The Prom on Broadway Review with exclusive Christopher Sieber interview

Deen van Meer

In 1994 my boyfriend and I went to the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City to see the original production of Angels in America on Gay Pride Sunday, and it was life-altering. Being in that room with an audience of gay men and the people who love them was an experience worth remembering. A year later, we went to the same theatre and saw Love! Valor! Compassion! on Gay Pride, and had a similar experience — it was like being at a tent revival. The screams of laughter from an audience made up almost entirely of gay men (you should’ve seen the intermission line at the Men’s Room) must have added at least fifteen minutes to the show. These two experiences have remained two of our most memorable in a Broadway Theatre.

So when The Prom opened at The Longacre (right across the street from the Walter Kerr) to rave reviews, I figured it would run for a while and I made a plan: we would see The Prom on Gay Pride Sunday. We would have seen a drama (Angels has a lot of laughs but I do label it a drama), a comedy (LVC has some drama but I view it as a comedy) and a musical comedy on Gay Pride Sunday, and wouldn’t that be amazing.

And it was. It truly was.

Until the tragedy struck.

As we were leaving The Longacre, I remembered that The Prom has posted their closing notice for August 11th, which is unfathomable. I don’t understand how a show this good with so many rave reviews can shutter on Broadway, and maybe I never will, after all I am not a producer, I don’t work in marketing or public relations, so I don’t know what brings about a decision to end the run of a play that is making audiences so incredibly happy and keeping members of the New York theatre community employed, something that I always believe is the responsibility of the theatrical family here: keeping each other employed. So instead of thinking about the sad circumstance over at The Longacre, I think I should focus on the joy of the situation, which is the completely uplifting experience I had seeing The Prom on Gay Pride Sunday 2019.

It is a pretty rare thing for a completely original musical to land on Broadway these days. It happens, but most of the time we who attend theatre in New York are faced with a selection of musicals that are either revivals, jukebox musicals, or film to stage transfers (sometimes even television to stage, the biggest insult of them all). So when an original idea is born, turned into a play, and songs are written, I am always excited. The Prom is a totally original idea brought to life by authors Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin (book), Matthew Sklar (music), and with Mr. Beguelin contributing the lyrics. The original concept came from Jack Viertel and Casey Nicholaw who directed and choreographed (oh my gosh, the dancing!) the play. Seven years in the making, The Prom addresses the all-too-often situation of gay kids not being allowed to go to the High School Prom because they want to bring their same-sex partner as their date. Only this story has an added bonus in the persons of four vain Broadway actors who are losing steam in their careers and need, desperately, to find a cause that will make them relevant again. When they see the Indiana Prom scandal trending on Twitter, they hop on a bus (too poor to fly) and head west, where they disrupt the lives of a small middle American community, to the delight of audiences wishing to see some good old musical comedy.

And good old musical comedy is what they get.

I can get into the innovative musicals that want to try something new. I love musical theatre. I get the need to try to find something new, to try to change the medium, to grow into a modern version of the art form, but I also like to turn off my mind sometimes and just feel something. The Prom didn’t make me think for 2 hours and 25 minutes — it made me feel. Correction. It made me FEEL. And it did the same for everyone else in the theatre – trust me, I know, because a big part of my every visit to a theatre is to turn, at times, to look at my fellow audience members, to look at their faces during the play. My view at The Prom was of a sea of smiles, of heads thrown back in laughter, and of tears being wiped with tissues. If Love! Valor! Compassion! was like being at a tent revival, then The Prom was like being at a pep rally. Oh my gosh, the laughter was uncontrollable, as audience members burst into applause in the middle of songs, after zingy jokes, and just one raised eyebrow from Beth Leavel. At the top of the second act, audience members were actually talking to the show’s villain from their seats. Not mumbling, they were talking RIGHT TO HER! This wasn’t no sotto voce, kids, this was Full Voice, rolling up to the stage because they wanted this person to hear their disapproval. Usually, this is something I hate but on this day, I have to admit, I was doing it, too. If they had had food, they would have thrown it. I think I heard some booing and hissing. Now THAT is taking your audience on an emotional journey! My time spent in my seat with the company of The Prom is time well spent, and time I will remember. I had such a good time I even did the unthinkable: I spent money on Merch.

