FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Commentary: ‘The Prom’ is an ode to musical theater. But Hollywood often shuts out stage actors [Los Angeles Times :: MOVIE-PROM-COMMENTARY:LA]
In the Netflix movie “The Prom,” Keegan-Michael Key plays a high school principal who saves all his money for an annual trip to New York to see as many shows as he can. Though binge-watching Broadway — plus the cost of hotels, flights, meals and other expenses — adds up to a pretty penny, especially for a small-town school administrator, it’s a price worth paying. That’s the power of performance, the magic of live theater.
“We look to you in good times and bad / the worlds you create make the real one seem less sad,” he sings to a theater legend, played by Meryl Streep. “We look to you, as strange as it seems / when reality goes to scary, new extremes.”