The American Southwest Theatre Company and NMSU Department of Theatre Arts gave audiences a preview of their rendition of the 2016 Broadway musical ‘The Prom’ on April 10. Directed by Department Head Wil Kilroy, the show’s actors had to balance the humor and the real-world messaging of their story.
‘The Prom’ follows a group of Broadway stars, consisting of Dee Dee Allen, played by Melis White; Barry Glickman, played by Karlten Friedrich; Angie Dickinson, played by Kate Conrad; Trent Oliver, played by Alex Brabo; and their communications assistant Sheldon Saperstein, played by Edward Leyva. Dee Dee and Barry suffer harsh reviews from The New York Times on their roles in a play about Eleanor Roosevelt. So, they look for a cause to fight for to fix their reputation. After searching through Twitter, Angie finds Emma Nolan, a teenage girl from the rural town of Edgewater, Indiana played by Greta Greenblatt. Emma’s high school prom was cancelled after it was revealed she wanted to ask another girl out for the event. The stars make their way to assist Emma and her ally Principal Hawkins, played by Joshua Prichard.
Actor Melis White described how difficult it was at first to get into the character of Dee Dee Allen, due to their different personalities and mentalities.
“I don’t think Dee Dee’s mean, I just think she is extremely ignorant to her own harshness sometimes,” White said. “And even that was hard for me to find, since I like to think I am usually shy at first, and that I am a kind and compassionate person, which is like the total opposite of Dee Dee.”
Actor Greta Greenblatt had to act through the heartbreaks and difficult moments Emma experiences throughout the show. Greenblatt said that she had to learn how to balance her real-life emotions with those of her character.
“There are moments, like when I run off stage from Josh’s and Kate’s characters, that we all have to just sit there and take it for a second and try to breathe through it,” Greenblatt said. “It just takes so much toll on you if you let the events of the story into your personal life. So, trying to balance that I think is something I must experience during this show.”
Actor Delaney Sivils plays Mrs. Greene, the mother of Emma’s love interest, and head of the parent-teacher association who doesn’t want Greenblatt’s character to attend the prom. Sivils explained the difficulties in playing a person who went against her real beliefs, and how she turned her character’s views into non-political statements.
“I tried to find those ways where my lines were not just politically charged and turn them into something realistic and believable. And that way I am also not being weighed down by all the negative connotations of what my character says,” Sivils said.
Director Wil Kilroy first saw a Broadway showing of ‘The Prom’ in 2019 during a trip where he took his students to New York. He not only fell in love with the story but found it important to tell during the current sociopolitical climate of the United States.
“We were waiting for the rights to the play to come about, and recently they became available,” Kilroy said. “And I just thought it was a great story to be told. It is more poignant now because rights are being taken from certain people. So, this was a story that should be told at this point in time.”
The NMSU Department of Theatre Arts had its official opening night of the musical on April 11, followed by their second showing on April 12. The last three shows of “The Prom” will be on April 25, 26, and 27. Those interested can buy tickets at the theater’s website.
