My Rating – ⭐⭐⭐/5

Ticket Price: $57 CAD after taxes and fees

Karsyn Rutledge is well on her way to becoming a tour de force. The role of Emma Nolan is no small challenge and Karsyn takes it on with passion and integrity. A true triple threat, there is no question that she is the perfect choice to lead this production.

The musical “The Prom” is a fun show with catchy tunes, interesting characters and an important message of acceptance and activism. A small town where the high school’s prom is cancelled in order to avoid having an LGBT character attend as an honest representation of themself does not seem so far removed from events here in Saskatchewan. The show explores those themes head on from lesbian teenager Emma Nolan’s perspective in her attempt to attend the prom with a date like any other kid.

A review of The Prom would not be complete without talking about the celebrities. Jordan Rolufs plays a lively and over-the-top Barry Glickman. Karl Baui playing Julliard scholar Trent Oliver is really the supporting member of the celebrity quartet and although capable never quite pulls the focus from his peers. Montana Adams is everything that Sterling Productions fans have come to expect: sensitive; sassy; beautiful and perfect in her role. Carly Phillips-Stanton playing Dee Dee Allen absolutely blows the roof off the theatre. It’s a good thing that Karsyn is such a powerful actor as Carly would have stolen the show from a lesser lead.

The remaining leads all do a solid job. In particular, supporting actors Joel Kuntz playing school principal Mr. Hawkins and Billie Liskowich playing bigoted PTA mother Mrs. Greene both do a fantastic job. Joel’s Mr. Hawkins is loveable and sweet with a sense of inner strength. Billie’s Mrs. Greene as the main villain in the show is the opposite – evil and hateable – and yet the way that Billie plays her makes her relatable. Misguided though the character is, Billie has obviously explored the underlying motivations of the character, her love, her passion and her fear.

The supporting ensemble is where things fall apart a bit. Professional actor Marianne Woods is underused. Some of the dancers like Ryan Ramsay stand out with the crispness of their execution. Other members of the ensemble unfortunately stand out as less than ready, out of step and out of sync.

On the production side, there are a few sound issues although nothing serious. The orchestra, led by Scott Peters sounds great. There are several times where the drums and bass feel overamplified and obscure some of the vocals. And while having the full cast wearing mics is great, the balancing isn’t always the best. With all the singers amplified equally sometimes all the audience can hear is the harmony line and the melody line is obscured.

The projections rarely work well for this show. The attempt is to replace physical sets with a giant 50 or 60 foot wide and 40 foot high screen onto which a high powered projector shines a related image. One time this does work is the in the gymnasium scenes where a full image of a gymnasium is displayed behind physical bleacher set pieces. In the remaining scenes, the projected images not only prove an annoying distraction but frequently make the actors on stage look tiny in comparison. In addition, the contrast with the lighting on the actors frequently leaves the actors over or under lit and hard to see. For scenes where only a few feet of stage is used, the full screen image results in the whole stage being lit. Instead of what could be just a light pool, this highlights how much of the stage remains empty.

The physical set – such as it is – is well built and looks fine. However, it is sparse and does little to give any perspective in height or depth.

Overall, Sterling Productions “The Prom” is a solid effort for a premium ticket price. 3 stars out of 5.