At a charity performance on Tuesday, Ryan Murphy took to the stage to announce his plans to adapt the Broadway musical for Netflix. Theater lovers everywhere were like:
Back in November a new musical hit Broadway and before you knew it everyone wanted to be back in high school. The Prom follows an Indiana teen who simply wants to bring her girlfriend to her high school prom. Once the PTA catches wind of the news, the openly gay teen is banned from going to dance altogether. A gaggle of Broadway performers with questionable intentions decide to head to Indiana to help the teen get to the prom of her dreams. The musical made history when the cast performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and featured the parade’s first same-sex kiss ever. The shows jam packed with talent as it is directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw and features such stars as Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas, Christopher Sieber, Caitlin Kinnunen, Angie Schworer, Josh Lamon, Michael Potts and Isabelle McCalla.
On Tuesday, there was a benefit performance at the Longacre Theatre which helped raise money for the Hetrick-Martin Institute, GLAAD and the Trevor Project. Ryan Murphy hosted the special performance and it was there where he made the big announcement. Murphy obtained the rights to turn The Prom into a Netflix film! It’s no surprise that Murphy has chosen to take on this project as he is a huge advocate for LBGT+ community having created such inclusive projects such as Pose, The Normal Heart, and Glee. The audience – filled with celebs such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Glenn Close, Jane Krakowski, Ben Platt, Gus Kenworthy, Sandra Bernhard, Laura Dreyfuss, Janet Mock, Matthew Morrison, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Andrew Rannells, MJ Rodriguez, and Christian Siriano – went wild when they heard the news. Murphy told the overjoyed crowd:
“I know, it’s exciting. I’m really tired of hearing about bad news and Trump. I want to see entertainment that is optimistic and uplifting. I was absolutely blown away by Casey’s work and the incredible cast. I cried at the end from pure joy, which has not happened to me since Patti LuPone was the flower girl at my wedding. I wish this show was around when I was a kid.”
It remains to be seen if any of the Broadway cast will appear in the film but what has been confirmed is the expected release date; September 2020. It’s no coincidence that the release date falls right around the 2020 election as Murphy closed his speech by saying “We want to change hearts, minds and votes.”
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