What is so beautiful about The Prom is that it has taken an entirely relatable situation and brought it center stage, put an enormous spotlight on it and then filled the air around us with heart emojis. It’s been a long time since I was in high school, and for the record, I was the gay kid in my school. I was the ONLY gay kid in my school. And it was pretty hard to hide my gayness. But, at 55, I don’t really remember anymore what it was like being a high schooler. I enjoyed the high school angst themed Dear Evan Hansen, but I didn’t relate to it. The Prom, though, put me back in school, and I felt every emotion Emma and Alyssa had during the play – my heart was either breaking or soaring for these two young women who aren’t trying to find themselves, they are trying to create themselves. I felt like a kid again, with all the possibilities of the future, right in front of me. So many possibilities. And you know what? I believe that patrons of The Prom of every sexual or gender fluid possibility shared my experience while watching these young people.

And YET … I was also able to relate to these four wonderful characters, these four New York actors who insinuate into the small town Indiana life. It’s not that I have ever been famous, noteworthy or visible, the way these characters are – I certainly have no frame of reference there. But I do know what it’s like to be aging out of your profession, to be worried about where the money is coming from (being poor and old in New York can NOT happen to you, trust me), and to be trying to figure out how to remain relevant as you reach your sell-by date. I don’t think there is a person over forty who won’t relate to the panic being hilariously expressed by these characters in the crackerjack dialogue and lyrics of The Prom. I get them, and I love them.

Deen van Meer

I am grateful for the creative team of The Prom for bringing this play to my consciousness, but I am overwhelmed with love for the actors because they are the storytellers dropping the jewels in our laps. I’ve watched Brooks Ashmanskas come up through the ranks. I think I’ve seen almost everything he’s done on Broadway and I kid you not when I say this is one of those performances you never forget. Like Antonio Banderas in Nine or Reba McEntire in Annie Get Your Gun, or Jose Llana in The King and I. It is a perfect marriage of actor and character. And every time I see Beth Leavel I wonder if it is possible to love her more. Even if it’s a workshop of a new musical on the 12th floor of an office building, I find the well of affection I have for her is deeper with each performance – and her performance in The Prom just added a new level to the dialogue of devotion. Christopher Sieber has, long, been my favorite Broadway boy singing actor, ever since he stole my heart away in the play Triumph of Love. So I never miss a Christopher Sieber show because I love having my heart stolen away by him, and even though he had this former cater-waiter early in the show, it was signed, sealed and delivered with his epic Act Two number ‘Love Thy Neighbor’. And Angie Schworer, oh my gosh, Angie Schworer, Angie Schworer. During the intermission my husband said to me, ‘What do we know Angie Schworer from?” and I told him ‘everything’. He opened his phone and went to IBDB and started reading and he said, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s a chorus girl who got out of the ensemble’ and I started to cry. Because I knew that. And don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a beautiful thing to be in the ensemble of a Broadway show, to understudy important roles, to go on in those roles. The ensemblers are the backbone of Broadway. I also think, though, that it is a beautiful thing to be a steadily working member of the ensemble and, then, to have someone say, ‘Here, I wrote this fabulous part for you” and THEN to get to do a number like ‘Zazz’ (maybe my favorite number in the show because, in my youth, I dreamed of being a Fosse dancer). Seriously, these four actors are bringing home performances that will live in my heart forever.

But they aren’t the only ones. Because there are supporting roles being played by Josh Lamon, Courtenay Collins and Michael Genet, and I was over the moon for these actors’ work! It’s hard to project to the last row, yet retain the intimacy of a person the audience recognizes from their life. Indeed, at the end of the play when Courtenay Collins came out to bow, my husband turned to me and said, ‘Where was her Tony nomination? She is WONDERFUL,’ and all I could do was nod because I was busy wiping the tears and snot off my face and screaming bravo. Most of my screams, though, were for the youngsters. They are the future of Broadway and they deserve to be. Caitlin Kinnunen (Emma) and Isabelle McCalla (Alyssa) are the kind of beautiful that makes a person sigh with pride. It’s not about how they look (beautiful), or about how they act (beautiful), but what they bring that is their own – a light, a glimmer, a glow that makes a sometimes cynical, often jaded middle-aged gay man happy that Broadway is experiencing a renaissance. These two women brought their youth, beauty, and talent to the stage of The Longacre and delivered it to us, as a host delivers a greeting to a new guest: like each of us sitting there was the only person in the room. You know, the way it was when Judy Garland sang to an audience – like she was singing just to you, in a room filled with people. That’s the gift that Misses Kinnunen and McCalla bring to The Prom.

