On March 8-9, the Theatre Department will put on its spring musical The Prom. The show highlights important themes of love, acceptance, and celebration.
The Prom tells the story of a lesbian student who was banned from bringing her girlfriend to their high school’s prom in small-town Indiana. Four burnt-out Broadway actors make their way to Indiana to help the student in her fight against the school board.
Director Megan Baskin picked The Prom for this year’s musical because of its relevance to the world.
“There’s value in having a show that challenges the norms,” Baskin said. “And I think that, unfortunately, in our current era, the queer community does still experience, for as evolved as our world is in terms of acceptance, I also don’t think it’s that evolved yet.”
The anthem of the show, “It’s Time to Dance,” echoes the lyrics, “Build a prom for everyone, show them all it can be done.” While the musical is a fictional story, it still holds a theme of inclusion close to those at Niles North.
While this story is very specifically about the LGBTQA+ community, I think it’s important to keep that idea of acceptance and tolerance. And frankly that matters, no matter, whether it’s about race, equity, gender, sexuality, whatever it is, that idea that everyone should be able to feel safe and accepted.
— Megan Baskin, director
“The idea is that we build a prom for everyone,” Baskin said. “And while this story is very specifically about the LGBTQA+ community, I think it’s important to keep that idea of acceptance and tolerance. And frankly that matters, no matter, whether it’s about race, equity, gender, sexuality, whatever it is, that idea that everyone should be able to feel safe and accepted. How the home really resonates with ‘Hate has no home here’. Well, that is true, but I know students still experience things.”
“If music blares and no one cares who your unruly heart loves.” These themes are especially important to students who identify as LGBTQ+. Baskin says viewers will feel touched and uplifted by the important themes of the show.
Senior Bella Ruffner plays the lead, Emma, in the show and recalls her favorite rehearsal memory of having full-company conversations about issues such as bullying and hate. These conversations were meant to spread the feeling of community among the cast and crew, as well as build character for the performances.
“Just having a space where all of us can sit and know that we’re comfortable enough to share these things, and that everyone else will be there for us,” Ruffner said. “One day we were all sharing stories about our experiences with bullying and this kind of hatred. And after we all got up and just gave each other hugs and just cried together and it was a really beautiful thing.”
Tickets are available for purchase here.
