In order to compact the New York side of the story, the characters of Trent and Angie were cut. Emma’s backstory is also further explored, with her sharing how she came out, her family situation and how she uses music and YouTube to cope with the extreme bullying at school.Īmong the major differences between the musical and novel are the characters. It expands the story from their perspective and goes more in-depth with their initial meeting, relationship and overall experience with the prom debacle.

While stage productions are set up with Barry and Dee’s storyline, the young adult novel more closely follows the former narrative and is written in first person, with Emma’s and Alyssa’s point of view switching each chapter. After seeing Emma’s story online, they travel to Indiana and once again become too self-involved. They team up with their old friends, Trent and Angie, and together decide to take up a cause célèbre to receive good press. Or, “The Prom” can be viewed as following the tale of Barry Glickman and Dee Dee Allen, who are bashed by a New York Times review, causing their show “Eleanor: The Eleanor Roosevelt Musical” to close on opening night. When four down-on-their-luck Broadway actors hear about Emma’s story, they travel to the Crossroads of America and try to spread acceptance and tolerance however, their old narcissistic ways lead to shenanigans.

The driving force behind the PTA is the mother of Emma’s closeted girlfriend, Alyssa Greene. “The Prom” follows a 17-year-old girl from Indiana, Emma Nolan, whose senior prom is canceled by the Parent Teacher Association when she tries to bring her girlfriend. Author Saundra Mitchell worked alongside the show’s creators Chad Beguelin, Bob Martin and Matthew Sklar to pen the Penguin Young Readers’ Viking Children’s Books’ adaptation. A film adaption for Netflix and a national tour are in the works, but a young adult novel based on the show was released in September.

“The Prom” made waves on Broadway last season and despite running for less than a year, it’s legacy lives on.

The Prom by Saundra Mitchell