The Prom Review

Source: The Prom (@promnetflix) • Instagram photos and videos

On Friday, the next out of Ryan Murphy's Netflix projects dropped and while it was big for the theatre community, there were a couple of question marks raised. One, why adapt this musical when it was only on Broadway very recently. And two, why get big names like this for the cast?

Well, first, Broadway may have seen The Prom, but the rest of the world hasn't. And second, because they're mostly the right people for the job, and who killed it. 

Now I admit, though I of course have heard of the 2018 musical this film is based on, I haven't listened to the cast album, so was going into this pretty blind. 

The Prom follows Emma, a 17 year old girl living in a small conservative town in Indiana, who wants to take her girlfriend to the Prom. But when the PTA hear about it, they go ape **** and shut the whole thing down. Meanwhile in New York, we meet Dee Dee and Barry, a couple of Broadway stars who's latest show closed on opening night due to poor reviews of their performances. When they and two other actors catch wind of Emma's story, they hop on a bus to Indiana to try and help Emma get her Prom in an effort to also try and improve their public image. 

Now I want to say that this film was enjoyable from start to finish. It's good. It's really good. 

Source: The Prom (@promnetflix) • Instagram photos and videos

But I feel like I have to get the big issue out of the way. (No, not what you may be thinking, though we may get to that later). And this is an issue with the story itself, not a film-specific problem. And you may have got it from reading that blub I wrote 5 minutes ago. It's that the heart should be about Emma and Alyssa's story, but instead, it's given equal weight to this "narcissistic actors trying to get good PR" storyline, which in comparison, no-one cares about... Or even sometimes was "more important". I just wish there was more with Emma and Alyssa than there was. 

OK, that's the biggest thing out of the way: when the story gets it right, it really gets it right. I was surprised how much I both laughed and got a bit emotional. In fact, there was one moment which was crushing, like a punch to the gut! 

But if I could describe it in one word, it would be uplifting. It's one of those stories you cannot help but feel a bit high on at the end. 

Away from the story and onto the cast, a lot of whom I was really surprised by. All four playing the Broadway stars have either done Broadway themselves, or a movie musical before, or both: Meryl Streep (Into The Woods) was probably the only big name who could do Dee Dee Allen justice (a character who I would despise if she I met her in real life): Andrew Rannells (The Boys in the Band) was pefect casting as Trent Oliver, no-one better in my opinion to sing a song called Love Thy Neighbour than the original Elder Price: and Nicole Kidman was fantastic as chorus girl Angie, in fact her big number Zazz was one of my favourite songs in the show. 

Now for the big ❔ - James Corden. Now I don't mind him at all, but he can be hit or miss. I think with this one he tried really hard and he was far better at playing Barry than he was in CATS. But I'm not sure that he was the best choice all things considered. 

But back onto the good: which includes Keegan Michael Key (Jingle Jangle) as the Principal, Kerry Washington as Mrs Greene, Ariana DeBose (Hamilton) as Alyssa and, my favourite, Jo Ellen Pellman, who was a revelation as Emma. I hope she gets a lot more offers from that performance, because she deserves it!

What also makes this special is that some of the creative team from the Broadway production have ben involved as well - you can definitely tell the difference. Composers Matthew Skylar and Chad Beguelin are producers, as well as original director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw. And while Murphy is sat in the director's chair this time, Nicholaw does still choreograph. The big numbers like Tomorrow Belongs To You and It's Time to Dance are pulled off incredibly well. 

I will have to check out the cast album now, because the songs are good: just like the film itself, funny, heart-warming and just a really good time. I'm likely going to be dancing around my room to it 

The Prom is on Netflix now (and I've heard in some cinemas too), but that would depend on your Tier. This is a tonic for the end of 2020 that we need. So get watching!