"The Prom" gets a starry cast for its film version.

by Nathaniel R

Two girlfriends in the midwest just want to go to their prom in "The Prom"

The Prom, running through August 11th at Broadway's Longacre Theatre, has defied expectations more than once in its short life. That starts with the plot synopsis which reads like a lecturing social justice message play (Broadway stars fight against discrimination to get a young lesbian to her prom when her school balks at the idea) but is in reality a sweet often hilarious comedy which has more targets than just homophobes in its sights. The musical began previews last October on Broadway and while it wasn't expected to be a big hit (given the sad state of Broadway where branding is all important - it came with no bankable stars, no jukebox score, wasn't based on a movie) it managed to stay open for months, snag high profile Tony nominations, and secure both touring and movie adaptation deals. (It is also a total delight, as Dan told us in his review which we co-sign.)

As you've undoubtedly heard, Netflix snapped it up some time ago. Originally we thought it was going to be a straight to streaming situation, given what Netflix is planning for the new Boys in the Band (with the all-gay Broadway cast reprising their roles for the camera), but it turns out they have an Oscar run in mind. And with that a starrier cast and some degree of a theatrical release in 2020 (so we'll have at least two musicals in the mix that year given Spielberg's West Side Story remake).

But are The Prom's days of defying expectations over?

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Thoughts I Had... while staring at the first promotional image from West Side Story (2020)

by Nathaniel R

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Toto, we're definitely not in Kansas Oz anymore. We've gone from incredibly expressive color to desaturated earth tones. Whose idea was it to base the color palette on a Nancy Meyers interior rather than from the incredible cinematography and design of the 1961 classic...

We're not the only ones worried about this very drab color palette. Consider...

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Soundtracking: Rocketman

by Chris Feil

Rocketman is just about the jukeboxiest musical that ever jukeboxed, arriving on the screen with a structure more indebted to that of the stage than the kind of musical biopic (namely Bohemian Rhapsody) some might have expected. It’s as if Elton John’s and his Billy Elliot collaborator Lee Hall had shifted gears mid-conception, opting for a film with what had originally been planned for the stage. Safe bets will be on Rocketman coming to Broadway eventually anyway.

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Monte Hale Centennial

James Dean with Monte Hale on the set of "Giant"

Who? Listen we're not huge western devotees but nevertheless we tip our imaginary cowboy hats today to the bygone tradition of singing cowboys on film. (You know the kind if only from watching Alden Ehrenreich work such charismatic wonders as one of 'em in the Coen Bros Hail Caesar!). Monte Hale, born on this day 100 years ago in Oklahoma, was among the last of such stars...

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Soundtracking: Moulin Rouge!

by Chris Feil

Perhaps it’s easy to forget how revolutionary Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge! was in 2001. The thing about masterpieces is their legacy sometimes overshadows the context that birthed them. But at the time, the musical was a massive gamble and creative leap, helping to relaunch the genre that had died a slow death at the box office and to cultural  cinematic tastes. Just as Luhrman’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet had aggressively re-imagined its text for the MTV set, he delivered something even more drug-fevered to the musical, shattering notions of what the genre’s limitations were and how it could exist in the modern era.

Musicals may be more commonplace now, but they have yet to be as audacious since. But as much as Luhrman’s trippy, frenetic stylings play nearly twenty (gasp!) years later as its most obvious innovations, it was Luhrman’s music choices that were the biggest shock to the system for movie musicals.

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