Springtime is usually known as prom season, but this November, we will all be buying corsages towards a November opening when the new musical The Prom comes to Broadway. Along with the exciting news that this musical will arrive on November 15, 2018, producers have announced a cast made up of some of our favorite musical comedy performers.
Among the talented roster, Tony-winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone) is set to play Dee Dee Allen, Tony-nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) will play Barry Glickman, and two-time Tony-nominee Christopher Sieber (Spamalot, Shrek: The Musical) will play Trent Oliver, Esteemed Julliard Graduate/Cater Waiter. The cast will also include Caitlin Kinnunen as Emma, a high school student banned from the prom. Rounding out the cast are Isabelle McCalla, Michael Potts, Angie Schworer, Courtenay Collins, and Josh Lamon. Additional casting and venue will be announced in the future.
Explained as a “musical comedy with issues”, Prom features a score by Matthew Sklar (Elf) and Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer, Aladdin), a book by Beguelin and Tony-winner Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone). Prom will be Directed and Choreographed by Tony Award Winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon). The designers for the production include Scott Pask (scenic design), Ann Roth and Matthew Pachtman (costumes), Kenneth Posner (lighting), and Peter Hylenski (sound).
“Four fading Broadway stars are in desperate need of a new stage. So when they hear that trouble is brewing around a small-town Indiana prom—and the press is involved—they know that it’s time to put a spotlight on the issue…and themselves. The town’s parents want to keep the dance on the straight and narrow—but when one student just wants to bring her girlfriend to prom, the entire town has a date with destiny. Now, Broadway’s brassiest are coming to join the fight and they are ready to kick-ball-change the world.”
Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals and maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.