Robert DuSold

I just finished watching “The Prom”… well, we’re pretty much locked down again, so….

I had so many thoughts while I was in my pajamas that I felt they deserved a blog. It’s a pink and purple explosion of movie musicals, stage musicals, movie stars , inclusive casting, and gay rights that manages to make all of them alternatively kinda puzzling and weirdly dull.

I guess the center of what makes it a pretty mess is this: the casting. If we’re to be entering a new age in inclusive casting and opportunities, I think a way to accomplish that is to cast the actors who originated these roles… they were pretty much written for them. And if your first thought is you have to cast movie stars to get an audience, and at the same time be a fan of the several movements to reset diversity in the performing arts, I would say you need to give that a think. They’re very close in scope, particularly now in a pandemic when stage actors aren’t working..and won’t….for way over a year. Isn’t that ultimate non traditional casting? How about a chance, a leveling of the playing field that is the heart of shaking up the theater industry and the film industry? Do the majority of the stars cast in this need the work? If we’re asking for peeps to step aside, maybe we can start here. Or, if we don’t think that’s fair or appropriate, then let’s just not ask anyone to do that.

In full disclosure, I didn’t see “The Prom” on Broadway, but I’m pretty sure the conceit… well, the main one…is a cast of relatively blue collar Broadway actors playing Broadway stars who go to the bleak Midwest and parade around and act like stars. There’s some funny in that, and that’s the only way the writing works..the jokes at least.

So, on the big screen we have extremely recognizable celebrities, with a couple of exceptions, playing unrecognizable celebrities who think they are recognizable celebrities but really aren’t…being played by celebrities. So, instead of what I assume the stage show intended, the film winds up as a series of vanity skits by celebrities who are playing parts that were pretty specifically written for other people, who should be playing these roles because it’s an integral part of where the humor and heart of the story comes from.

I’ve read stuff about James Corden wearing “ gay face” and how horrible that is. I thought he didn’t go far enough really… with the humor, and not the tears. I can’t recall a movie musical where so many tears were shed… Meryl Streep is a master. I was expecting a running tab on the screen. “Les Mis” pales in comparison. There’s a scene with Tracy Ullman that arrived at comedy I think unintentionally. Tears: 85. 86…. I don’t think this show can withstand a smash and grab of the heartstrings.

Corden is an easy target I suppose for the woke crowd, but I was kinda stuck on actors playing teenagers who waved goodbye to high school a long time ago. Also, the advantage of a film is being specific with locations, but Indiana looked like LA, danced like LA and acted like LA.

Anyway, I think LGBTQ representation is really important in the arts, and I’m not sure how this film managed to whitewash and sanitize queerness… was it to make it a family friendly package? It was so glitzy and whirly and not real that it took some of the gay away from me.

I don’t think anyone intends to not make good art.. and I think some of this era we’re suffering through in the arts is usurping people’s intentions to benefit our own narrative. But, I do believe all the intentions added up to a strangely joyless experience. This show on stage had to have been there, and celebrated theater in it’s heart. Maybe a good way to celebrate theater is to just make a theatrical film. With theater people playing theater people.