WISH-LIST WEDNESDAY: The Prom

Official artwork for The Prom on broadway

Today's featured show is one that, in spite of its original broadway production having a strong critical reception and solid performance in awards season, ultimately found itself closing early at a financial loss. "The Prom" is a collaborative effort between Chad Beguelin, Bob Martin and Matthew Sklar, and centres around a teen lesbian couple attempting to attend their school prom together, with one planning to wear a tuxedo. Sadly, the flagrant homophobia displayed by the PTA in their town of Edgewater, Indiana, prevents this from happening, and the prom is cancelled, in spite of the support for them shown by their school principal.

The show is humorous and musically upbeat, yet hugely socially conscious, as it tackles modern day issues surrounding the LGBTQ+ community and their ongoing battle for the right to live their lives as they wish. It first opened at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia in 2016, transferring to broadway two years later, playing at the Longacre Theatre, a venue thought to be cursed in recent years, as it has hosted so many relative theatrical flops. The show ran for around 10 months and over 300 performances, as well as receiving 7 Tony nominations, before closing in August 2019.

The Prom on broadway

In spite of the fact that the musical has been performed across the US and beyond, as well as having been adapted into a 2020 movie musical featuring a star-studded cast that included Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and James Corden, it has yet to show any signs of a UK production any time soon, so all we can do is hope that it will eventually make its way to this side of the Atlantic.