Are Any of the Broadway Stars of ‘The Prom’ in the Movie?

It’s hard to deny that The Prom on Netflix features an all-star cast. You don’t need a The Prom cast guide to tell you who names like Meryl Streep, James Corden, and Nicole Kidman are. You also probably don’t need someone to tell you that neither Streep, nor Corden, nor Kidman performed in The Prom on Broadway in 2018, back when it was just the little musical from Atlanta that could. In fact, none of the original Prom Broadway cast made it into the film—not even Tony nominees Brooks Ashmanskas, Caitlin Kinnunen, or Beth Leavel. It seems that this time around, director Ryan Murphy opted for star power over appeasing Broadway fans. Let’s break down The Prom movie cast and The Prom Broadway cast, shall we?

Who is in the cast of The Prom movie?

Leading charge of The Prom movie cast is A-lister and 3-time Oscar-winner Meryl Streep and late-night host James Corden as Dee Dee Allen and Barry Glickman, two Broadway stars who are down on their luck after being critically panned for their latest show, an Eleanor Roosevelt musical. Dee Dee is a diva and gay icon in the spirit of Patti Lupone, while Barry is a flamboyant, old-school openly gay man. (Corden, who is straight, was criticized for his portrayal as “gayface.”) This is Streep and Corden’s second movie musical together, the first being 2014’s Into the Woods.

Then you have Academy Award-winner Nicole Kidman as Angie Dickinson, a chorus girl and understudy in Chicago, and Broadway darling Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon, Falsettos, and more) as Trent Oliver, who is going on tour with a non-union production of Godspell. Back in Indiana, comedian Keegan Michael-Key plays Principal Tom Hawkings, and Emmy-winning Scandal star Kerry Washington plays the conservative head of the PTA who shuts down the prom.

For the young girls who want to go to prom together, we got a few new faces: Jo Ellen Pellman as Emma Nolan, who becomes the face of the campaign to build an inclusive prom. The Prom is Pellman’s feature debut, though she has made small TV appearances in Comedy Central’s Alternatino, HBO’s The Deuce, and Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Dancer and Tony-nominated Broadway actor Ariana DeBose plays Alyssa Greene, Emma’s secret girlfriend and on-screen daughter of Kerry Washington. DeBose starred as “Disco Donna” in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and was a member of the original cast of Hamilton in the chorus. Coming up, she will appear in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. 

Other members of The Prom cast include Tracey Ullman as Vera Glickman, Kevin Chamberlin as Sheldon Saperstein, Sofia Deler as Shelby, Logan Riley Hassel as Kaylee, Nathaniel J. Potvin as Kevin, Nico Greetham as Nick Boomer, and Mary Kay Place as Emma’s grandmother.

Who was in The Prom Broadway cast?

The original Broadway cast of The Prom featured Beth Leavel as Dee Dee, Brooks Ashmanskas as Barry, and Caitlin Kinnunen as Emma, all of whom originated the roles in the first production of The Prom in Atlanta in 2016, and all of whom were nominated for Tonys for their performance. Ashmanskas, who is openly gay, has had a long career in theater and has been previously nominated for a Tony for Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me; Leavel is a Tony Award-winning actor known for her roles in The Drowsy Chaperone, Bandstand, Mamma Mia, and more; and Caitlin Kinnunen is best known for The Prom but also appeared in the original Broadway cast of The Bridges of Madison County.

Other members of The Prom Broadway cast include Christopher Sieber as Trent (Two of a Kind, Shrek the Musical), Angie Schworer as Angie Dickinson, Isabelle McCalla (Broadway’s Aladdin) as Alyssa Greene, Michael Potts (The Wire, Book of Mormon, True Detective) as the principal, Courtenay Collins as Mrs. Greene, Josh Lamon as Sheldon, Kalyn West as Shelby, Becca Lee as Kaylee, Courtney Balan as Olivia, and Drew Redington as Kevin.

Are any of The Prom Broadway cast in the movie?

Sadly, none of the above talented cast members had the opportunity to be in The Prom movie this time around. While it’s fairly common to replace Broadway stars with Hollywood A-listers for the movie adaptation of things (see: Into the Woods, Les Miserables, Cats) it does sting a little more, given that The Prom only debuted on Broadway two years ago, and it would have been easy for the actors to slide back into those roles. The 2005 Rent movie had the original Broadway cast and helped many of those actors transition to TV and film, so it would have been a nice gesture on Murphy’s part to throw at least one lead a bone. Ah, well.

Streep did give a nice shout out to Leavel in a recent Q&A, saying, “to Beth Leavel, who showed me how to do it.” Ironically, Leavel will soon take on one of Streep’s iconic characters, Miranda Priestly, in the upcoming musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada. What goes around comes around!

Watch The Prom on Netflix