OFF-BROADWAY REVIEW
AWESOME 80S PROM REVIEW
Reviewed by David Sanchez
Published 2008-08-07
First, let it be said: The Awesome 80s Prom isn't just a show - it's an experience. Upon arrival, there were plenty of show-goers dressed in their pink chiffon gowns and hair in scrunchies. 'Students' in checkered shoes and moussed up hair regaled the crowd alongside the performers.
From the moment one enters Webster Hall, the ambience and mood of all things 80s sets in along with flashbacks to awkward school dances. It's all in good fun though. Most of the audience was made up by people in their late teens to thirties looking to rehash the 80s experience all in the name of bacholerette and birthday parties. At the entrance to the main dance floor, Mrs. Lascalzo - the drama teacher - came up to me asking me if I was eighteen yet. I said yes and she told me to save a dance for her. Ken Davenport, the author and director of the show, has drawn on numerous 80s archetypes from practically every John Hughes movie possible. All the stereotypical characters are there, seemingly taken right out of "The Breakfast Club". There's the jock, the princess, the rebel, and of course, the geek.
The night ensues with much dancing to music from that long gone era, and it was quite funny to see people standing in circled off groups just like they did at school dances of yore. The performers are introduced onstage as our nominees for prom king and queen. Throughout the night, they perform bits onstage as well as off. As was said earlier though, this is hardly a conventional show illustrated by the performers mingling on the dance floor, this interaction serving as ambience for the true performers and actors of the night: the audience. Don't let that scare you away though. I never felt uncomfortable or on the spot. While engaging me, each performer seemed to be quite sensitive to just how involved my date and I wanted to be, and this seemed to be a courtesy extended to the entire audience.
The Awesome 80s Prom is a great Saturday night out for a group of girls or guys wanting to go out with some friends and have a great time. There are two bars, so there is plenty of drinking going on, despite the principals admonitions that alcohol is absolutely forbidden. With that said, along with the drinking, there are plenty of other mature themes. The name of the high school whose prom we're attending tonight is called Wanaget High, and there are plenty of double entendres and sexual/drink/drug references throughout the night. So do yourself a favor and leave the young ones at home (they're probably too young to know a thing about the 80s anyways or school dances for that matter). This is a show that will appeal to those who are at least fourteen years of age and beyond. Besides, the young ones would only get in the way of all the fun that The Awesome 80s Prom has to offer you.
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