The Prom @ Winspear Opera House
—Ramona Harper
Broadway brass meets small-town sass in The Prom, the award-winning, high-octane musical now making a national tour stop (as part of ATTPAC’s Broadway Series) at the Winspear Opera House. But who would have thought a mere musical could come up with a way to resolve our current culture wars and bring a divided nation together—in just two and a half hours? How’d they do it? With sheer joy, that’s how. It’s hard to stay mad at anyone after you’ve been pulled into the fun and fantasy of The Prom.
But the story begins in truth, not fantasy. The Prom is based on the real-life experience of Constance McMillen, a gay high school senior in Fulton, Mississippi (home of Elvis’ dad) who wanted to bring her girlfriend to the senior prom. Folks weren’t ready for it, and the PTA canceled the whole affair. But after an ACLU intervention and support from social media, led by a brigade of woke celebrities, the prom did go on—though with a different vibe and a more inclusive guest list.
The Prom, from an original concept by the great Broadway producer Jack Viertel, takes on the themes of LGBTQ civil rights, inclusivity and racial equality—but turns bigotry and prejudice on their pointy heads in a satirical romp that lands on the right side of history; in urban speak, it turns “shit to sugar.” Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with a book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin, the show is done with so much good humor and high energy it could easily supply the Texas power grid on the hottest summer day.
Sklar’s music has a pulsating, toe-tapping beat, and the super-talented ensemble of performers sing and dance their hearts out. Comic quips, zingers, and one-liners keep things popping. And show-stopping solos ask us to listen, to open our hearts to different perspectives on sexual orientation and identity politics.
From its opening number “Changing Lives,” to the rousing closer “It’s Time to Dance,” The Prom is an unexpectedly wild and wonderful ride.
Dee Dee Allen (Courtney Balan) and Barry Glickman (Patrick Wetzel) are narcissistic Broadway stars on the edge of being celebrity has-beens. They concoct an idea to stay in the spotlight by taking on a social cause to showcase their high ideals.
The cause turns out to be the small town of Edgewater, Indiana, where Dee Dee and Barry go to protest for gay rights at the senior prom, taking along Angie Dickinson (Emily Borromeo) and Trent Oliver (Bud Weber), two wannabe stars who tag along for some free publicity.
Balan is a first-class Broadway belter, and gives a performance that could make Ethel Merman roll over. She’s got all the chops she needs to play the full-of-herself stage star. On “The Lady’s Improving” Dee Dee tries her best at humility—but her star quality just keeps coming out. Together with Wetzel, another over-the-top belter, there’s more ham here than Honey Baked!
Wetzel plays gay-and-proud character Barry as a real Mr. Showbiz, all glitz and glam—and funny enough for a career in standup if he wanted it. Move over, Liberace: Barry has all the goods except the candelabra—and in performance, gives the famed pianist stiff competition with “Barry is Going to the Prom.”
Protesting on behalf of “thespians and lesbians” is tagalong actress Angie, who’s still waiting for her close-up, and to star as Roxie in Chicago (where she’s stuck as an eternal chorus girl). Borromeo’s Angie shines in the Fosse-esque number “Zazz,” helping protagonist Emma (Kaden Kearney) be unafraid to let the world know who they are.
Weber plays handsome Julliard graduate Trent (he never lets you forget it) who shines brightly as the guy who’s more at home on the quiet side of the gay rights issue. His “Love Thy Neighbor” is part gospel-revival and part Broadway, an emotional solo performance with ensemble backup.
At the story’s center is Emma, the shy romantic who wants to take Alyssa (played by Kalyn West from the original Broadway production) to the prom. As Emma, Kearney makes their national tour debut in The Prom and gives a shout-out performance. With drawn-up shoulders and soft-spoken demeanor, Emma embodies the pain of feeling different, and the fear of being socially ostracized. In the character’s sensitive opening solo “Just Breathe,” we want to breathe with and for Emma.
Emma and Alyssa commit to love in “You Happened,” but Alyssa is afraid of coming out to her very conservative mother Mrs. Greene (Ashanti Faria), president of the PTA that cancelled the prom. Her moving solo “Alyssa Greene” is an ode to that pain and fear.
“Love is love” is a recurrent theme in The Prom, and an interracial romantic fling between Dee Dee and the Black school principal Mr. Hawkins (Sinclair Mitchell) is sealed with a lingering kiss. But when Mr. Hawkins questions Dee Dee’s intentions and goodness, he isn’t above calling her out. Mitchell’s strong vocals on “We Look to You” (though it’s a bit Pollyanna-ish) is a plea to take the high road, no matter what.
Scenic design by Scott Pask magically moves us from the high school gym to Emma’s bedroom, around the town, and to the prom. Costumes by Ann Roth and Matthew Pachtmann are show-biz glitzy and schoolgirl tart. Natasha Katz’s lighting lends the right amount of intimacy when a scene needs it, and sound design by Brian Ronan perfectly balances the clear dialogue onstage with live orchestration from the pit.
Politically, The Prom comes to Dallas, perhaps, at a timelier moment than during its short-lived 2019 run on Broadway. Same-sex marriage legislation currently in the Senate could be imperiled following a SCOTUS pronouncement that the justices could “reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents,” and other civil rights feel more precarious following the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade. Lots to think and worry about.
But in The Prom, feeling free to be yourself wins the day.
The rousing finale “It’s Time to Dance” brought the audience to its feet with the joy that comes in knowing that love is stronger than hate.
Zazz, baby.
When: Through July 31
Where: Winspear Opera House, AT&T Performing Arts Center
Web: https://www.attpac.org/on-sale/2022/the-prom/
