The Prom

I am a huge fan of musical theatre and, as such, I have a long list of shows that I want to see with The Prom near the top.  Since I can’t see it on the stage, seeing the movie adaptation last night was the next best thing. I had so much fun watching a feel-good story about having the courage to be who you are that is also a colorful and sparkly love letter to theatre!  I loved everything about it!  Down and out Broadway stars Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden) are commiserating over the fact that their show has closed on opening night because the critics don't like them as people.  They think the best way to resurrect their careers is to champion a cause to show the public that they care about something other than themselves.  They hear about a girl named Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman) in Indiana who wants to attend her high school prom with her girlfriend (Ariana DeBose).  Rather than allow this, Mrs. Greene (Kerry Washington), the head of the PTA, cancels the prom despite the support of the high school principal Tom Hawkins (Keegan-Michael Key).  They decide to help Emma and are joined by Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells), an out of work actor who never fails to mention that he attended Juilliard, and Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman), a chorus girl who has been the understudy for Roxie Hart for twenty years, on a bus for a non-union tour of Godspell headed to Indiana.  They help get the prom reinstated for the good publicity but, when Emma suffers an additional heartache, they realize they actually do care about helping her have a night to celebrate who she really is.  I loved every single song but my favorites are "We Look to You," about the power of theatre (Keegan-Michael Key really surprised me with how good he is in this number), "Love Thy Neighbor," about the hypocrisy of believing that you are a good person when you hate and discriminate against those who are different than you, and "Unruly Heart," about the freedom to love who you want.  The choreography throughout is a lot of fun, especially the Fosse-inspired "Zazz" and the exuberant "It's Time to Dance." Streep is absolutely perfect as a narcissistic Broadway diva and I especially enjoyed her rendition of "It's Not About Me" because it is so over the top! There has been some controversy over the casting of Corden, who is straight, but his performance as a gay man rejected by his family is full of such pathos that it really feels authentic.  Despite the star power, I was most impressed with newcomer Pellman because she is absolutely luminous and her rendition of "Unruly Heart" is incredibly touching.  I also enjoyed Broadway veteran DeBose (she was in the original cast of Hamilton) and her song "Alyssa Greene" is one of the most powerful moments in the movie. I had a smile on my face from beginning to end (I laughed out loud at the many theatre references) and I am so glad that it will be streaming on Netflix soon because I want to watch over and over again!  Its message of acceptance is an important one and I highly recommend it (especially to theatre fans).