Put on your best dress or suit, and don’t forget the corsage. Washington and Lee students danced the week away with performances of “The Prom” and the celebration of Fancy Dress.
“The Prom” musical was performed at the Keller Theatre from March 13 to March 15. Originally, the musical was set to premiere on March 12. Members of the Department of Theater, Dance and Film Studies said they could not disclose any information about the delay.
“The Prom” follows Emma, played by Ka’Mya Clark, ’27, as she fights against her school’s conservative PTA to get the ability to take her girlfriend to prom. Along the way, a troupe of eccentric and egotistical Broadway stars looking for good publicity come down to Indiana to help Emma achieve this goal. The result is a heartwarming story about unlearning intolerance and building community.
“I think the messages of acceptance and understanding are so truly needed nowadays,” said Timi Patterson, ’27, who played the public relations agent Shelly in the musical.
Stephanie Sandberg, the show’s director, said that creating art that advocates for LGBTQ+ causes is something that she cares deeply about. Sandberg previously wrote and staged a play about Christians in the LGBTQ+ community called “Seven Passages” while she worked at a conservative Christian college. She said that the play nearly cost her the job.
“Today, I am profoundly grateful to share ‘The Prom’s’ joyous rebellion at Washington and Lee, where artistic freedom thrives,” she wrote in her director’s note.
The LGBTQ+ themes for the show hit close to home for some of the actors. Rebecca Goldman, ’27, who played Emma’s girlfriend, Alyssa, said that her character’s struggle with coming out of the closet reminded her of her brother’s experience of coming out during college.
“I was honored to play the role of Alyssa who has many layers to her,” she said. “The journey of her self-acceptance is one that many people around us go through, including my brother and some of my closest friends back home.”
As soon as the curtains closed on “The Prom” on March 15, students prepared for their own exciting dance with the annual Fancy Dress ball that same night. Fancy Dress took inspiration from the action-packed and classy atmosphere of James Bond with its 007 theme. Jump Street performed at the dance.
“You know, I hadn’t realized that we were doing this around Fancy Dress until we held auditions, but now that I’m looking at it, I see that there’s a lot of good stuff about students getting together to dance,” Sandberg said.
Katia Apedoh, ’28, who played one of Emma’s bullies, said that the excitement Emma has getting ready for her prom felt like the “exact atmosphere around campus for the days leading up to Fancy Dress.”
Unlike the prom in the musical, Fancy Dress does not seem to be intolerant or exclusionary, Patterson said. She also pointed out that Fancy Dress is only one of many dances that occur on campus. Many of the identity-based student organizations such as the Queer Liberation Alliance and the Student Association for Black Unity host their own dance events.
“There is a power in having events that allow people with certain identities to feel seen and heard, especially with the Equality Gala,” Patterson said.
Patterson said a special community was built on stage, too. Several members of the Rockbridge community were cast in the play, including Rob Mish, the former director of the Lenfest Center, and alum Monica Burke, ’98. Patterson said one of the most valuable experiences that she had in the musical was “connecting with community members with such interesting stories that I never would have interacted with outside of ‘The Prom.’”
Goldman said that getting familiar with actors from the Lexington community was rewarding because it allowed her to form unexpected connections. Goldman said that she immediately bonded with Monica Burke, who played her on-stage mother, because they both come from the same area in Pennsylvania.
“I never had the opportunity until now to work with older adults and people from the community. This unique experience highlighted the possibility of continuing theater both as a hobby and a career beyond higher education,” she said.
With the addition of the community members, “The Prom” had the largest cast in a musical since the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last five years, the musicals had no more than eight cast members.
“Because COVID shut down high school theater programs across the country for an extended period of time, fewer students had the opportunity to experience theater prior to coming to college,” said Jenefer Davies, the department chair of Theater, Dance and Film Studies.
Davies said that the department is working on new ways to revitalize student involvement by implementing a new shorter rehearsal schedule and taking in more student input.
“Some of the new programs we’ve instituted with this in mind is a brand new play submission process where students are encouraged to participate and have their voices heard in regard to the plays we produce each year,” she said. “We had a wildly successful number of submissions for next year’s season.”
At “The Prom’s” reception, they announced “These Shining Lives” and “Clue: On Stage” as the plays for the 2025-2026 season.
