Review: THE PROM at The Phoenix Theatre Company

Guest Contributor David Appleford returns to the pages of BroadwayWorld with this illuminating and upbeat review of The Phoenix Theatre Company’s production of THE PROM.

In the frothy and hugely likable new The Phoenix Theatre Company production of the 2018 Broadway musical, THE PROM, now playing on the theatre’s mainstage until July 9, four down-on-their-luck, ego-driven Broadway stars seek a charitable cause. 

A string of flops on the Great White Way have all but guaranteed negative press. What the four performers need is a cause célèbre, an issue controversial enough to garner widespread public attention. The difficulty is finding the right crusade, particularly one that requires only a minimal amount of personal sacrifice. Poverty? Too big. World hunger? Too major. Habitat for Humanity? “With my back?” states one of the actors, Barry (Rusty Ferracane). But then, by checking what’s currently trending on social media, they find one. And for these self-absorbed, aging Broadway narcissists, it’s perfect.  

Based on a true (ish) tale that occurred at a Mississippi senior high school in 2010 - a lesbian student was banned from attending her senior prom when the school board intervened – THE PROM takes that setting, moves it to small-town Hoosierland, Indiana, adds four celebrity activists determined to change lives, and gives Edgewater, Indiana a Broadway makeover it never knew it needed.

While at the center of THE PROM, there’s a serious issue with current topics such as prejudice, bullying, the importance of arts in high-school education, LGBT isolation, and, of course, flat-out homophobia, at its heart the show is nothing short of being a simple good old-fashioned musical comedy with a present-day approach. There are hurdles and conflicts the characters will have to climb, tears are occasionally shared, and moments of heartbreak will occur, but the book by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin never delves into any substantial depth of note. It’s not that kind of show. Eventually, everything is going to work out fine, ending with a dazzling song and dance and a crowd-pleasing kiss that’s been two and half hours, plus intermission, in the making. 

Under the assured guidance of experienced director Michael Barnard (with assistance from Chelsea Anderson), this The Phoenix Theatre Company production of THE PROM is a show that continually moves. From scene to scene, Douglas Clarke's effective scenic designs glide on and off with precise, expert timing, assuring that as soon as one scene ends, the following is already in place. Lit by Tim Monson's ever-changing lighting design, highlighting in an instant the different settings and locations, there is never a lull. It’s as if director Barnard, himself a considerable talent when it comes to musical staging, has created the show’s own musical rhythm, indicated not so much by Chad Beguelin’s upbeat score but by the production’s in-built forward motion, propelling the show ever onward to its satisfying conclusion.

Casting is good throughout with no obvious weak link. Debby Rosenthal’s Broadway diva, Dee Dee Allen, delivers exactly what the part requires: a comic star turn, one that perfectly captures the humor of a gloriously vain performer whose ego is larger than her talent. When it comes to the press accusing her of being a narcissist, she replies in all innocence, “I still don’t understand what’s wrong with that.”

Rusty Ferracane is laugh-out-loud funny as Barry Glickman with a performance so over-the-top high camp that when he declares to a homophobic Indiana school board, "I’m as a gay as a bucket of wigs.  A bucket of them!” he becomes endearing. Kate E. Cook plays Angie Dickinson (no, not that Angie Dickinson), a performer with legs that seemingly stretch forever. The character has spent 20 years stuck in the chorus of Bob Fosse’s Chicago, yet one look at her, and those legs (and her high-kick dancing) if anyone was destined to eventually play Roxie Hart, it’s Kate E. Cook.

Rounding out the clueless foursome is Lucas Coatney who nicely captures the comical pretentiousness of Trent Oliver, a Julliard-trained graduate. "Is life on stage really any life at all?” he asks himself in a moment of indulgent self-reflection. In truth, the only reality any of these Broadway actors know comes from other Broadway shows in which they had previously performed.

