REVIEW OF THE PROM, on Netflix
Ethan Witt, Broadway Theatre League of Utica Youth Ambassador
The Prom Review
Recently I was given the opportunity to watch a musical called The Prom on Netflix. The Prom is a musical about several washed up actors who try and stay relevant through be activists towards supporting a lesbian girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom, as the musical is named, but can’t due to a bigoted PTA. The cast choice for this show was amazing. Meryl Streep and James Cordon do a great job with their roles as Dee Dee Allen and Barry Glickman. I’m definitely not biased towards James Cordon either. Jo Ellen Pellman’s portrayal of Emma Nolan was amazing. Her voice is beautiful enough to melt butter. And her acting really made me believe that she was a girl bearing great hardship. Andrew Rannells did wonderful as Trent. He really did well, making me annoyed at his character. Moving onto the music, I have no words other than breathtaking. There are songs that tug at my heartstrings, there are songs that make me excited, and there are songs that make me ecstatic to see where they will go. Overall the soundtrack to this musical is great and I remember thinking this music can’t get better and then it did. My top three songs would probably be Unruly Heart, Tonight Belongs to You, and The Lady’s Improving. Though a few honorable mentions to Changing Lives, Alyssa Greene, Love Thy Neighbor, and I Just Want to Dance With You. The choreography was good but there were parts that I didn’t particularly like. Specifically the end of Tonight Belongs to You, though mainly due to my dislike of hip hop dancing and not to the dancing itself. Though the dance break in Love Thy Neighbor was great. Though the dancing does help to push forward the meaning of the songs they are attached to, and if they don’t they do look pretty good either way. Overall the musical was great, the acting, the music, it was all great. The Prom is more than a musical about a couple washed up actors. It’s a story about one girl’s struggle towards acceptance of how and who she loves and it does a damn good job showing it. We can all learn more from this musical about accepting people for who they are. If I could give a rating to this show I would give four and a half stars.
