THEATER PREVIEW
"The Prom." Through Sept. 25. Opening night, Sept. 7. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. $10-$72. Alliance Theatre (at the Woodruff Arts Center), 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-733-5000. www.alliancetheatre.org.
Whether you're young or mature, liberal or conservative, gay or straight, the Alliance Theatre's world premiere of the Broadway-bound musical "The Prom" has got you covered. If there's a so-called target audience for the season-opening production, Alliance artistic director Susan Booth suggests, it's simply the human race in general.
When the powers-that-be at an Indiana high school opt to cancel the annual prom rather than allow one of its lesbian students attend with her girlfriend, a group of faded celebrities and would-be activists invade the town to take up the cause. Humorous complications and rousing musical numbers naturally ensue.
The creative team boasts a stellar assortment of Broadway veterans, on stage as well as off. The script is co-written by Tony winner Bob Martin (“The Drowsy Chaperone”) and Tony nominee Chad Beguelin (“Aladdin”). The score includes songs with music by Tony nominee Matthew Sklar (“The Wedding Singer”) and lyrics by Beguelin. The principal cast features Tony winner Beth Leavel (“The Drowsy Chaperone”) and nominees Christopher Sieber (“Monty Python’s Spamalot,” “Shrek the Musical”) and Brooks Ashmanskas (“Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me”).
At the helm of the company is director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw, who won a Tony for co-directing “The Book of Mormon,” in addition to earning additional nominations for directing and/or choreographing “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Spamalot” and “Something Rotten!”
“The Prom” marks a reunion of sorts for Nicholaw and Booth, who previously collaborated on a musical version of “Tuck Everlasting,” which premiered at the Alliance in 2015, and opened earlier this year on Broadway for a short-lived run, despite favorable reviews.
“I love working here,” Nicholaw said. “Susan is super supportive of the creative process and of fostering new work, providing a safe environment and giving us the ease and freedom to do our thing. Developing a brand new show is hard work, but it definitely helps to be in a place where we can also have a lot of fun doing it.”
The current hot-topic debate about implementing a federally mandated policy for transgender bathrooms in schools right now raises the question whether “The Prom” might generate its own controversy.
Not to worry, said Booth.
“One of the truly brilliant things about the show’s creative team is that they’re equal-opportunity satirizers. The left gets as good as the right, so it would be really hard for anyone to get too bent out of shape, when both sides are basically taking it on the chin.”
Nicholaw agrees.
“The premise addresses some timely and serious issues, but far greater are the comic possibilities of it,” he said. “It’s not about slamming people over the head with a message, and much more about just allowing them to have a really good time.”
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