Breakout queer Broadway musical The Prom to get YA novel adaptation
The Prom party just keeps on rolling.
EW can exclusively announce that a YA novel based on this Broadway season’s hit new musical is in the works and set to publish this fall. The queer-themed story centers on 17-year-old Emma Nolan and her “It girl” girlfriend, Alyssa, and traces their efforts to dance as the romantic couple that they are at the senior prom, in their somewhat closed-minded Indiana small town.
The adaptation is set to be written by children’s books veteran Saundra Mitchell (Defy the Dark). EW has learned that Mitchell worked directly with the original Prom show’s creators — Bob Martin, Chad Beguelin, and Tony Award nominee Matthew Sklar — to adapt the new original musical into a reading experience that reflected the energy and humor of the show, and echoed its message of acceptance and inclusion.
Here’s how The Prom novel unfurls: When word gets out that Emma plans to bring a girl as her date to prom, it stirs a community-wide uproar that spirals out of control; the PTA, led by Alyssa’s mother, threatens to cancel the prom altogether. Enter Barry Glickman and Dee Dee Allen, two Broadway stars, who decide to take up the cause and get a little publicity along the way. But when they arrive in Indiana to fight on Emma’s behalf, their good intentions go quickly south. Between Emma facing the fray head-on, Alyssa wavering about coming out, and Barry and Dee Dee basking in all the attention, it’s the perfect prom storm. Only when this unlikely group comes together do they realize that love is always worth fighting for.
This is only the latest piece of news of The Prom expanding beyond its Broadway roots. Earlier this month, Ryan Murphy announced he’d be adapting the musical for a Netflix feature film, due in 2020, while last fall, a performance from the original cast at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade culminated in the first-ever same-sex kiss in the event’s history. In its review of the show last fall, EW called The Prom “a good time…filled with heart.”
Check out the official cover for the novel below. The Prom publishes Sept. 10 and is available for pre-order.
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