"The Prom" Announces Broadway Closing Date
Return your rented tux because The Prom is about to be over.
The beloved original musical, which was previously open-ended, has announced its final Broadway performance will be August 11, despite earning critical acclaim and seven Tony nominations.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to bring this original musical comedy, full of heart and humor, to Broadway with this dream cast and creative team,” said producers Bill Damaschke, Dori Berinstein, and Jack Lane in a joint statement. “Since the earliest days in the journey of The Prom, we have known this story was something special.”
But The Prom hasn't danced its last dance just yet. When prolific producer Ryan Murphy hosted a special performance of the Broadway musical in April, he revealed he would be turning the show into a movie musical for Netflix.
“I’m really tired of hearing about bad news and Trump. I want to see entertainment that is optimistic and uplifting,” Murphy told the audience. He recalled seeing the show back in December, knowing nothing about the musical before he took his seat. “I was absolutely blown away by Casey’s work and the incredible cast. I cried at the end from pure joy, which has not happened to me since Patti LuPone was the flower girl at my wedding.”
In addition to the Netflix adaptation, The Prom will also be embarking on a national tour.
Written by Chad Beguelin (Aladdin), Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), and Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer), the ripped-from-the-headlines musical “takes place in a small Indiana town, where a prom is canceled after the high school forbids Emma, a female student, from bringing her girlfriend,” according to an official synopsis. “When a group of eccentric Broadway actors hear her story, they travel to the community in an earnest—if possibly misguided—attempt to correct the injustice.”
The Prom, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, made history last year when the show’s cast performed on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which aired on NBC, marking the event’s first televised LGBTQ kiss.