On our tenth anniversary last year, Diana and I saw The Prom on Broadway. It was one of the most surprising and wonderful things I had ever seen on stage, and this was in the same week that I saw the Harry Potter play, Waitress with Shoshana Bean as Jenna, and an enormous King Kong puppet. I bought the soundtrack that night and listened to it obsessively.
More than a year and a half later, with a little Covid delay in shooting, they got the movie version on Netflix, and of course we watched it the first night. It's musically 90% the same, with more dialog. It's not better or worse than the stage show, it's just different. "Unruly Heart" lands just as effectively. I struggled with the idea that the original cast, which workshopped and did that show out-of-town and in New York, had nothing to do with the movie. I've mostly gotten over that because it's great that the story is being told to a broader audience. Sure, it's full of gooey optimism and rainbows, but fuck, if we need anything this year, it's that. The film cast has mostly won me over. Streep and Kidman are as legit as ever.
They did chicken out a little on some of the lyrics early in the show, presumably because they might offend some people. They also went deeper on Barry's history, which made the movie longer, but I'm not sure it adds much. They also dropped most of "Acceptance Song," which is the weakest song in the show, but it had one of Barry's better gags in it.
I miss going to shows. This one is scheduled to come to town, eventually. The tours keep rebooking to later and later dates. Maybe next summer we'll get to seem them return.
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