In 2020, Netflix came out with a highly stacked and decorated cast of actors in a musical that would swiftly be erased from public memory. The musical, namely The Prom, was further supposed to star Ariana Grande in an essential, central role, but even the casting never came to fruition.
5 years later, the lack of an impression about the movie already tells the audience how forgettable The Prom must have been when it came out. If not for its all-star cast and an esteemed director in Ryan Murphy, the musical would have appeared to be seemingly doomed to roam the vast limbo of the Netflix library without ever being rediscovered again.
However, in memory of all time-honored musicals, let’s look at why this particular one did not work out, especially when it came to the casting.
Why Did Ariana Grande Drop Out of High-Profile Netflix Musical, The Prom?
With a cast so decorated by veteran A-listers like Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Kerry Washington, among others, The Prom should have been one of the most talked-about events of 2020. But not only did the movie’s excitement get lost in the cacophony of the pandemic, but the film also lost a major headliner in Ariana Grande.
On the very day that Deadline announced Grande’s casting, Billboard confirmed that the singer would not, in fact, be part of the film. The Grammy-winning artist was cast in the film to play a central role as the closeted girlfriend of the protagonist, Emma.
However, the extension of her Sweetener tour, which ran through to the end of 2019, directly clashed with the filming schedule. The Wicked star had to subsequently drop out of the Ryan Murphy musical to focus on her busy tour.
She was also set to help produce the soundtrack for the film, but the job went to Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin, while her role in the film went to Ariana DeBose.
Ryan Murphy’s The Prom: What is the Netflix Musical About?
The Prom, the 2020 Netflix musical, was directed by Ryan Murphy, who has such wonderful credits under his belt as the creator of Glee and American Horror Story and the director of Eat Pray Love and The Normal Heart.
Described as the “most powerful man in TV” [The New Yorker], it was hardly surprising to see him rake in an equally powerful cast for his Covid-era musical. The Prom, in turn, was adapted from a Broadway musical of the same name.
As per IMDb, the plot synopsis of the film is as follows:
A troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high-school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom.
Below is a table of all the stars cast in the film and their respective roles in the musical:
Whose performance in the musical stood out to you the most? Let us know in the comments below.
The Prom is streaming on Netflix.
