Prom the Musical
April 29 - May 3
Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre

By Zachary Wong

Musicals are all the rage now. Teen themed musicals are especially popular. The recent success of High School Musical and School of Rock, not to mention the current teen queen Hannah Montana @ Miley Cyrus has prompted Zachary Wong of FUSS LD to produce a musical aimed at local teens. The result was Prom the Musical.

This musical centres on the lives of nine performing arts college students. The storyline reflects the typical trials and tribulations of young adults, about to venture out into the world. The characters are faced with hard decisions, tough challenges and romantic complications.  The storyline bear resemblance to the recent High School Musical 3 plotline, however, Prom has endeavoured to ‘localise’ the story by highlighting issues that are relevant to today’s urban youth. The pursuit of happiness is plagued with heartache along the way and the characters bring this to life through popular songs.

As musicals go, talents were still raw. Most of the cast were mediocre in the singing department. There were times when actors were unable to be anything more than cardboard characters. This could be attributed to the fact that for most of the cast members, it is their very first time performing, let alone performing in a musical.

Kudos must be given to the choreography. The ensemble livened up many scenes with their innovative and entertaining dance sequences. The crowds’ favourite appears to be Hollaback Girl and Welcome to Galaxy (a variation of Welcome to the 60’s).  It lived up to its promise of “rollicking, frolicking fun,” and “an evening of romp, stomp and pomp” Audience was bopping to the beat as the final song ‘We go together’ saw the ensemble end the musical on a high note.