A gaggle of liberal-minded Broadway narcissists descend on conservative Middle America to aid an Indiana teen who just wants to dance in public with the girl she loves in The Prom, the multiple-Tony-nominated musical that now ranks sky-high on my list of 21st-century favorites.

Broadway diva Dee Dee Allen (Courtney Balan) and her most recent costar Barry Glickman (Patrick Wetzel) have just survived the flop of their lives in Eleanor!: The Eleanor Roosevelt Story when, in attempt to resuscitate their now floundering careers, they join forces with former TV sitcom star Trent Oliver (Bud Weber), longtime Chicago chorus girl Angie Dickinson (Emily Borromeo), and publicist Sheldon Saperstein (Shavey Brown) to head off to the Hoosier State on a mission.

Meanwhile out in Edgewater, Indiana, local PTA head Mrs. Greene (Ashanti J’Aria) has made it her own mission to prevent local high school senior Emma Nolan (Kaden Kearney) from attending this year’s prom with a same-sex partner, unaware that the girl Emma has been seeing for the past year and a half is none other than Mrs. Greene’s high-achieving daughter Alyssa (Kalyn West).

The ensuing culture clash when East meets Middle adds up to two-and-a-half hours of unadulterated musical comedy bliss, thanks to Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin’s sparkling book, Beguelin’s clever lyrics, one scene-stealing performance after another, Casey Nicholaw’s exuberant choreography, and above all, thanks to composer Matthew Sklar (of The Wedding Singer and Elf The Musical fame), who probably couldn’t write an unhummable melody even if you paid him.

From the hilariously self-serving “Changing Lives” and “It’s Not About Me,” to the achingly exquisite “Just Breathe,” “Dance With You,” and “Unruly Heart,” to the infectiously snappy “Zazz” and “Love Thy Neighbor,” to the rousing anthem that is “The Acceptance Song,” to the joyously ebullient “It’s Time To Dance,” there isn’t a weak song in the bunch.

 And that’s just the start of what makes The Prom such a crowd-pleasing winner.

There’s also the juxtaposition of the glamour and glitz (and godawful showbiz egos) of Broadway’s Dee Dee and company vs. Edgewater’s tradition-bound Mrs. Greene and some similarly narrow-minded high school students, and caught in the crossfire to heartrending effect, two lovestruck teenagers, one proudly out, one deeply closeted.

The Prom scored deserved Tony nominations for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Direction (for Nicholaw, who should have been nominated for his choreography as well), along with acting nominations for two big Broadway stars and a performer making her Broadway debut.

The last three nominations have put extra pressure on National Tour stars Balan, Wetzel, and Kearney as they follow in Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas, and Caitlin Kinnunen’s footsteps, but follow in their footsteps they have, and quite spectacularly so.

Not only that, but Balan’s deliciously dry and fabulously full-of-herself Dee Dee, Wetzel’s flamboyantly gleeful Barry, and Kearney’s heartfelt, heartbreakingly vulnerable Emma have surrounded themselves with costars deserving of their own standing ovations.

Weber is a tall, dark, and hunky delight as down-on-his-luck (but ever proud Juilliard grad) Trent; Borromeo is a leggy, tangy treat as a Chicago vet still waiting for her chance to play Roxie Hart; and Mitchell makes for an appealingly star-struck Tom.

West shines as an agonizingly conflicted Alyssa, Brown provides engaging support as fifth-wheel Sheldon, and J’Aria’s Mrs. Greene personifies so-called Christian values to hissable effect (though I can’t help wishing as I did in the Netflix adaptation that some mention had been made of the added hypocrisy of an African-American woman rallying against another human being’s civil rights.)

Gabrielle Beckford, Ashley Bruce, Maurice Dawkins, swing Jordan De Leon, James Caleb Grice, Megan Grosso, Marie Gutierrez, Chloe Rae Kehm, Braden Allen King, Brandon J. Large, Alexa Magro, Adriana Negron, Marcus Phillips, Zoë Brooke Reed, Thad Turner Wilson, and dance captain Josh Zacher make for the most sensational of multi-tasking song-and-dance ensembles.

Not surprisingly for a Broadway National Tour, The Prom looks and sounds quite fabulous too thanks to Scott Pask (sets), Ann Roth and Matthew Pachtman (costumes), Natasha Katz (lighting), and Brian Ronan (sound), New York design stars with credits a mile long.

Last but not least, music director Dean Balan conducts the show’s Broadway-caliber orchestra while eliciting terrific vocals from the entire cast.

Kelsey Tippins is production stage manager and Joel T. Herbst is company manager. De Leon (who stepped in for Christopher McCrewell on opening night) and Lexie Plath are swings. Daniel May joins the cast for the second half of its Ahmanson run.

The list of post-2000 musicals I’ve thoroughly enjoyed is rather a long one. The list of shows I’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with over the past two decades is far shorter. Like Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Drowsy Chaperone, Newsies, and the aforementioned The Wedding Singer, The Prom has me absolutely smitten.

Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles.
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

–Steven Stanley
August 10, 2022
Photos: Deen van Meer

Tags: Ahmanson Theatre, Bob Martin, Center Theatre Group, Chad Beguelin, Los Angeles Theater Review, Matthew Sklar