Review: 'The Prom' at Croswell Opera House is humorous, thoughtful

Editor's note: The name of the actor playing Mrs. Greene has been corrected.

ADRIAN — Sometimes, a show exists just to be light and fun. Sometimes, a show exists to convey a message and lead you to, perhaps, see the world a little differently.

And sometimes, a show is a bit of both those things.

“The Prom” falls into the latter category, taking a highly charged topic in today’s world and looking at it with plenty of heart and humor. And the production of it that's now onstage at the Croswell Opera House is an excellent rendition of the story.

The plot focuses on a gay teen in small-town Indiana who wants to be able to bring a date to the prom just like her classmates can, except of course she wants to bring another girl. But there’s a lot more to the story than that.

The story opens in New York where a Broadway production starring Dee Dee Allen (Tallie Carter) and Barry Glickman (James Norman) has closed after one performance thanks to a critic’s savage review.

Being told that it’s not the show, it’s them because they’re basically self-centered horrible people, leads the pair and two friends (Trent, played by Chris Stack, and Angie, played by Kirsten Hinshaw) to try to improve their image by taking on a cause with the help of their press agent, Sheldon (Xavier Sarabia).

Hence, their trip to Indiana to make sure Emma (Elise Brown) can take her girlfriend, Alyssa (Kylie Scarpace), to the prom.

Of course, swooping into a situation and demanding that other people change their ways to suit what you want is no way to go about things. In fact, the Broadway folks do just about everything in exactly the wrong way, and what ensues is where “The Prom” gets a lot of its humor.

It’s true that the show includes all manner of stereotypes — Broadway diva, flamboyant but big-hearted gay man, close-minded and uptight PTA president, even the (unseen) theater critic with the power to close a show with a bad review — but it also sends up those stereotypes in very funny ways.

Along with the humor comes some real depth. Characters are dealing with rejection, being left out, peer pressure, too-high expectations set for them by others, and other such weighty issues. How all these things get dealt with — and how the people on both sides of the prom situation grow and change — balances out the show’s many laugh-out-loud moments.

As for the way the Croswell’s production, which is excellently directed by Matthew D. Bowland, handles the story, the cast turns in tremendous performances all around. And when you read the bios of the cast and creative team, the level of experience brought to this production is something else.

Brown infuses Emma with a quiet strength and captures well her character’s reticence about ending up in the middle of such a spectacle as these New York people descending on her situation. Plus, she has all the vocal talent necessary to handle a whole range of some pretty tricky music.

Scarpace does a great job as Emma’s awkward, closeted girlfriend who can never meet her mother’s expectations. When she reveals the reason her mother wants her to be so perfect, it’s a truly heartbreaking moment to think a teen could have something like that put on her.

The New York contingent is likewise wonderfully portrayed. Dee Dee, the diva who thinks she can get her way by plunking her two Tony Awards down on a motel countertop, and the equally self-centered Barry (with a Drama Desk award he can show off too), are played in spectacular fashion by Carter and Norman.

Preview: Musical 'The Prom' opens at Croswell Opera House

Stack is perfect as Trent, the high-strung, self-important cater-waiter who doesn’t miss a chance to tell people he went to Juilliard, while Hinshaw mines plenty of humor of her own from the forever-in-the-chorus Angie. And Sarabia is also quite funny as the long-suffering Sheldon.

Mrs. Greene, the PTA president, and Mr. Hawkins, the high school principal, are also played excellently by Beth Giller and Alex Britton, and while it seemed on opening night that Britton was handling his lines a little tentatively, when his classically trained voice got to shine in “We Look to You,” it was a great moment.

Britton does double-duty as the production’s scenic designer, and has created a set that works perfectly for this show, with lots of detail and which moves around in clever ways that keep the action going.

The hard-working chorus sings really well and dances choreographer Alyssa Brutlag’s moves with all the high energy and precision required, while the Leah Fox-led orchestra handles the music excellently.

Friday’s opening-night performance went off smoothly, and kudos to the crew that made it all happen effectively. It’s true, however, that there were some issues with being able to hear lines clearly, especially over the orchestra, so that should be cleaned up going forward.

No matter what one’s personal viewpoint is on the issue at the core of “The Prom,” or whether or not you think the Croswell is the place for material like this, it’s a subject that deserves attention and thought, and one of the roles of theater after all is to be a place to tackle controversial subject matter. The Croswell’s production does that with exuberance, a huge dose of humor, sensitivity where needed, and plenty of talent always.

If you go

WHAT: “The Prom”

WHERE: Croswell Opera House, 129 E. Maumee St., Adrian

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24

TICKETS: $44/$33/$22 adults; $25/$20/$15 students

HOW TO ORDER: Online at croswell.org or by calling 517-264-7469

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Review: 'The Prom' at Croswell Opera House is humorous, thoughtful