground/ lesson must be built.

What I love about The Prom is that it is unabashed in its judgment and condemning of those who truly believe disenfranchising others is a Godly mission. For this, Courtenay Collins’ Mrs. Greene stands out as the epitome of every stiff-lipped, Bible-thumping, and formally hateful person that tried to use their “location” as an excuse for their loathsome vocation. For her, Edgewater, Indiana is a community with a rich, salvational history that cannot allow lesbians. Of course, as the audience, you want to say, “Huh?” Why does history, culture, and community impact two girls dating and vice versa? Kinnunen’s Emma and McCalla’s Alyssa are so warm  and lovely that they burst with an innocence every time they sweetly glance at each other. They make you want their youthful coupling because they are good human beings and such a pairing deserves to happen. As The Prom progresses, you realize it is not that the world is uncomfortable with LGBTQ love, it is that “the uncomfortable” get to mold the world according to their discomfort.

Ignorance is bold not just because it does not know better, but because we allow the ignorant to challenge those wise enough to be and do better. What makes The Prom so exciting is that Brooks Ashmanskas as Barry Glickman, Christopher Sieber as Trent Oliver, and Angie Schworer as Angie are bold enough to grow up and do good. They are refreshingly funny and subtly powerful as characters that are from being saints, but are truly good people who want to be better. Each of their voices is clear and potent in range and virtuosity, which allows these legends to deliver numbers that strike for the goodness in your pure heart and asks you to be a more courageous spirit. Moreover, they are rambunctious, gregarious, out of this world, and beyond this life funny! It is hard to say of the fearless four, which one was my favorite, but I must give kudos to Kate Marilley’s Dee Dee Allen.

Prepare for my gushing over Kate Marilley. I am so genuinely happy that I got to see her perform for the first time as both the leading lady of The Prom and of a Broadway musical. It is empowering to witness talent get their chance, and Marilley was was exceptional. She earned a standing ovation for her performance, and starred as if that show was the last one she would ever do on earth. Her energy was cosmic, which was life-saving considering she was surrounded by fierce, scene-stealing actors. In addition, her love story with Michael Potts’ Mr. Hawkins was equally as heart-warming as that of Emma and Alyssa’s romance. She wonderfully carried the weight of showing love makes you better, which is why you have to fight harder for it.

Fabulously directed by Casey Nicholaw, with music and lyrics by Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar, The Prom MUST be nominated for Best Musical at the Tonys. In an odd way, it displays those that love and those that hate Broadway do so for the same reason; it makes life seem simultaneously big and at the palm of your hand. Yet, the reality is that our lives are small and not, completely, in our grip. All we can do is control our own actions and reactions, and, sometimes, that is enough to move others to do the same and be better. The Prom thrives by going beyond “enough.” It is a surplus of hope, joy, and equality. Every song is written and sung like a climactic number; as if in the Longacre Theater the universe is aligning to allow every kid that was “different” to be adored. To Buy Tickets To The Prom Click Here.

Located: 220 W 48th St, New York, NY 10036

Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes with intermission