Then there’s the casting of the folks of Edgewater. Matravious Avent adds warmth to his progressive, small-town high-school principal, making the character enormously appealing. He’s a grounding force to the unwanted chaos that is now circling him. Plus, as a lover of showbiz, he amusingly tells Dee Dee that... “Straight people like Broadway, too,” to which the diva responds, “I’ve heard that, but I always thought it was a fairy tale.”

Leading the anti-prom movement, and head of the PTA, is Alyssa Chiarello as Mrs. Greene. As already mentioned, the book is all surface, with good guy/bad guy roles and their prejudices clearly defined with hardly a dissenting Indiana voice. So when this reviewer writes that Chiarello plays the role as if the mother was a direct descendant of the Wicked Witch of the West, that's not a critique, that's how the part is written, and Chiarello interprets it pitch perfect. Surprisingly, the final exchange between Mrs. Greene and her lesbian daughter, Alyssa (Tara Venkataraman) lacks a certain emotional punch required to make the conclusion of their story satisfying. But note; this is not the fault of the performers, who are both fine – it's how the scene is written. 

But at the center of it all is Emma, the smart, awkward, reluctant heroine, played by Hahnna Christianson, and she’s wonderfully engaging. Emma wants no part in being a gay, white Rosa Parks.  Instead, all she wants is to go to the prom and dance with her love.

Chad Beguelin’s new pop/rock score with its Broadway flair is a good one that on occasion develops into something great. Brought to life with Lauran Stanis’ exhaustive, athletic-styled choreography and a live, nine-piece orchestra under the direction of Kevin Robert White, each of Beguelin’s songs possess catchy hooks with witty lyrics. In Dee Dee’s woefully uninformed It’s Not About Me she points a finger at the school board, stating “Stealing the rights of a girl/ Who is an L.G.B.Q. teen/ I’ve been far too angry/ To Google what those letters mean.”   

But the score’s greatness comes on two specific occasions. When Matrius Avent sings with genuine affection of his character’s love of musical theatre and its escapism, the lyrics of We Look To You become relatably poignant: “We need a place to run to/ When everything goes wrong/ Where the answer to each problem/ Is to burst into a song.”  The other is Emma’s Unruly Heart. As the character takes to social media to express her feelings, what begins as a solo by Christianson soon turns into a glorious anthem of gay positivity and support as teenage members of the cast join her, one by one, online (and literally on stage) letting Emma know that she is not and never was alone.

In reality, THE PROM is less about the reality of what happened back in 2010 in Mississippi and more about showbiz. The broadness of its comedy and its insider musical theatre references - “Now I know what the original cast of Carrie felt like,” states Angie when things go wrong – is for the theatre savvy.  Instead of Mickey and Judy stating, “Let’s put on a show,” this is Dee Dee, Barry, Trent, and Angie declaring, “Let’s put on a prom.” And when Principal Hawkins sings about musical theatre with the lines, “And standard rules of logic/ Just simply don’t apply/ When people dance in unison/ And no one wonders why,” everyone sitting in the mainstage auditorium for this exceptionally warm-hearted and accomplished The Phoenix Theatre Company musical theatre production will know exactly what he’s referring to, and nod in agreement.

The Phoenix Theatre Company ~ 1825 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ ~ 602-254-2151 ~ https://phoenixtheatre.com/

Photo credit to Reg Madison Photography

Photo 1: L to R; Lucas Coatney-Murrieta as Trent, Rusty Ferracane as Barry, Kate E. Cook as Angie, and Debby Rosenthal as Dee Dee.

Photo 2: L to R: Hahnna Christianson as Emma ~ surrounded by Ensemble Members Leo Gallegos, Darren McArthur, Maggie Barry, EJ Dohring, Teddy Ladley, Natalie Carrera, Christian Johannsen, Shani Barrett, and Wesley Bra

Photo 3: Matravius Avent as Principal Hawkins, Chris Eriksen as Sheldon, Debby Rosenthal as Dee Dee, Kate E. Cook as Angie, Lucas Coatney-Murrieta as Trent, and Rusty Ferracane as Barry

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