Gay Prom Musicals!

Prom Queen the Musical. Music by Colleen Dauncey. Lyrics by Akiva Romer-Segal. Book by Kent Staines. 2016 Montreal's Segal Centre. Basis: Documentary Prom Fight: The Marc Hall Story (2002).

In 2002 Marc Hall sued the Durham Catholic District School Board. The principal had banned him from taking his boyfriend to prom. The story made international headlines and was adapted into a 2002 documentary, a 2004 film and a 2016 musical. In 2018 the London District Catholic School Board and the Thames Valley District School Board pulled their funding from a high school production of Prom Queen: The Musical. The board has cited profanity and mature themes but that didn't prevent their previous productions of Grease, Les Miserables and West Side Story. This kind of thing has happened before. It always sells a lot of tickets and makes the school board look bad.

The Prom. Music by Matthew Sklar. Lyrics by Chad Beuelin. Book by Chad Beuelin and Bob Martin. 2016 Atlanta. 2018 Broadway.

The publicity is likely to help Prom Queen: The Musical score some major productions. However another musical, The Prom, is going to beat it to Broadway. The Prom reunites The Drowsy Chaperone's Bob Martin and Beth Leavel for a zany comedy. The focus shifts from the teens to the well meaning adults making the protest all about themselves. The premise sounds messy on paper but reviews for the Atlanta premiere were strong. The Prom's Broadway run begins on November 15, 2018.