<b>THE PROM</b> Daemen University/MusicalFare Theatre SpeakupWNY | Buffalo NY and Buffalo News

Through October 6
THE PROM Daemen University/MusicalFare Theatre

By Augustine Warner

“Gotta Dance,” is the old show pitch.
It’s the entire purpose of “The Prom” from Chad Beguelin, Bob Martin and Matthew Sklar, getting a wonderful, season-opening production from MusicalFare in its last year in Daemen College.
Actually, the whole purpose of the events of the show is to dance.
Some narcissistic actors in a Broadway show which crashes and burns on opening night decide they need to redeem their careers by doing a good deed.
At least, they want to do a good deed if they can, since building skills for a Habitat for Humanity home aren’t their skills.
Then, they find a story about a young woman in Indiana who has come out as a lesbian who wants to take a date to the prom and the town doesn’t want to allow that.
So, these blatantly gay performers storm into the small town in panoply to make it so and discover they aren’t really wanted.
There’s fine dancing all through the production, from the show which crashed to the final scene to the finale.
That reflects two pros at the controls of the show, director Doug Weyand and choreographer Michael Oliver-Walline, both good dancers in the past and now applying what they learned.
They are working with a strong pool of dancers, from leads Louis Colaiacovo (Barry) and Jenn Stafford (Dee Dee) to the large ensemble.
Emma (Sam Crystal) is the teen at the center of the contretemps, a kid who has been thrown out of her home by her parents for coming out.
Her grandmother took her in.
She didn’t want to be the center of an increasing controversy but holds up.
The mystery for much of the show is who is her partner, with fingers being pointed in all directions.
The audience finds out early, it’s Alyssa (Alexandria Watts), daughter of the town’s largest loudmouth in favor of eliminating prom for fear gay and straight people might mix, Mrs. Greene (Davida Evette Tolbert).
The parachuting actors have problems of their own, from Barry’s admitting he was afraid to attend his own prom for fear of coming out to Dee Dee’s problems with her ex-husband and putting the moves on James Madison High School’s principal, Mr. Hawkins (Jake Hayes) to get the prom going.
Led by two classmates and Mrs. Greene, the prom is moved secretly to the Elks Lodge, leaving Emma alone in the high school gym when she arrives for the event.
Music and dancing and perhaps some guilt start persuading young people they need a real prom for everyone and the visitors from Broadway kick in to pay for it.
In the end, good triumphs in Indiana, a state controlled by the Ku Klux Klan a century ago which made Mike Pence governor and put him on a path to VP.
Besides Stafford and Colaiacovo, there is impressive dancing from Nicole Cimato’s Angie, Marc Sacco’s Trent and Adrienne R. Cummings and the ensemble and strong work from Tolbert.
“The Prom” is a great show, with strong lighting and set from Chris Cavanagh and crazy costumes from Kari Drozd.
It’s a little preachy because the heart of the story is bigotry and discrimination, issues not just native to Indiana.
Obviously, it’s early in the theater season.
“The Prom” is looking like an early entry on best show of the season.