“The Prom” Review
Based off of the Broadway hit musical, director Ryan Murphy has taken “The Prom” to home screens. Viewers can now watch this wonderful musical on Netflix.
“The Prom” was written by Matthew Jay Sklar in 2018. The show was adapted to the screen by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin. Beguelin is best known for his work writing the book for Disney’s “Aladdin.”
With these great creators, this musical comedy can be easily compared with other great shows that have been taken from the Broadway stage to viewer’s televisions. Movies like “Into the Woods,” “Aladdin,” and even “Annie” are great examples of shows that have made into live action movies.
This movie stands out compared to the others though. More lights, much more modern music, and way more color.
It’s an eyecatcher compared to other movies like this. Also, the plot is a very modern and relevant issue.
A girl named Emma is gay. She wants to bring her girlfriend to prom.
The school’s PTA refuses that and cancels the prom entirely. A group of Broadway celebrities hear about this injustice and rush to save the day.
When the celebrities show up, they begin to make things worse. Emma goes through a lot of bullying.
It shows the audience what issues a LGBTQ person may go through.
They story doesn’t stray far from the Broadway original. Obviously, a movie can have more background, sets, and special effects compared to a theatre show.
“The Prom” has great character story arcs. Each character goes through a change and by the end, everyone has a revolution.
But it is great to know the backstory of characters. This movie does that exactly, but not with just one character, but with all.
As for the directing, Ryan Murphy as a list of television and movies. Work like “American Horror Story,” “Scream Queens,” and “9-1-1.” Murphy even has a knowledge of musical work being a creator and producer of “Glee.”
Having an experienced film maker like Ryan Murphy is a great way to make a movie great. With his knowledge in the industry, Murphy can make a very successful movie and that’s exactly what he did with “The Prom.”
The camera work is also great in this movie. Keeping a camera rolling and not breaking for different shots can make a movie look like a theatre production.
This is a great aspect that the creators did.
One thing that stands out in this film is the color was a showstopper. Every character has bright costumes. The set is full just vivid. Everything stands out, showing magnificent colors.
“The Prom” has a cast like none other. Fantastic actors like Meryl Streep, Ariana DeBose, James Corden, and Andrew Rannells. These were wondaful singers and even better actors.
But it’s not every day that a Penn Stater is on Netflix. Alumni, Keegan-Michael Key played the role of Mr. Hawkins. He did a fantastic job and, come to find out, a great singer.
Key showed his talents off on his second Netflix film appearance.
The only minor setback to this film is since it matches the stage musical so much, people who have watched the musical are just watching it again on screen.
All-in-all, Netflix added a great film to its collection. “The Prom” will definitely be remembered as a successful Broadway show to television screen movie.
Rating: 4/5
Cade Miller is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email at cam7095@psu.edu.
