The Prom Is Truly Our Kind of Story

“I didn’t know that that’s what it was about.”

I was sitting in the lobby at intermission when I overheard the above stage-whispered from one friend to another. I glanced at the two of them – both were women in their late 70s, give or take a few years. Her friend didn’t respond within the time it took them to travel out of earshot so I was left to wonder at the opinion behind the surprise, but the subtext was clear.

The Prom is quite gay.

I, for one, am excited to see Chanhassen Dinner Theater putting on an overtly LGBTQ show and I am hoping that my lobby ladies felt the same way. I think Chanhassen Dinner Theatre is a fun staple of the Minnesota theater scene. I think it is also common knowledge that they tend to put on generically likeable productions in the vein of Grease, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, and The Music Man.

The Prom is different.

Deviating from Chanhassen Dinner Theatre’s usual fare (while acknowledging that, yes, the theater has put on productions like Hairspray), The Prom is a wholesome coming of age story told with teeth. There are swears. MILFs are referenced. Some not very nice things are said about Midwesterners.

For the uninitiated, The Prom is a high-energy, colorful, musical comedy about a high school student in Indiana who wants to take her girlfriend to prom. One homophobic mother (who is closer to the situation than she realizes) and the rest of her PTA cronies will do everything in their power to make sure that there will be no gay couples at prom. Meanwhile, across the country, a ragtag collection of Broadway stars who have recently been lambasted for being out of touch, decide to make their way to Indiana to help the girl get the prom that she deserves. Based off actual events at a Mississippi school in 2010, this laugh out loud coming of age story still finds the space to seriously examine family dynamics, celebrity, small town culture, queerness, and more.

Although The Prom wrestles with big themes (and you will likely cry through songs like Alyssa Greene and Unruly Heart), it is not a play that takes itself too seriously – there are several borderline cheesy performances (Tod Petersen as Barry Glickman and Jodi Carmeli as Dee Dee Allen, for example), but being over the top is part of the point and adds to the charm of the play.

Delightfully, the casting of Chanhassen Dinner Theatre’s production closely mirrors the casting of the 2020 Netflix movie, which not only made for an exceptionally strong cast, but also seems to be in line with the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives that the theater introduced in 2021. Additionally, although age is not a DEI parameter, several of the main roles in The Prom are for mature actors, which is unusual for a musical and an absolute treat.

This is a stacked cast, but performance highlights for me were Joenathan Thomas as Principal Hawkins (so professorial!), Helen Anker as Angie Dickinson (literally please email me your arm routine), Tiffany Cooper as Mrs. Greene (the stubborn tears in the last scene!), and Monty Hays as Emma Nolan (I don’t think they stopped crying for the last twenty minutes of the performance and – ugh – my table and I were right there with them). I could go on (Daysha Ramsey is an extraordinary dancer, Jay Albright has phenomenal comedic timing, Tyson Insixiengmai killed it as Kevin for the night), but it is probably better for you to go to the show and experience your own personal faves.

I would be remiss to close out the review without mentioning the costume design, by the legendary Rich Hamson, which is as ambitious as it is stunning. Not only do we get an ensemble worth of hilariously on point Godspell costumes, we also get a series of fun Broadway star outfits, a fun collection of prom looks, an outfit in which character Angie Dickinson literally becomes a checkered finish line at a Monster Truck rally, and more gasp-worthy looks on actress Jodi Carmeli than I have the space to swoon over.

I have a small bone to pick with the fact that I could see the lace on what had to be every wig on stage (why get the fancy wig if you’re not going to trim and blend?), but ultimately this was a delightful night of theater. The performance was inclusive, the music (conducted by Andy Kust) was perfect, and the story was as sweet as the slice of rainbow cake I ordered for the second act.

The show is running through June, so you still have time to find the perfect evening to gather your chosen family or special someone and enjoy the show. This writer recommends dressing up in something that simultaneously screams both “queer” and “prom”, filling up a table, and enjoying a night of musical comedy over a slice of that rainbow cake (a special menu item added specifically for this show). And don’t forget to take your photo at the photo wall right outside the theater doors. Just maybe do it before the show in case your makeup smudges during The Prom’s emotional finale.