The Prom is the Feel Good Musical Blast of the Summer! Lyric Arts, I Just Wanna Dance With You!

One thing Bloggings taught me, is how much people enjoy a show! And so it’s got me debating how this review should go. Audiences will be reading, how Lyric Arts’ Production is. What I must say is, They built a show for everyone! And It’s just so damn fun. The music soars, the dancers score and my unruly eyes wept.

The Prom will always have a special place in my heart for a lot of reasons. It’s one of the cast albums that I throw on fairly regularly, because every song is good. A lot of them stir up some powerful, joyful emotions; others make you want to get up and dance. They all make me want to sing along. The National Tour was a blast and had me and the entire audience on our feet dancing. In my review at the time, I wrote, “I haven’t left the theater this high on a show since Come From Away.” I could absolutely say the same thing in this review, thanks to the Guthrie’s brilliant production of that show this summer. The Chanhassen Dinner Theatres production I saw twice, the second time, I led a talkback afterwards where I had the honor to share the stage with the late, great Michael Brindisi and several members of that incredible cast. This is by far the smallest production I’ve seen, but that in no way diminishes it. This production of The Prom reminded me of how much I love this show.

I’ve heard people whose opinions I respect, people who know more about musical theater than I ever will, dismiss The Prom. But I choose to open my unruly heart to the sheer joy that this show embodies. This show is a blast and it’s really hard for me to imagine anyone not having just about the time of their life with it.

The Prom tells the story of a small town in Indiana that has cancelled the prom rather than let a high school student, Emma, take her girlfriend as her date. It opens with Dee Dee and Barry, actors who are past their prime, headlining a show, Eleanor! The Eleanor Roosevelt Musical, whose opening night is also going to be its closing night. They grasp onto the story in Indiana as a way to raise their profiles and rehab their unlikeable image. Along with fellow actors Trent and Angie, these thespians descend upon a meeting where Emma, along with her principal, Mr. Hawkins, is trying to convince the PTA to reverse their decision. What begins as a co-opting of Emma’s dilemma for their own narcissistic reasons will ultimately help all of them deal with their own issues. Emma will have her ups and downs, as will her closeted girlfriend Alyssa Green, whose mother is the head of the PTA. It’s a story that pokes gentle, loving fun at theatrical types while also dealing with the very real issue of intolerance toward, and the need for inclusion of, LGBTQ-identifying individuals. It shows us the ugly side of human nature, but it is about the courage to be who you are, and is ultimately very uplifting.

I’m going to single out a few members of the cast that I just want to spotlight for different reasons, but again, this is a show that, if you, faithful readers, had the patience, and I didn’t need to sleep at some point, I could talk about everyone in the cast. They are all amazing. First off, I have to mention Andrew Newman as Barry Glickman. Newman is outstanding in the role and will be getting a TCTB Award nomination from me come the end of the year for this performance. Every facial expression, every line reading, every dance step, and every lyric sung is perfection. Imani Harris as Emma is a revelation. I guess I saw her in Big Fish at Lyric Arts last fall, but other than that she is new to me, and one to watch. Her vocals are impressive, and she had me tearing up at about three different points in the show. Lastly, I want to give a shout-out to Colin Perucco, who plays Principal Hawkins. Perucco is familiar, but his bio didn’t give me any clues as to where I’ve seen him before. But man, this guy has something. I can’t put my finger on it, but I was really impressed by him. He just seemed perfect in the role, believable, caring, and brilliant at being the grounded counterpoint to the more eccentric thespian characters. I never saw him acting, he just seemed to exist in the story.

Director Amanda White has an eye for finding humor in the reactions of the characters who are not the focus of the scene. It’s what separates a great production from a good one. There is more happening in the world of the story than just the information we are being fed. The nuances that come out about characters, when everyone is bringing something to every scene, whether they are speaking, singing, or just in the background, is what makes a show come to life. The other aspect that brings this production to another level is the choreography by Lauri Kraft and Michael Terrell Brown. I feel like there is more dancing in this production than I remember in previous ones. It’s fast, precise, and on more than one occasion comedically inspired. Like Brown’s work in Mamma Mia! earlier this year at Lyric Arts, the choreography almost feels like another character in the show; it has so much personality.

If this show doesn’t sell out most of its run like Mamma Mia! did, I would be very surprised. Of course, there is the whole LGBTQ aspect, and this is the suburbs. I remember writing in my review of the CDT production, “Is it weird to say you are proud of a theatre? Maybe, but it’s how I feel about CDT’s decision to produce The Prom.” And you know what, Lyric Arts? I’m proud of you too!

The Prom runs through August 9th at Lyric Arts in Anoka. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to get to from Minneapolis, but believe me, this production is worth the drive. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.lyricarts.org/prom

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