Southern Utah University’s department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration will be opening their first mainstage show of the spring semester on Friday, Feb. 9. “The Prom,” written by Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin and directed by Peter Sham, will be staged in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. Performances take place on Feb. 9, 10, 12 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. with matinee performances Feb. 10 and 17 at 2 p.m. It is free to SUU students, faculty and staff.
“The Prom” tells the story of Emma Nolan, played by Jess Marcano, a lesbian high schooler in the fictional town of Edgewater, Indiana, who wishes to attend her school’s prom with her closeted girlfriend, Alyssa Greene, played by Kyleen Doman. When the PTA cancels prom instead of allowing Emma and her girlfriend to attend, four narcissistic and down-on-their-luck Broadway performers decide to take on Emma’s situation as their own personal mission in order to improve the public’s perception of them.
“The Broadway stars are just as prejudiced against the small town as the small town is ignorant about gay rights,” said Sham.
“The Prom” teaches audiences a lesson about unity, acceptance and support, something that is driven home by the song “Love Thy Neighbor,” sung by Rockwell MacGillivray’s character Trent Oliver, one of the Broadway actors.
“This show is trying to argue about equality and share a message of love and acceptance. I think it’s really important to do, and it’s fun, and it’s exciting,” said Gabriel Wright, who plays fellow Broadway star Barry Glickman. “It teaches about love, and I think that we could always use more.”
Rehearsals for “The Prom” began last semester, with choreography rehearsals preceding a read-through of the script. The show has dealt with numerous illnesses within the cast, causing understudies to have to cover many roles.
“We’ve had such amazing understudies who are doubling as our pit singers. So they’re learning the music for their tracks but also for other tracks and also coming to rehearsal and watching and learning a lot of different parts,” said stage manager Dora Watkins. “They have been really on top of it.”
Because “The Prom” is one of the largest-scale musicals put on by SUU in several years, the production’s dance captain, Ashley Thormahlen, has played an instrumental role in the show’s rehearsal process.
“It’s easiest if you have one person that kind of knows all the choreography, and then all the questions can just be filtered through them when the choreographer has set the show and it’s all done,” said Thormahlen. “I’m kind of the go-to for questions about counts, spacing, movements, anything like that.”
Following the closing of “The Prom,” TDAA will be putting on their own prom that is open to all SUU students, featuring prom royalty composed of juniors and seniors within the theatre department.
“One of the reasons why I want to do this [show] is that we have such a huge [part of the] student body that didn’t get their proms because of the pandemic,” said Sham.
To learn more about TDAA’s upcoming events and season of shows, follow them on Instagram.
“Have fun and come in with a view of love and positivity and feel what you want to feel in that moment and just watch a beautiful story unfold,” said Doman.
Author: Tessa Cheshire
Photographer: Lukas Hassell
arts@suunews.net
