In the past 14 months, I’ve been to more proms than I had attended in all four years of high school.
Of course, this time around I wasn’t wearing a tux or renting a limo. I was an audience member at a production of the Broadway musical (and later Netflix film) “The Prom.” It has been the go-to show for Central Florida theaters, where four separate productions were mounted over the last year or so.
First, Theatre South Playhouse in southwest Orlando staged the musical, followed by Theater West End in Sanford, then Theatre UCF in east Orange County, and finally, another college production, this time at Rollins College in Winter Park. And before any of those theaters staged the show, West Orange High School in Winter Garden became the first high school ever to present the musical.
The most recent production is being shown now at Rollins’ Annie Russell Theatre , and as I watched it I started pondering why this show rose to the top of everyone’s programming list. Truthfully, I didn’t have to ponder long.
“The Prom” speaks to compassionate and empathetic people, especially people in the arts. It’s about opening hearts and minds; it reflects reality but offers the hope of something better. In other words, it’s working toward the goals embraced by most theater practitioners.
Funnily enough, “The Prom” does this while mocking the nature of showbiz and its celebrities, a juxtaposition that actually adds to the show’s entertainment value and stops it from feeling too preachy.
The setup of the Chad Beguelin-Bob Martin-Matthew Sklar musical is that four narcissistic Broadway actors, seeking to boost their profiles, intervene when Emma, a gay high school girl, wants to take her girlfriend to the prom. The PTA first cancels the event and then is forced to hold the dance but gets up to some dirty tricks.
Florida’s own political climate, in which its “Don’t Say Gay” law made national headlines, also played a part. (The law, officially titled the Parental Rights in Education Act, blocked teaching about sexual orientation or gender — but created a chilling effect on any discussion of such issues.)
Critics of the law said it made gay and lesbian students feel invisible. Hillary Brook, executive director of Theatre South Playhouse , says she wanted to counteract that — and that’s why she was so proud to be the first Central Florida company to mount the show.
“This piece was extra special to our theater, giving us the perfect celebration for the LGBTQIA+ community to take pride in being seen and very heard,” she says. “In this political climate, it felt important to stand up for what we believe and be a beacon of light within our community to show that we won’t stand for anything less than representation and equality.”
At Theatre UCF, students also were responding to what they were seeing in society, saying the show’s “message of inclusivity and resilience is growing to be more necessary every day,” according to Chanel Gomaa, the production’s dramaturg. “As Queer and Trans rights continue to be called into question in the United States, the students of the UCF season selection committee wanted to see a show on our mainstage that encourages allyship and champions compassion.”
At Theater West End, the decision to produce the show had personal components.
“As a gay man from a rural area in Virginia, I’m all too familiar with rules against same-sex dates to school functions such as prom and Homecoming,” said Derek Critzer, artistic director of the Sanford theater. “The show breaks down barriers and starts conversations that I regret not being strong enough to start before I moved away from a small-minded, bigoted town — and I hope that producing it allowed some minds to be opened and some healing to occur.”
Maybe that’s happening, albeit slowly: Before Rollins opened its “Prom,” which runs through April 27, the state reached a settlement over the “Don’t Say Gay” law after a two-year legal battle. The settlement significantly reduced the impact of the law.
The Rollins production is a typical student show: The diction isn’t perfect, and director Missy Barnes’ young actors are still discovering how to pace their lines and land jokes with maximum comic effect.
There are bright spots. Music director Bert Rodriguez’s eight-piece ensemble does justice to the catchy music, and a few actors make particularly favorable impressions: Lorenzo Naimoli as Emma’s caring principal, Joe Lionetti as a pretentious actor, and especially David Correa Rodriguez in the lead role. Rodriguez has a lovely singing voice and deftly handles Emma’s whirl of feelings, from fear to hurt to resilient to strong.
Both the scenic design, by Lisa Cody-Rapport and Juliana Melendez, and the choreography, by Adonus Mabry, get the job done but don’t rank with their best work. Critically, though, the show’s heart still proudly shines, and even after viewing multiple productions, Emma’s anthem of love and acceptance, “Unruly Heart” can still draw a tear.
Ayó Demps, the dramaturg for the Rollins production, points out that part of the show’s strength is in its depiction of resiliency, a characteristic found in the real world’s LGBTQ community: “We have proven time and time again that our joy and hope is eternal.”
Another point worth reiterating: Inclusivity makes all of us stronger.
“Even in a time when our Queer stories are being censored, hidden from those who most need to see them, we still built a prom,” Demps wrote in the playbill, echoing lyrics from the show’s finale. “And we built it for everyone.”
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com . Find more arts news at OrlandoSentinel.com/entertainment .
‘The Prom’
- Where: Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave. in Winter Park
- When: 7:30 p.m. April 24-26, 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 27
- Cost: $25
- Info: rollins.edu/annie
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