"Such a joyful hoot. With its kinetic dancing, broad mugging and belty anthems, it makes you believe in musical comedy again...As in many of the greatest Golden Age musicals, they latch onto a subject of topical importance, using its gravity to anchor their satire and their satire to leaven its earnestness...The ensemble’s big numbers, set to Glen Kelly’s dance arrangements, are a blast...It consistently delivers on its entertainment promises as well as its Golden Age premise."
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"A sweet-hearted original musical that, despite a few missteps, leaves you grinning by the last dance...It is cheering to see a musical comedy that engages with modern questions, with a teenage lesbian romance at its center to boot...Nicholaw’s peppy direction helps gives the show enough momentum to power past the show’s narrative potholes...Nowhere is this celebration more joyous than in the deliciously hammy performances of its two seasoned stars."
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"The giddy, smart, big-hearted new musical...With irrepressibly energetic tunes by Matthew Sklar and winking lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a cheeky, just-poignant-enough book by Beguelin and Bob Martin...'The Prom' balances between the misguided (ding!) hijinks of the self-absorbed actors and the real stakes of Emma’s life at school...The show is full of witty delights...It’s big silly fun, with a sly wink and a warm heart."
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"Some of this self-parodying obtuseness is more cringey than cute. And yet the show, which knowingly leans deep into kitsch, is at once preposterous and delightful. Singing and dancing are probably not going to persuade anybody to 'love thy neighbor,' as one of the more infectious numbers advises. But, until someone has a better idea, it can’t hurt to try."
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"A bit sanctimonious in spots, but most of 'The Prom' is really, really funny—and much of it, to my happy surprise, is funny at the expense of the good guys...The uncommonly smart book and lyrics...Sklar’s music mostly runs to knowing but unmemorable pastiche but his score serves its dramatic purpose, and Casey Nicholaw, the director-choreographer, nails everything together with stopwatch-precise comic timing."
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"'The Prom' has gone out of its way to make young Emma normal (don’t blame performer Caitlin Kinnunen), but she seems more blah than relatable...The songs are more than clever and entertaining enough, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, other times moving. Nicholas’s choreography, especially the Broadway pastiche stuff, is a treat, and while the concept is a good one, the book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin could have been pushed things even further."
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"A savvy, self-aware, self-serving, and consistently funny new musical of liberal longing...A fascinating show for Deep Thinkers about the form...The show’s best moments still are when the Scary World Outside Manhattan has at least a semblance of reality. Which is only occasionally...The show’s DNA is quippy and in too much need of insider validation to really range deep into the causes and solutions for homophobia, but the choreography still is keyed around hope."
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"With a tuneful score, a playful book, and performances that remind you what Broadway heart and chutzpah are all about, this cause celebre of a show turns out to be a joyous, funny, and sweet production that should appeal to several generations of musical fans...Sklar’s easy melodies and Beguelin’s witty lyrics are a mix of classic Broadway show tunes and exuberant pop songs...Nicholaw maintains his just-right touch in balancing the outrageous and the sweet."
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