How far would you go to have one perfect night?


Prom

a new musical
book, music, and lyrics by Derrick Wang

[Click the Play Play Button 16x16 button in the right sidebar to hear new recordings of songs from Prom.]

* * *

THE STORY

Then, when I opened the letter,
It didn’t take more than a glance:
Trade in your new crimson sweater
And the chance
Of going to Boston,
Of making them proud…
…Of joining the group, getting lost in
The mass, being part of the crowd…

—AMY, “Girl Who Didn’t” (Prom, Act I)

Everyone thinks AMY’s a failure. Her college choices rejected her. Her parents gave up on her. And her classmates torture her on a daily basis.

But AMY’s going to prove them all wrong. Because in two weeks, RYAN — the campus hero — will be taking her to Prom.

He just doesn’t know it yet.

* * *

THE BACKSTORY

Do you remember the day back in freshman year
When we got our glimpse of the school?

—RYAN, “Lunch / Second String” (Prom, 2002 version, Act I)

In 2002, at the age of 17, Derrick Wang finished the first version of a full-length musical called Prom.

After a run of student performances in Baltimore, he submitted Prom to regional powerhouse Center Stage (the State Theater of Maryland) — where it promptly won a staged reading at the Center Stage Young Playwrights Festival, earning both critical acclaim and a devoted audience.

Derrick then proceeded to Harvard and Yale to study classical music. During this time, he was often invited to present selections from Prom in theater master classes, where songs such as “Settle” and “Girl Who Didn’t” earned praise from some of Broadway’s leading composers and lyricists.

Meanwhile, even as Derrick expanded his range and refined his technique by composing award-winning classical works, he knew he would return to Prom when the time was right.

That time is now.

* * *

MOVING FORWARD

You gotta
Work it!   (Work it!)
Upgrade your appearance—
Work it!   (Work it!)
Burn the stuff from clearance…

—TANYA, “Work It” (Prom, Act I)

What you see and hear before you is the new Prom — a new musical that builds on the strengths of the initial version and brings it fully into the new millennium.

The score is a “I Love the 2000s” celebration, running the gamut of pop styles of the last ten years — as exemplified in the song “Work It.”

Meanwhile, the story tackles hard issues that confront young adults today:

  • Competition
    • If you don’t get into a good school, is your career over? And if you do get in, is it enough?
  • Recession
    • If your family loses everything, what happens to your dreams?
  • Technology
    • And how much damage can you do with a single cell phone?

No preaching, no patronizing, no sugar-coating: Prom recognizes the blurring boundary between childhood and adulthood and therefore asks the inescapable question: What does it mean to grow up?

To find out, come to Prom.