Ateneo Blue Repertory’s ‘The Prom’ is a love letter to the queer community

The five of them then travel to the conservative (and fictional) town of Edgewater, Indiana where the school prom is cancelled because Emma Nolan (Andie Lopez) wants to bring her girlfriend. This decision by the school leads to Emma getting shunned and bullied by the whole school for being a lesbian. From getting purposefully bumped into by her classmates to having death threats and hate speech thrown her way, these snide remarks and vivid imagery would strike a nerve in anyone who was bullied in their childhood. 

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With the production design headed by Carlos Siongco, the set and costumes were fully immersive. It helps having a young cast but to put them in a high school environment makes them feel like high school students. There were also plenty of small details that made rewatches more entertaining. For instance, one scene that contained the main characters had all of them wearing the colours of the rainbow save for the school principal, Tom Hawkins (RJ Paderayon) who wore a white button-up shirt with a green tie to match Dee Dee’s green dress to communicate to the audience that his character is straight but an ally.

As an ensemble piece, blueREP did an amazing job at utilising everyone on stage. For a newbie production, it definitely didn’t seem like one and makes me look forward to the future of Filipino theatre. Cañada perfectly plays the diva while somehow making herself likeable even with a character so morally blind at times while Blas is a bombshell on stage—making the crowd cheer for him whether he’s dancing, singing, or simply speaking. Castañeda’s Trent made audiences laugh every time he mentioned that he studied at Julliard and Paderayon’s mild-mannered and dorky mannerisms made him a perfect foil to Dee Dee.

Every aspect of the musical is injected with ‘zazz’. From the lighting and set design to the outwardly gay characters and songs, The Prom ultimately is a celebration of pride. Songs such as Love Thy Neighbor poked fun at bible-thumping conservatives who cherrypick the scriptures while Just Breathe shows us how a little girl copes with discrimination. 

One thing I hope that gets addressed for the coming shows is the varying audio levels. Oftentimes the music would be too weak making it hard to appreciate the upbeat songs the musical has. I also found the ensemble songs to be difficult as the background characters would overpower the main cast when they were singing their parts.

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The Prom’s writing wants to do a lot. With over four plot points—the four Broadway stars’ fading glory, the school prom, the homophobic people of Edgewater, and the love story between Dee Dee and Tom—it seems like it’s trying to please every demographic. And please everyone they did. It’s paced fairly well and gives each character time to grow without being dragging. It’s always a joy to see every character on stage to see their dynamic with each other. With themes centred around high school bullying, love, and unapologetic queer acceptance, it opens a relevant conversation that the Philippines needs to have now. 

As I watched the first few minutes of The Prom, I was immediately charmed by Blas and Cañada’s portrayal of their characters. This excitement grew as I anticipated the entrance of other characters to see how this issue would get resolved. Towards the end of Act One, I was still smiling and clapping my hands as I was brought right back to high school with students ‘promposing’ to their crushes. This was quickly ripped away with a heartbreaking reveal followed by an intermission to let my thoughts simmer in my head. Without spoilers, those had to be the longest 15 minutes of my life as I was left depressed and anxious to see how the story would go. If Carrie (1976) is an R-rated horror film, The Prom is its tamer (yet equally traumatising) little sister, albeit with a happier ending—an ending it rightfully deserved and one that the audience was delighted with.

Ateneo Blue Repertory’s The Prom will run until November 24. For more information, visit their social media pages.

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