The Prom premiered on 11th December 2020 on Netflix. The music is composed by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin. The musical made its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2016 and premiered on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre in October 2018. The Prom stars Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Jo Ellen Pellman, Kerry Washington, Andrew Rannells, and Ariana DeBose alongside other cast members.
Everyone Deserves A Prom No Matter Who They Love!
We live in the 21st century and every passing day we take a step towards accepting individuals from the LQBTQ+ community as people with equal rights and stature as every other person. Inclusivity is the need of our times. Set in Indiana, The Prom revolves around the life of Emma and Alyssa (closeted) who identify themselves as lesbians. While the matters of the heart are fair and everybody deserves a prom, the PTA of their high school believes that Emma does not deserve a prom with the ‘normal kids’. Furthermore, as protests rise, four Broadway stars travel from New York to help her get a prom she deserves but they have their own selfish means to it too!
The PTA goes as far as hosting 2 proms – one for the entire school aka “normal kids” and the other only for Emma. Heartbreaking, right? Other than the entire conflict between Emma, the PTA, and other kids is her personal conflict with Alyssa who is closeted and fears coming out as her mother heads the PTA. The four celebs here to help Emma were called out for being narcissist back in their country, will they get over themselves? Will Emma win this fight against literally her entire school? Will she get the prom she deserves with her lady love? These are the few questions we seek answers to in this beautiful 17 song musical.
The Prom has meaningful and heartfelt songs with people randomly dancing into the best choreography in the middle of the mall or hallway or anywhere for that matter like every other musical. You will feel sad for Emma and how she is treated just because she does not match the belief system of certain individuals but at a certain point you would just want them to jump to the plot. Although the entire point of a musical is to show a journey through music and dance but the story elongates here to unnecessary lengths at certain moments.
However, in all these songs and dances and a round trip to every character and their song which tells their mood, pain, and the story everyone gets a character arc and no character goes unnoticed. This merry-go-round and character hopping does not get frustrating overall but slows down the narrative oftentimes. But the most important viewpoint here is the impact of all this on Emma and how she inspires other closeted individuals to rise up!
Summing up, The Prom is a canny blend of nostalgia and idealism, outdated conservatism, and new-age liberalism which lives up to individual expectations. Even though this vision of American unity is hard to understand right now, the film brings out its best attempt at representing it.
Stream It or Skip It
STREAM IT! The Prom is heartfelt and beautiful. There are various reasons you should watch this but mainly because it tries to say the right thing. The tolerance message in The Prom is honest, no matter how satirically presented and that is what makes this a worth-watching musical!
Also, where do we file an official petition to make an inclusive prom a mandatory thing globally?
The Prom is now streaming on Netflix.
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