‘ The Prom’ Broadway tour dances into Broward
If you get asked to “The Prom,” you should go.
The Broadway tour now at Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center for the Performing Arts is a pleasant if not wholly predictable musical comedy that delivers that stage sparkle as well as a healthy dose of social commentary, the two magnetic poles that keep these kinds of shows suspended aloft onstage.
“The Prom” bowed on Broadway in 2018. Two years later, Ryan Murphy directed a star- studded version — Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Andrew Rannells, Keegan- Michael Key — that had a limited run in movie theaters before streaming on
Netflix.
The show is about Great White Way actors, their stardom plummeting after appearing in a mega- flop about Eleanor Roosevelt, who are in desperate need of a public relations boost. They fall upon social media posts about a lesbian high schooler in Indiana struggling to overcome the local leadership’s opposition to her bringing a same- sex date to her prom.
Deciding that this cause célèbre needs more celebrities, they pack up their Tony Awards and descend upon the small town, elbowing their way back into the spotlight under the guise of doing the right thing.
The premise is a solid one, a perfect “straight man” for the hilarious jokes in the peppy score by Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar ( the dynamic duo behind
“The Wedding Singer” and “Elf the Musical”) as well as the book by Bob Martin and Begulin.
And this cast sings those songs with what appears to be firmly- held determination to belt to the back of the house. And they do, over and over again, for roughly two hours with a 15- minute intermission. The youngish chorus seems to have one direction for Casey Nicholaw’s choreography: hit it ... hit it hard.
Perhaps depending on your socio- political leanings, you might be surprised that a show burnishing lesbian themes every chance it gets still manages to come off as old- fashioned. “The Prom” gently pokes salubrious fun at Broadway with insid
er- jokes and showbiz meta- moments that would be perfectly at home with throwbacks such as Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” or even “42nd Street.”
A little bit more bite might make the show’s heart pound a little harder, but not if it means any distraction whatsoever from “The Prom’s” theme: Put the amp in camp.
If you go info
■ The Prom” runs through Dec. 19 at the Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale.
■ Show times are 8 p. m. WednesdaySaturday; 6: 30 p. m. Sunday; 2 p. m. matinee Saturday and 1 p. m. matinee Sunday.
■ Tickets are $ 30-$ 115. To order call 954- 462- 0222 or go to BrowardCenter. org.
■ Anyone age 2 and over will be required to wear a face covering while inside the Broward Center. Also all guests age 12 and over will be asked to provide documentation of a recent negative COVID- 19 test or documentation of full vaccination status. For more information, go to BrowardCenter.