If you are scrolling through Netflix, looking for a new movie to entertain you for the night, I would keep scrolling if you see “The Prom.” Although Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of the stage show version by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin includes important messages about intolerance and brings out the Broadway glamor that many have missed out on this year, Murphy’s attempt to blend these two components together has, unfortunately, been unsuccessful.
The curtain opens with glitzy actress Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and campy, openly gay actor Barry Glickman (James Corden) on the opening night of the fictional Broadway musical “Eleanor!”: an Eleanor Roosevelt musical. A scathing press review that characterizes Dee Dee and Barry as aging narcissists, leads the Broadway stars, along with long-time chorus girl Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman) and Julliard graduate Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells), to take on a cause to redeem themselves.
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The Prom Is Breezy, Peppy and Tells Us a Gloomy Story Doesn t Have to Be Dreary Itself
The Netflix film is impressive when it tackles and resolves individual stories. But it occasionally falters at processing the big picture.
A still from Prom .
The American musical
The Prom, streaming on Netflix, dances around a simple question: Will Edgewater High School, in Indiana, hold the annual prom?
The head of the Parent-Teacher Association, Mrs. Greene (Kerry Washington), has cancelled it, because Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman), a high school senior, wanted to attend it with her girlfriend, a Black girl named Alyssa (Ariana DeBose), the daughter of the PTA head. Edgewater is a small conservative town, and same-sex dates flout communal values.
‘The Prom’ is saccharine, yet delightful, Broadway homage
Netflix/Courtesy
Grade: 3.5/5.0
Though a Ryan Murphy-directed movie musical wasn’t the year-end spectacle most people were hoping for, “The Prom” shouldn’t be discounted just yet: “The Prom” is whimsical in every sense of the word. From its jewel-toned, bold color schemes to the pure notion that small-town homophobia can be solved with a song and a few Broadway stars, the film’s sheer optimism cannot be denied.
Following the failure of their latest show, Broadway veterans Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden) are looking for any new project that can revitalize their reputations. Enter Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman), a lesbian from Indiana whose prom was canceled because she wanted to bring her girlfriend Alyssa (Ariana DeBose).
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It doesn’t bear repeating how awful 2020 has been for the world, including for Broadway and high schoolers. For Broadway, all shows in New York City have been cancelled through May 30, 2021. A recent Broadway musical,
The Prom, ended its run in 2019, and a national tour that was planned for 2021 is postponed. For high schoolers, actual proms were cancelled, and it might be awhile until teenagers can safely go to a school dance again.
Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of the 2018 musical seems like it would be the next best thing to experience
The Prom these days. Considering how much I miss being able to go to Broadway shows, it says something that this film didn’t make me miss it more. With all of its glitz, glam and star power,
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