The Prom - Playhouse on Park

Playhouse on Park has presented a successful string of summer musicals the past few years.  In 2023, there was a well-received production of Bandstand, which received numerous Connecticut Critics Circle (CCC) Award nominations, including Best Musical.  The summer before that was a buoyant, jubilant staging of Pippin.  The theater’s current offering, the crowd-pleasing musical, The Prom, continues their streak of appealing and captivating summer shows. 

The cast of The Prom at Playhouse at Park.  Photo by Amanda Forker.

The Prom is fun, joyous and even delivers a message of tolerance and understanding.  The story, based on a true event, centers on Emma, a lesbian high school student in smalltown Indiana, who just wants to attend her year ending prom with her girlfriend.  The local PTA, however, does not approve and promptly cancels the event for everyone.  Enter Dee Dee Allen and Barry Glickman, two narcissistic Broadway performers; Trent Oliver, an out-of-work actor; and Angie Dickinson, a lifelong chorus woman.  Seeking a cause to elevate their likability quotient, they zero in on Emma and her plight.  Arriving in mid-America, they cause more mayhem and turmoil as they attempt to “rescue” Emma from her disconsolate situation.  In the end, after much angst and soul-searching, there is happiness and an amenable resolution for all.

 

The book by Bob Martin (Tony Award winner for The Drowsy Chaperone and Chad Beguelin) is very funny with a number of musical theater references and asides to delight Broadway musical aficionados.  They have crafted characters which, in the beginning, appear stereotypical, but by the show’s end have grown to become fully developed, sympathetic and even kind people.

Zachary Kropp and members of the cast of The Prom at Playhouse at Park.  Photo by Amanda Forker.

 

The music and lyrics by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, who also wrote the scores for Elf and The Wedding Singer, are tuneful, and provide the impetus for a bevy of Mintz’s choreographic flourishes.  Songs are upbeat (“You Happened,” “Tonight Belongs to You,” and “Barry is Going to Prom”), full of heartfelt emotion (“Unruly Heart” and “Just Breathe”) and contain a dash of sass (“The Lady’s Improving” and “Zazz.”)

 

While I have few qualms with the production, I was disappointed with a few aspects of the show.  The Prom is a dance heavy musical.  Director/choreographer Robert Mintz stacks the show with both rousing production numbers and refined, muted moments.  However, the ensemble members, the players that fill out the big dance routines, only numbers four, which makes the scenes appear thin.  There needed to be at least two, preferably four, more actors to maximize the impact and enjoyment of the choreography.  In addition, Playhouse on Park productions have been notable for their innovative and creative scenic designs.  For The Prom, the sets by Erin Kiernan are sometimes lamentably sparse.

 

Lucy D'Addario and Carolyn Burke in The Prom at Playhouse on Park.  Photo by Amanda Forker.

As Director, Robert Mintz moves the production swiftly through its paces.  His guidance is most keen when the stage is full of assorted cast members.  The tempo is less pronounced when there are only one or two characters populating the space.  He is helped tremendously by the three central performances of the show.  Susan Haefner, a 2022 recipient of the CCC Outstanding Actress in a Musical Award, and Benjamin Howes are uproarious as the self-absorbed Dee Dee Allen and Barry Glickman.  While consistently uproarious in their portrayals of the down-and-out Broadway veterans, they also convincingly layer their portrayals with pathos and honesty.  Lucy D’Addario, a recent Hartt School graduate, gives Emma the innocence and perturbed persona necessary for the role, but the young actress also leavens her character with resolve and fortitude.

 

Other notable actors/actresses are Zachary Kropp, as the ever upbeat Trent Oliver, Juilliard graduate and colleague of Dee Dee and Barry.  Carolyn Burke, who portrays Angie Dickinson, the actress forever stuck in the chorus of the musical Chicago.  Kendyl Grace Davis, who plays Alyssa Greene, Emma’s secret love interest. Cole Campbell, the rational school principal Mr. Hawkins and Jordan Bunshaft, whose role as Sheldon, PR man to the would-be stars, adds a comic spark to the production.

 

The Prom, an entertaining and exuberant summer musical, playing at Playhouse on Park through August 18.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.