So the big question is: why is The Prom closing? I cannot pretend to know what the public is looking for anymore, what it is that makes a show a hit. The Prom was well reviewed when it came out. From my office I can, daily, see people lined up prior to the box office opening, sometimes for FOUR HOURS, waiting for rush tickets, standing room only, cancellations … and when I am working late I hear the screams of the fans at the stage door, every time one of the actors comes out after the play. Every person I have spoken to, when asked how they liked The Prom, breaks into a smile, eyes lit up, reactionary applause, sometimes even a bounce where they stand, before telling me how MUCH they LOVED it. So this astonishing little-show-that-could SHOULD be staying open. But it’s not, doggone it. And I am equal parts of confused, saddened and pissed off.

So, dear reader, the only thing I can do is advise you: if you are in New York City, get a ticket. If you are in New Jersey, Connecticut, Upstate New York, Maryland, D.C., get in the car, get on the train, have a weekend in the city and see this play with a heart and with a message, both based on one word: Love. That’s The Prom – a play about Love. And how could anybody object to Love?

And if you are a super rich person, go. You’ll find something there worth saving.

I’m just sayin’…

As a special treat to the readers of this story, I reached out to Christopher Sieber, who agreed to answer six questions for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Jenny Anderson

Chris, you told me you have been with The Prom from the very beginning, seven years ago. What is the process of getting into a project from the start, then working with it until it comes to Broadway, getting to experience the full arc of creation?

The prom started as an idea … by Jack Viertel … a producer… He saw a story about a lesbian wanting to take her girlfriend to the prom, and they canceled it. He thought this would be a great idea for a show. Bob Martin,Chad Beuglin, Mathew Sklar and Casey Nicholaw were approached and Jack basically said: ‘This is an interesting idea, can you guys make this into something?’ They all got to work and about a year later, Casey Nicholaw, ran into me on the street.

‘I have something for you!’

I said ‘Great!’

‘We don’t know what it is yet, but we want you to do it.’ Which, never happens. So Brooks Ashmanskas, Beth Leavel, Angie Schworer, and myself found ourselves a few weeks later at Casey’s apartment, cold reading this script that didn’t have a name, and only had a few songs sung at a piano by Mathew Sklar. We all connected with the parts because we found out that day that they had written this with all of us in mind! Which never happens! Well, from there it was obviously something that had legs. We did more readings, we did Labs. The creative team was so generous and gracious to let us collaborate with them, which never happens! All of us have been friends for at least 20 years or more — Brooks and I met 26 years ago … so the entire process was the easiest hard work ever. It was a safe and fun environment, we played and laughed every day we were together … nothing was precious … we just wanted to tell the best story we could.

The Longacre is one of Broadway’s smaller houses, and it seems like you could stand on the stage and see audience members. What kind of stories have you seen out there in the dark while performing The Prom?

The audience for our show varies a bit. The Wednesday matinees are the hardest. That is when you get bus tours of groups … they are the quietest. The story we tell always affects them at the end. So we get people yelling at characters during Act 2 … in a good way. Our story winds around and ultimately makes you want to cheer.

My husband is an actor and when he is working on something he always comes to me for advice on how he’s playing a role. Does Kevin take any part in your creative process, when creating a role?

Ha!! No, I actually hide from him a bit … I do ask him to read the opposite character when I have sides but I have to get the words in my face and head. I can’t have anyone hearing me or looking at me until I have a grasp of who the character is.

You’ve spent equal time onstage creating original characters, and also stepping into characters that have already been played by other actors. Is it easier for you to build something from scratch, or to step into something that’s already established?

I love creating new things. It is so cool being the guy that makes the character come to life … to be the first. It takes a lot of courage, I think, to make something out of nothing and knowing that it could be terrible or wonderful. The audience always will tell you if you’re doing it right. Stepping into a role that has already been established is so much easier of course; someone has already made the choices and intentions. When replacing an actor in a show, it’s up to you to recreate the character, not the actor … you have to make the part fit YOU.

Sadly, The Prom has posted a closing notice for August 11th. I know that there are occasions when a closing notice for a play is rescinded – is there any chance that might happen here?

I don’t think so … we can hope. The saddest thing about all this, we are beloved by the Broadway community … the show means so much to so many. It’s just so sad.

Have you had any interactions, either in person or over email, snail mail or social media, with audience members who have been particularly moved by The Prom?

Every day, at the stage door, there is a kid with tears in their eyes. They have seen themselves represented. We see them, we hear them, we are them. They know that they matter. I was that kid. I know that this show is truly changing lives.

The Prom runs about 2 hours 15 minutes with one intermission. The final performance is scheduled for Sunday, August 11. The show is scheduled tour North America beginning February 2021, and Ryan Murphy will produce a film version for Netflix with a Fall 2020 theatrical release planned.

The Prom Musical