They Went Big and They Owned It

From left to right (foreground), Shana Quandt as Angie, Jason Peregoy as Barry, Natalie Wikstrom as Dee Dee, Bennett Gillies as Trent, KyraJo Petit-Walla as Emma, and Danny Slattery as Sheldon in The Prom at Waukesha Civic Theatre. Photo credit: Anne Kenny Creative.

A review of The Prom

by Ellory Woodford, age 12

On March 12th I attended The Prom at Waukesha Civic Theatre, directed by Christopher S. Orth. The cast and production team did a great job of balancing delivering a message of acceptance while providing standout vocal and acting performances. The show focuses on the characters in a way that keeps things entertaining, and not too uptight.

After their show closes on opening night due to horrible reviews, a pair of Broadway stars and two of their friends set out to prove that they’re not narcissists (they ARE narcissists.) While looking for a cause, they find a story about a teenage girl named Emma Nolan who asked her girlfriend to go to her high school prom with her, but when the PTA found out, they canceled the prom. As the Broadway stars go to Indiana to "help" for publicity, they eventually grow to truly care about Emma and the people of the town, while teaching them to accept each other and to "Love Thy Neighbor." Through their connected stories, The Prom delivers messages about acceptance, individual validity, and discrimination.  

The actors in this show all did an impeccable job of portraying their characters. Some specific actors who stuck out to me were Jason Peregoy, KyraJo Petit-Walla, and Danny Slattery. The first actor, Jason Peregoy, played Barry Glickman. Barry is a gay, flamboyant Broadway star. He is one of the main points of comedy in this show, but he also has some very emotional moments, as shown in his close bond with Emma. During the song “Barry Is Going to Prom” Peregoy played Barry with great comedic timing and that perfect emotional side we get to see. One specific moment where he stood out to me was at the end of Act I. I don’t want to give away what happens, but his acting and facial expressions were done beautifully, really showing that mix of sadness and anger. The next actor is KyraJo Petit-Walla, who played Emma Nolan. Emma is a lesbian high school student and social outcast extraordinaire. She is the driving force to the show and Petit-Walla played Emma so incredibly well. Emma is a very complex character who goes through a lot, and it was very moving to watch Emma's journey with this cast. The last actor I want to spotlight in this category is Danny Slattery, who played Sheldon, the incredibly overworked PR agent for the Broadway stars. He goes to Indiana with them, and works his butt off to get them everything they need, whether it be some clothes to be FedExed or a TV appearance for the next day. A stand-out moment from Slattery was when he, in the most iconic way possible, held out a scream for a solid 15 seconds, took a 3-second break, then did 10 more seconds of screaming. It was super funny and really showed Sheldon's total burnout.

This wasn’t a very choreography-heavy show, but when it did occur, it was always incredible (choreography by Ashley Patin). There’s one actor that I really want to highlight for her dancing: Shana Quandt. Quandt played the role of Angie, an understudy for Chicago on Broadway. Quandt has a song in Act II called "Zazz," and its choreography was very Bob Fosse. One of the lines in the show is, "Kick me to death with those crazy antelope legs of yours," and honestly? Based on what I saw in Quandt’s performance, I have absolute faith that she could if she wanted to.

Another aspect of the show that strongly stood out to me was the abundance of vocal talent throughout the entire cast. I want to preface this by saying that, if I had the time, I would talk about each individual in the cast. The cast members I’m going to specifically highlight for their vocal performances are Natalie Wikstrom, Bennett Gillies, and Ryder Ruck. Natalie Wikstrom played Dee Dee Allen, who has one of the most difficult vocal parts in the entire show. Wikstrom performed not only one, but two very belty songs. My personal favorite song that she did was "The Lady’s Improving." This song takes place in Act II, after already having a solo song in Act I and singing in many other numbers as well. This song also has a very wide range, covering three octaves. Despite all these challenges, Wikstrom still executed this song beautifully. Another vocalist that I especially enjoyed was Bennett Gillies, who portrayed the role of Trent Oliver. Gillies got to lead the songs "The Acceptance Song" and "Love Thy Neighbor," and boy, was that the right casting choice. He was not only an amazing singer, but he had amazing control over his voice. This was especially shown at the end of "Love Thy Neighbor" when Gillies had multiple very fast sections, followed by a held-out note at the end of the song. The last vocalist I want to highlight is Ryder Ruck, who played Alyssa Greene. In Act II Alyssa has a song called "Alyssa Greene." This song shows a very wide emotional range, and even if I hadn't been looking at the stage, I still would have understood all of the emotions, just based off of Ruck’s voice. Another aspect that made Ruck stand out was their vocal clarity and precise tone whenever they were singing.

I would recommend this show for ages 12 and up, because it deals with some mature content and adult humor that may not be appropriate to some younger audience members.

Overall, this show was incredibly well done, and truly amazing to watch. It was full of laughs, great actors, and of course the theme of acceptance. If you are considering buying a ticket to this show, do yourself a favor, and do it before it sells out! Because this show definitely could.

Visit waukeshacivictheatre.org for tickets!