Down-on-their-luck Broadway stars shake up a small Indiana town as they rally behind a teen who wants to go to the prom with her girlfriend.
AT&T’s Broadway At The Center has brought yet another extraordinary musical to its stage that is not only wildly entertaining but also has a real-life purpose of educating the masses regarding diversity and inclusion. The cast, which varies in demographics, also displays various talents in song, dance, and comedic delivery. The storyline centers around a group of seasoned Broadway actors with the Eleanor Roosevelt Project who have started getting bad reviews after having been at the top of the charts for a long time. After trying everything to regain their status, they devise a plan to find a worthy cause to connect to so their fans will have compassion for them. They think they can redeem themselves and bring new life to their acts if they regroup and become purposeful in helping others which will, in turn, make them look good. While searching media outlets, they discover a story out of Indiana about a young student named Emma (Kaden Kearney) who is being tortured for being gay and has been silenced by a local school’s PTA for wanting to bring her partner to the prom.
When the actors decide to hit the road, they have no idea what lies ahead in the little town, and after a long, painful journey, they are equally taken aback by the lack of upscale hotel accommodations and restaurants. When their stage manager, Shelby Saperstein (Shavey Brown), and Trent Oliver (Bud Weber) book them at a Monster Truck rally, their emotions run high as they are having a hard time letting go of their high-end lifestyles to make a difference in the small town. When they get a chance to attend the school’s PTA meeting, they are taken aback by Mrs. Greene’s (Ashanti J’Aria) lack of compassion; however, they are more impressed by Emma and her not wanting to make a huge deal out of it. The more the actors learn about the case they chose to redeem themselves with, the more determined they are to help Emma get through it, never knowing until the very end what secret she is keeping about her partner.
As the members of the school board and the local students work harder and harder to keep Emma out of the loop, the more the actors are learning about life and themselves when it comes to sacrificing everything they have to teach the town locals a lesson. As hardcore narcissist Dee Dee Allen (Courtney Balan) becomes humbled by Mr. Hawkins’ (Sinclair Mitchell) reality check of her, she becomes more available to lend her whole self to Emma’s cause, and each group (the school and the actors) learns invaluable lessons about acceptance and internal discovery of biases.
Director and Choreographer Casey Nicholaw does an excellent job of bridging the gap between ageism and sexism, bringing a sensitive issue such as discrimination to the forefront and capitalizing on unique ways to bring perspectives to what seems like unattainable goals. In doing so, many theatre fans can appreciate the intrinsic value of a high level of creativity that is humbling and goes well beyond the dance floor and into the history books!
“The Prom” recently played at the Winspear Opera House July 26-31
