WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 22 - 28, 2022 | 15
"The Prom" comes to The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts for an eight-performance run April 26 to May 1 as part of the theater's 2021-22 Broadway Series. PHOTO COURTESY DEEN VAN MEER
Musical Continued from Page 14
In “The Prom” some fading but narcissistic Broadway stars Dee Dee Allen and Barry Glickman, along with downon-his-luck actor Trent Oliver and lifelong chorus girl Angie Dickinson (not the real Angie Dickinson), decide they need a new stage and a cause. They discover, via Twitter, that trouble is brewing around a small-town Indiana prom as a student named Emma Nolan wants to bring her girlfriend, Alyssa Greene. The PTA cancels the prom. Dee Dee et al roll into town to inspire action for Emma. West has the role of Alyssa in the touring show, after being the understudy for Emma and Alyssa on Broadway while also playing the role of Shelby, a “mean girl,” in the ensemble. “It was my Broadway debut,” West said of “The Prom.” “It was a wild ride. I fell in love with the show from the very beginning.”
Just recently, however, “We’ve seen so much anti-LBTQ -legislation still getting passed. It’s a very big problem actually.” At least “The Prom” has been described as a musical with a big heart. Alyssa has her own problems as the story unfolds. At the beginning of “The Prom” she hasn’t come out, and her mother, Mrs. Greene, just happens to be the head of the PTA horrifi ed by the prospect of a student inviting a same sex date to the prom. Alyssa’s father, meanwhile, abandoned the family a long time ago. So Alyssa’s relationship with Emma is in for some possible denials and breakups before all can be well. “I think she’s brave ... She’s been told that who she is wrong. I really respect her. I respect her humanity in her failures and successes,” West said. “For a time she doesn’t rise to the occasion and I respect that. It’s a human journey and she does rise to what’s important.” West is originally from Salt Lake City See MUSICAL, Page 16
